A better world is possible
NAM has special role to play in its conquest :
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Excerpts from the Address of Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz at the
XV NAM Summit, at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on July 15, 2009
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The Non-aligned countries are the ones most affected by the global
economic crisis. Hundreds of millions of people in the world, especially
in our countries, are the victims of illiteracy, unemployment, hunger,
poverty and curable diseases, which condemn the human beings in the
South of the planet to live shorter and harder lives than those in the
industrialized North.
Global economic crisis
Paradoxically, as it is usually the case, this crisis originated in
the rich countries due to the structural unbalance and irrationality of
an international economic system based on the blind laws of the market,
on selfishness and consumerism and on the squandering of a few at the
expense of the suffering of our peoples. We call for the urgent
construction of a new international financial architecture where every
country has a real participation, particularly the developing nations.
The current crisis cannot be solved with cosmetic measures that actually
try to preserve a deeply flawed, unfair, unequal and ineffective
economic system. The solution of the global economic crisis demands a
re-founding of the international monetary system. The new currency
pattern to be established should not depend on the economic stability,
legislation or political decisions of only one state, its power and
influence notwithstanding.
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Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz |
The new system should acknowledge the particular situation of the
developing nations and grant them a special and differential treatment.
It should also promote a fair and equitable international economic order
based on sustainable development whose institutions subordinate to the
United Nations system.
NAM expands
In 1961, we were 25 countries in the NAM, and Cuba was the only Latin
American country. Today, we have 118 member states which make up the
majority of the international community. But we have not only grown in
number, as history has also showed the justice of our aspirations and
goals. Our demands can no longer be ignored, nor can any decision be
adopted on the main problems affecting mankind without the active
participation of NAM.
The Non-aligned countries are facing numerous and grave challenges.
Never before was inequality as prevalent in the world, nor were
inequities as deep; but as challenges have grown so have our Movement’s
resilience and strength. We have confronted threats and aggressions and
condemned unfair treatment in international trade and finances, and we
have urged our full involvement in the main world governmental forums. A
decisive part of Cuba’s term at the head of NAM was concurrent with one
of the most aggressive and hegemonic governments ever in the United
States, and a violator of international law.
Bandung principles
The actions of NAM, even under the most complex circumstances, have
been guided by the founding principles of Bandung, and more recently by
the ‘Declaration on purposes and principles’ and ‘The role of NAM in the
current international juncture’ adopted at the 14th Summit in Havana.
Both documents spell out a program to jointly face the enormous
challenges to the struggle for a better world where our peoples’ right
to peace, self-determination and development are respected. It is
important to carry on with the systematic assessment of NAM’s mechanisms
and methodology to be able to use all of their potential. The leadership
of the Chairman is crucial. His authority can be consolidated by
building consensus and steadily defending the agreements adopted and
their subsequent implementation.
The agreements adopted will remain a legacy to the Plan of Action of
the Non-Aligned Movement. The promotion of multilateralism and
democratization in international relations, and full respect for the UN
Charter and International Law are inherent in the very existence and the
effective work of NAM. We have rejected antidemocratic methods and the
lack of transparency as well as the obstacles to full participation and
discrimination in multilateral negotiations and discussions.
NAM should be present in every relevant multilateral scene to
advocate the interests of the developing nations. Its premise will never
be competition but rather complementation with other coordination
mechanisms of the South countries. In this token, major progress has
been attained in the work of the Joint Coordinating Committee of NAM and
the G-77, an increasingly strong instrument whose impact is growing;
therefore, it should continue to receive our full support.
Peace and security
The preservation of international peace and security should remain a
basic priority of the Movement. Meanwhile, the total removal of nuclear
weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are still urgent but
pending goals. We are still far from reaching our objectives in that
area; therefore, we should continue working until their realization. It
is irrational that while annual military expenses are rapidly increasing
and already touch the scaring figure of 1.46 billion dollars almost 60
per cent concentrated in only one country the number of starving people
in the world is reaching one billion.
The resources allocated today to the war industry should be used in
education, healthcare and culture as well as in the economic and social
well-being of our peoples, but this calls for political will and true
commitment. It requires giving up hegemonic projects, the threat and use
of force, selfishness and the reckless squandering of a few. It calls
for the removal of an international order based on the implementation of
imperial plans. Another priority of NAM has been to ensure a broader
participation of the South in the proceedings and decision-making
process of the UN Security Council.
Support for the just Palestinian cause and those of other occupied
Arab peoples has been and will continue to be at the center of NAM’s
actions. We have not hesitated in condemning the aggressions and crimes
of the occupying power, Israel, and we shall not rest until the
fulfillment of the demands of our Palestinian and Arab brothers. There
is no other way but dialogue and negotiation to attain a just and
lasting peace in the entire Middle East region; and this cannot avoid
the foundation of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem
as its capital.
Honduras
On the other hand, NAM is determined to continue to support one of
its members, the fraternal people of the Republic of Honduras, in its
struggle against the brutal coup d‚tat that ousted the Constitutional
Government of that country. It is also NAM’s duty to urge respect for
the UN General Assembly’s agreement to return President Jose Manuel
Zelaya to his position without humiliating preconditions, and to
continue denouncing the repression and murdering of our Honduran
brothers and sisters.
The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries is an indispensable actor in
the Human Rights Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We should be
prepared for the institutional review of the Human Rights Council.
We have pressing goals to reach at the WHO such as curbing the death
toll of 10 million children every year from preventable diseases;
reversing the 40-year difference between life expectancy in the richest
and poorest countries; expanding the training of healthcare personnel in
the developing nations; and, demanding greater attention to diseases
affecting our peoples.
Solidarity
Cuba is a small developing country with no resources to spare.
Additionally, it has endured the longest, most encompassing and cruel
system of unilateral sanctions imposed by a powerful State. Actually,
despite the almost unanimous outcry of the international community, the
rejection of its own people and the promises of change of the new U.S.
administration, the truth is that the same illegal blockade decreed
against Cuba almost five decades ago is still being enforced today with
maximum rigor.
Allow me once again to express our appreciation for the solidarity of
the countries that steadily demand the immediate removal of that morally
unsustainable and unjust policy which intensifies the impact of the
world economic and financial crisis on my homeland.
Yet, under such challenging conditions, our people has modestly
proven what can be done in terms of solidarity and international
cooperation, particularly in the health area, when there is a political
will. At the moment, almost 51,000 Cuban workers are assisting in 98
countries to save lives, prevent diseases or contribute to development
while over 32,000 youth from 118 countries, mostly in the Third World,
are studying free of charge in our educational centers, 78 per cent of
them in medical schools.
These numbers account for only a small part of what could be done if
selfishness yielded to cooperation and solidarity; if we united in the
struggle against a system of exploitation and plundering that tends to
reproduce underdevelopment and widen the gap between a limited group of
rich nations, where barely 20 per cent of the world population lives,
and an extensive periphery made up by our countries, where 80 per cent
of mankind lives.
We are convinced that a better world is possible and that the
Non-Aligned Movement has an essential role to play in its conquest. But,
even if what we have done together is encouraging, it is still more
important that we are aware of huge looming challenges. |
