YouSaid · the spoken record

Requeijo Gual

lines on the record: 94
first: 2002-03-30
most recent: 2005-10-26
sittings or episodes: 13
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“For more than three decades, those terrorists carried out horrible crimes against the Cuban people, who hope that they will be sentenced in the trial so that justice will prevail over impunity. Cuba categorically rejects the insidious statements of senior United States officials, who have referred repeatedly to alleged plans in my country to develop weapons of mass destruction. The most recent of those statements was made in Japan in mid- February. Through such false statements, the Government of the United States seeks to create conditions enabling it to expand its aggressive policy, which could even lead to military aggression. Similarly, we reject the arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on a United States list of countries that supposedly support terrorism.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“Cuba has never carried out, financed, tolerated or permitted a terrorist act - not even in self-defence - against the direct authors or masterminds of abominable crimes against our people that the Cuban American National Foundation and other groups belonging to Miami's terrorist mafia have of late financed, organized and carried out from United States territory with absolute impunity - including bombings, attempts to assassinate Cuban leaders and attacks against targets vital to our economy. On 15 March in Panama, there will be a trial of four terrorists of Cuban origin, who, following the instructions of similar organizations based in the United States - from where they operate with total impunity - planned an attack against the Cuban President during the Ibero-American Summit held in November 2000 in that country.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“We have also cooperated, on our own initiative and in good faith, with the Security Council and its Counter-Terrorism Committee, to which we have submitted three exhaustive reports in a timely manner; we are now preparing a fourth. In addition, we have actively supported the negotiation of a comprehensive anti-terrorism convention. Cuba has never permitted its territory to be used for terrorist actions against any State, without exception, and has stated that it will do everything in its power to prevent that from happening in the future.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“We need to wage an international fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism, with the participation of Third World countries as equals, transcending political, religious or other any other kind of differences, in order to build a just world of free peoples and sovereign, independent States - a world without international terrorism. Cuba was one of the first three countries to ratify the 12 international instruments on terrorism as a contribution to the international confrontation against such acts. In December 2001, Cuba adopted its Law 93 against acts of terrorism and additional effective non- legislative measures.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“Nor will any progress be made through the promulgation of laws authorizing the extrajudicial execution or arbitrary detention of a country's nationals or of foreign citizens, through covert actions violating laws and borders, through the manipulation of public opinion, through discrimination against or persecution of immigrants, through disregard of international humanitarian law, through the violation of human rights or the restriction of civil liberties inherent in the rule of law, through unilateral sanctions or through the listing or certification of countries for dark political purposes.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): My Government thanks the Chairman of the Counter- Terrorism Committee (CTC) for the revitalization proposals set out in the annex to document S/2004/ 124. In that connection, we believe all Member States would benefit if the CTC could be more effective in its work. Cuba believes that unilateral actions or pre- emptive wars on the part of one State or a group of States - however powerful they may be - using the fight against terrorism as a pretext are totally unacceptable and deserve categorical condemnation. There will be progress only through international cooperation, not through acts of war, aggression or revenge, which will only lead to more violence.”
2004-03-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4921 (2004) · source
“Once again, we reaffirm Cuba's firm intention to continue to help in every possible way to achieve a peaceful, just and lasting solution to the situation in Haiti. We hope that, given the grave situation facing that brotherly country, the United Nations and the international community as a whole will rise to the level required by events.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“Cuban medical personnel, who are abiding strictly by the principle of non-interference in Haiti's internal affairs, are honourably carrying out their noble mission of tending to the health of the Haitian people. If all of what I have described is proof of what even a small and blockaded country can do for Haiti, then other States that have ample economic and financial resources can do much more in terms of providing cooperation and official development assistance to that brotherly Caribbean country. In particular, the Cuban people feel they are fulfilling their duty and honouring a debt of gratitude to the peoples of the Caribbean, who have been so steadfast in their unwavering friendship and solidarity with Cuba.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“Cuba has also provided assistance to the country with regard to promoting literacy, training Haitian doctors, sanitation, aquaculture, food security, culture, road construction and the functioning of Darbonne's main sugar refinery. In the light of the current domestic tensions in this brotherly country, which have resulted in the departure of a number of foreign residents, our Government on 10 February explicitly instructed our Embassy staff in Port-au-Prince to remain in place, working uninterrupted with all the members of the Cuban medical brigade throughout the country. In addition, given the obstacles that may arise with regard to the availability of medicines, Cuba sent a 12.2-ton shipment of 525 units of nearly 80 medicines on 11 February to enable each Cuban medical volunteer to successfully perform his or her work.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“Cuba currently has a medical brigade in Haiti composed of 525 volunteers, of whom 332 are doctors. They are scattered throughout the country's departments and serve 75 per cent of the 8.3 million Haitians. To have an idea of the importance of their work, one must know that Haiti has fewer than 2,000 doctors, 90 per cent of whom provide their services in the country's capital. In the past five years, Cuban doctors in Haiti have conducted nearly 5 million medical appointments, assisted in almost 45,000 births and performed 59,000 surgical interventions. It is estimated that nearly 86,000 human lives have been saved by Cuban health workers in Haiti.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“We support the efforts of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) towards a just and peaceful resolution of the current situation in Haiti. We firmly condemn all the acts of violence taking place in that country and deplore the ongoing casualties and material damage. The Cuban assistance personnel currently in Haiti will continue to abide strictly by the principle of non-interference in that country's internal affairs. The security of those personnel must be fully guaranteed. Likewise, the integrity of the Cuban Embassy and of all its personnel remaining in Port-au-Prince must be fully respected. Despite the critical situation in Haiti, Cuban volunteers continue to work at their posts. Cuban doctors, in particular, continue to provide their services to the Haitian people, who now need them so much.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Cuba is following events in Haiti closely and with great concern. Haiti is a brother Caribbean nation with which we have close historic ties. It is the duty of us all to stand by the side of Haiti. Let us not forget that it was in Haiti, some 200 years ago, that the peoples of the Caribbean and Latin American began their struggle for freedom. The international community must help Haiti at this crucial time in its history. To the old problems, with their roots in colonialism and exploitation, new, burning troubles have been added, related to the unjust and exclusionary international economic order. Cuba will continue to adhere strictly to its principled position of non-interference in the internal affairs of any country, including Haiti.”
