Mr. Chairman:

Some intriguing news traveled around the world in recent days. For the first time in over 40 years, the government of the United States had granted authorization, on this one exceptional occasion, for the sale to Cuba of a determined amount of food, medicines, and raw materials for the production of medicines. This one time, Cuba would be able to pay the U.S. suppliers directly in U.S. dollars. It could not be arranged, however, for Cuban ships to pick up the merchandise from U.S. ports; the tangled web of legal prohibitions entailed by the blockade on Cuba is so complicated that not even the combined good will of both governments could overcome this obstacle. Ships from the United States or third countries will handle the transportation.

On November 7, the government of the United States expressed its sorrow and concern for the Cuban people as a result of the extensive damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Michelle through Cuban territory, and declared its willingness to immediately assess the need for assistance, with a view to possible humanitarian assistance. It was an unusual gesture, which Cuba received with the proper appreciation. Throughout 40 years of tense relations between the two countries, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Cuba responded by requesting that, on this one exceptional occasion, the government of the United States allow Cuban state companies to promptly purchase certain amounts of food, medicines and raw materials for the production of medicines from the United States, in order to restore the country’s reserve stocks as quickly as possible, in preparation for any future natural disasters. Cuba also asked for authorization to pay for these goods in cash, in U.S. dollars or any other hard currency, and to use Cuban ships to transport the goods, as this would be the most practical, rapid and economical option for Cuba.

The diplomatic exchanges, unlike many others in the past, were free of tension and marked above all by a tone of respect and a spirit of cooperation.

This brings up a natural question: why have so many special negotiations been required for something that constitutes a simple and common transaction in the rest of the world? Why were so many special formalities needed for Cuba to buy pediatric erythromycin, or vitamin A, or hydrocortisone, or rice, or powdered milk from the United States?

How could such a meticulous and perfectly airtight system have been created over the years to prevent an entire people from acquiring essential foodstuffs and medicines, technology and spare parts, medical equipment and scientific information? Could anyone ever explain, in the light of ethics, international law and justice, the obsessive maintenance of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba over the course of more than four decades?

Yet now we see, on this one occasion at least, that Cuba has been able to make a purchase from the United States. Does this signify the end of the blockade? No. This General Assembly must never make the mistake of interpreting this one exception as the rule. Does it even signify the beginning of the end of the blockade? I could not say for sure. Common sense is elusive at times for some politicians.

Would Cuba be willing to make other purchases under these conditions? It would be desirable, but it is practically impossible. As we have said before, it is inconceivable for a country to buy from the United States in the absence of normal trade relations, if it cannot sell its goods and services there as well. It is only under these special and exceptional circumstances that we have been able to do this, with no reciprocal trade whatsoever, overcoming absurd obstacles and seeking out alternatives to get around the countless laws and regulations that specifically prohibit relations and trade between Cuba and the United States today. The only way there can be normal trade relations between the two countries in the future is through the total lifting of the anachronistic U.S. blockade against Cuba.

Now then, does Cuba want the end of the blockade? Yes. The blockade is the main obstacle to Cuba’s economic development today, and is responsible for the hardship and suffering of millions of Cubans. Does Cuba want the reestablishment of normal and mutually respectful relations with the United States? Yes. And it is ready for it. It does not harbor futile hatred or hopes of revenge. We are a noble people with highly developed political awareness, and we believe that millions of U.S. citizens and the majority of the Cubans who live in the United States are also victims of the unjustifiable prohibitions of the blockade.

In order for the blockade to be lifted, is Cuba willing to make concessions that would impinge on its principles? No, and a thousand times over, no. We know the price of independence; we have fought for it for 130 years. We have tasted the sweetness of freedom, and there is no power in the world that can make us renounce it.

The lifting of the blockade and the end of the economic war against Cuba would require the government of the United States to adopt the following decisions:

1. To repeal the Helms-Burton Act, whose numerous aggressive measures against Cuba include heavy sanctions for businesspeople from third countries who do business with Cuba. We know some of these businesspeople; they and their families have been denied visas to travel to the United States, but they have maintained their operations in Cuba with dignity.

