Cuba advocates for global financial justice at international summit

HAVANA, Cuba, July 2 (ACN) Speaking at the IV International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Seville, Spain under the theme “Achieving a sovereign debt architecture oriented toward development”, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh reiterated the urgent need to transform the international financial architecture.

During her participation in Roundtable No. 5 of the event, Ms. Chapman denounced that the current sovereign debt system "was designed to fail the developing countries" by forcing them to allocate more resources to interest payments than to essential services such as health and education.

She also remarked that 60% of low-income countries are over-indebted, "while vulture funds speculate on the suffering of our peoples" and urged to design a new global financial pact that would eliminate debt as an obstacle to development.

Cuba proposed the inclusion of binding development clauses in loans, with automatic suspension of payments in the event of climate or health crises, as well as the creation of a multilateral mechanism under the UN to restructure debt with equitable participation of all creditors and the implementation of debt-for-investment swaps in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with independent audits.

The Cuban official also participated in the 1st Extraordinary Meeting of Ibero-American Foreign Ministers―where she reaffirmed Cuba's commitment to regional peace and security―and met with authorities from Spain, Andorra, Palau, and Equatorial Guinea.