Cuba reaffirms its commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 16 (ACN) Speaking at the 69th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Armando Rodríguez Batista, Cuba's Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, reasserted his country's commitment to transparent, verifiable, and irreversible nuclear disarmament.

In his statement, Mr. Rodríguez also condemned the bombings by Israel and the United States against nuclear facilities in Iran, describing them as being a serious violation of the international nuclear security regime and international law.

He also stressed the importance of the IAEA as a guarantor of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and advocated for strengthening multilateralism and international cooperation in a global context marked by converging crises and increasing polarization.

The Cuban official highlighted three strategic areas for the agency: establishing partnerships with specialized entities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals; prioritizing technical cooperation over geopolitics with initiatives such as Atoms4Food, Atoms4NetZero, and NutecPlastics; and promoting training programs such as the Marie Curie and Lisa Meitner fellowships, which encourage women's participation in nuclear sciences.

Likewise, he denounced the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States as obstacles to Cuba's peaceful nuclear development, in violation of Article IV of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and remarked that, despite these restrictions, Cuba maintains high safety standards and offers cooperation to other nations in the Global South.

“The use of nuclear energy should not be a privilege, but a right that contributes to sustainable development”, Mr. Rodríguez Batista warned, and confirmed that Cuba will keep supporting the IAEA as a technical, objective body at the service of humanity.