2. To repeal the Torricelli Act, whose measures include prohibiting ships that have touched port in Cuba from entering U.S. ports. The act also prohibits subsidiaries of U.S. companies in third countries from selling goods to Cuba; up until 1992, our country made some 700 million dollars in purchases from such subsidiaries annually, primarily in food and medicines.

3. To eliminate the absurd prohibition by which goods imported by the United States from any other country cannot contain any Cuban raw materials whatsoever. Is it really justifiable to demand of a Japanese car manufacturer that in order to export to the United States, it must certify that the steel used contains no Cuban nickel? Is it justifiable to demand of a Canadian candy company that its products contain no Cuban sugar?

4. To stop the relentless persecution currently carried out around the globe by U.S. embassies and government agencies against any potential business with Cuba, and against any attempt by Cuba to enter a new market or receive a credit.

5. To allow Cuba access to the U.S. and international financial system. If Cuba had had access to the 53 billion dollars loaned by international and regional financial institutions to Latin America and the Caribbean between 1997 and 2000, it would have received loans totaling roughly 1.2 billion dollars, under conditions that are incomparably more favorable than those that Cuba can currently obtain.

6. To allow Cuba to use the U.S. dollar for its transactions abroad, not only with U.S. companies, but also with companies in third countries, something that is currently prohibited by the regulations of the blockade. As a consequence of this, Cuba is constantly forced to carry out currency exchange transactions, and thereby loses money as a result of fluctuations in exchange rates.

7. To authorize Cuba to freely make purchases, like any other country, in the U.S. market. This could signify annual purchases of over a billion dollars, if only one-quarter of Cuba’s current imports were to come from the United States, at better prices and with a considerable savings in freight and insurance costs and greater ease of transportation.

8. To authorize Cuba to freely export, like any other country, to the U.S. market. This would not only benefit Cuba, through access to a new market, but would also give the people of the United States access to Cuban products, like our famous cigars, or the vaccine against meningococcal meningitis, the only one of its kind in the world.

9. To allow U.S. citizens to freely travel to Cuba as tourists. This would allow Cuba to welcome at least a million and a half visitors, who would in turn have the chance to travel to one of the safest, most hospitable countries in the world.

10. To return the Cuban assets frozen in U.S. banks, a part of which have already been unjustly and arbitrarily stolen.

11. To authorize U.S. companies to invest in Cuba, where they would receive non-discriminatory treatment in relation to other foreign investors, with all of the guarantees established by Cuban legislation.

12. To establish regulations for the protection of Cuban trademarks and patents in the United States, in accordance with international legislation on intellectual property rights. When this happens, there will be no possibility of such dishonest acts as, for example, the theft of the Cuban rum brand name Havana Club by a U.S. company.

13. To eliminate the discriminatory measures that currently prevent Cubans living in the United States from freely traveling to Cuba and helping their relatives on the island economically. Cubans comprise the only immigrant community in the United States subject to these measures today.

14. To negotiate with Cuba a fair and honorable arrangement to provide compensation for the nearly 6000 U.S. companies and citizens whose properties were nationalized in the first years of the Revolution, as part of a sovereignly adopted step essential for the country’s economic and social development. It was in fact the blockade that prevented U.S. citizens from receiving the corresponding compensation. Cuba recognizes their rights, and would be willing to reach an agreement that also takes into account the extremely heavy economic and human damages and losses inflicted on our country by the blockade.

Mr. Chairman:

An end to the policy of aggression against Cuba, relentlessly and rigorously implemented by ten successive U.S. administrations over the course of more than four decades, and the establishment of normal relations between our two countries, would require the government of the United States to adopt the following decisions:

1. The repeal of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of illegal emigrants, including children. The latest tragedy took place last week. A migrant trafficking operation ended in the shipwreck of a boat that had set out from Miami and illegally picked up a group of people on the Cuban coast, with a tragic toll of over 30 deaths, including numerous children. At a time like this, when the United States is stepping up the protection of its borders, its refusal to help regulate the migratory traffic between our two countries would be inexplicably contradictory. Cuba has proposed a substantial expansion of the immigration agreement currently in force, and is waiting for a reply.

2. Cooperation with Cuba in the fight against drug trafficking. Today there is very limited cooperation in this area. Cuba has proposed a substantial increase in this cooperation, including the signing of an anti-drug agreement, and is now waiting for a reply from the United States.

3. An end to the illegal television and radio broadcasts aimed at Cuba. How can it be justified someday that the government of the United States devoted almost 400 million dollars to this subversive program, in order to pander to the extremist minority in Miami that profits from this funding, when that money could have been spent, for example, on computers for public schools in that country’s poor neighborhoods?

4. An end to the unjust and arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the list of states that sponsor terrorism, compiled by the Department of State. This is an affront to the Cuban people, who have in fact, as everyone knows, been the victims of countless terrorist acts organized and financed with total impunity from U.S. territory.

5. An end to the attempts to foment subversion within Cuba, which even involve the use of large sums of money from the U.S. federal budget. An end to the slander and pressure campaigns waged against our country in international organizations. An end to the impunity enjoyed by terrorist groups that have undertaken terrorist acts against Cuba from Miami.

6. The renunciation of the continued occupation, against the sovereign will of the Cuban people, of the territory occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base. Although there are currently respectful and cooperative relations between U.S. and Cuban military personnel there, perhaps foreshadowing the potential for official relations between our two countries someday, and although it seems that the years when young Cubans were murdered from the base are now behind us, Cuba has not renounced the goal of regaining its sovereignty over this territory someday through political and peaceful means. If this were to happen, it would mark the end of a bitter chapter in relations between Cuba and the United States.

Mr. Chairman:

The blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba must be lifted. The resolutions consistently adopted by this Assembly since 1992 cannot continue to be ignored.

The blockade is illegal. It violates the Charter of the United Nations, and infringes on international trade and the freedom of navigation. It imposes sanctions on businesspeople from third countries, which constitutes blatantly extraterritorial conduct.

The blockade has neither ethical nor legal justification. It violates the Geneva Conventions. It deprives the Cuban people of access to food and medicine, something prohibited by international law even in times of war.

The blockade does not enjoy majority support in the United States. In the Senate and the House of Representatives, there is an obvious consensus in favor of changing this policy. The press, the churches, the business sector and average citizens have increasingly come to question why a country that does not pose a threat to the United States, and does not consider itself an enemy of its people, is treated like an enemy nonetheless.

The blockade violates the rights of the people of the United States, in order to serve the petty interests of an unscrupulous minority that has not even hesitated to use violence and terrorism against the Cuban people.

The blockade violates the rights of Cubans who live in the United States. It prevents them from maintaining normal relations with their families in Cuba.

The blockade has caused economic damages to Cuba of over 70 billion dollars, in addition to even higher sums resulting from the human injuries and economic damages inflicted on our people throughout more than 40 years of armed aggression, sabotage and terrorism, for which our country has justly demanded compensation.

The blockade is rejected by the international community. Last year, for the ninth consecutive time, this Assembly called for the lifting of the blockade against Cuba with 167 votes in favor of the corresponding resolution.

The blockade is the gravest violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.

The blockade is maintained as the result of U.S. internal politics. It is said that the minority that demands the continuation of the blockade has electoral influence, and uses its money and votes to fight any changes. It is said that this is the way politics work in the United States, and the rules simply have to be accepted. And I ask myself: Can such reasons really be used to justify the attempt to force an entire people into surrender through hunger and disease?

Mr. Chairman:

Those who interpret these words as a lament are mistaken. Those who confuse our lack of hatred with weakness are mistaken. Those who believe that the people of Cuba can be forced into surrender are mistaken. Those who think that we Cubans are willing to give up our independence and our freedom are mistaken. Those who imagine that we Cubans will give up the social justice we have achieved are mistaken.

In the name of the Cuban people, in the name of international law, in the name of reason, in the name of justice, I ask the General Assembly of the United Nations to express once again its support for the effective ending of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba.

Thank you very much.