2004-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4917 (2004) · source
“We must stop equating an oppressive and occupying army with a heroic people struggling for freedom and dignity. Cuba will continue tirelessly to denounce all these manipulations and distortions, all these crimes and this genocide being perpetrated before our very eyes against the Arab peoples, in particular the Palestinian people. Cuba will continue to denounce, with force and conviction, violations of resolutions, of Charter precepts, of international law and of international humanitarian law.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“The unlimited protection granted to Israel by the United States must cease. The atrocities committed by Israel with the consent of the United States must cease. The human rights violations perpetrated by Israel and tolerated by the United States must be rejected and punished in a way that sets an example. The violations of temples of various faiths by Israeli military troops must come to a complete end. We cannot allow the Council's credibility to remain hostage to the designs of one of its members, no matter how powerful and predominant it may be, protected by the immoral weapon of the veto. A few days ago, we appealed in this forum for hypocrisy and diplomatic formalism to be set aside. We cannot wait any longer to act effectively and swiftly. We have had enough imposition of criteria that reality has revealed as ridiculous.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Could the Government of the United States muster some courage and truly believe in its self- assigned role as the global champion of democracy and human rights, and propose in this organization resolutions condemning the Israeli authorities for their contempt for the most fundamental human rights of the Arab and Palestinian populations, including the right to life? No, no, no. The Council has held countless meetings, with innumerable hours of denunciations and condemnations, and death and horror continue to prevail in the Palestinian territories flagrantly occupied by Israel. Nothing has been resolved. Israel suffers from a type of deafness that seems irreversible, and it scoffs at whatever we say and propose here. Perhaps a solution would be to stop talking to the puppet and demand more of the puppetmaster.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Could the Government of the United States vote in the Security Council in favour of sanctions, restrictions, limitations and penalties against the Government of Israel, as it has done with boundless enthusiasm against other countries whose Governments it does not happen to like? Obviously not. Could the Government of the United States decide to put an immediate end to the tremendous economic subsidies that it provides year after year to maintain Israel's exaggerated military apparatus, which is used in its attacks of aggression and repression against the neighbouring Arab countries and against the civil Palestinian population? Of course not.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“We do this on the basis of the strength and the moral virtue we possess as victims even now of direct aggression of all types. Could the Government of the United States suspend sending the latest generation of weapons to the Israeli army, which uses them against a defenceless, civilian population? The answer is no. Could the Government of the United States apply unilateral, coercive, economic measures and sanctions against the Government of Israel until it decides finally to comply with the many resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, which it flouts and tramples on with complete contempt? Of course not.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Can it be that the Government of the only surviving superpower of our times does not have the necessary mechanisms to "persuade" - to use the same word used by the State Department - its closest ally in the Middle East to comply with the demands of the Security Council, which it apparently voted in favour of in our presence? There is only one word for this: complicity. It is enough to glance at the messages that we receive from the White House, repeating ad nauseam the same unbalanced refrain: the Palestinians must do more; the Palestinians must condemn terrorism; the Palestinians must give up their aspirations; the Palestinians...et cetera. Always repeating the same thing to avoid the truth. My delegation comes here today to denounce the immorality and the double standards of American foreign policy.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“The withdrawal of Israeli troops from the scant number of Palestinian areas that enjoyed limited autonomy is a fluctuating phenomenon and not at all permanent: the Israeli army withdraws then returns to the cities, towns and refugee camps. What should we do now? Should we sit quietly and wait patiently for the Secretary of State to find time in his busy schedule to return to the region? How many Palestinian and Israeli civilians must die before United States strategists feel like taking another look at events in the Middle East and try again to take us for fools with their supposed mediation of scant credibility?”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“The example of President Arafat, harassed, besieged, deprived of water and electricity, with barely any means of communication with the outside world and confronted by the tanks and bulldozers demolishing the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Ramallah, constitutes vivid testimony that he continues to adhere to his ideals and that, although the Secretary of State pretends not to realize it, President Arafat and the Palestinian people elected many years ago their own strategic option: to fight for the right to self- determination and to create their own independent, sovereign State in their own territories, with its capital in East Jerusalem. The immediate ceasefire demanded in recent resolutions, including Security Council resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002), continues to be flouted with total impunity.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“I should like to ask, who should be disappointed with whom? Can we be disappointed with the actions of President Arafat? What we have seen over the past few days and what has been said in recent debates in the Council indicate several things. The heroic resistance of the Palestinian people against the illegal Israeli occupier remains firm despite the hundreds of dead - which they are not allowed even to count - accumulating in the towns and refugee camps.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Nor was it related to any threats to the security of the distinguished traveller. This procrastination did not augur well, and the final outcome comes as no surprise. The initiative of the Secretary of State has been a resounding failure. But, let us be frank. Was it possible to expect any other outcome? Of course not. All of us here know that very well. The text of the joint declaration by the Secretary-General, the European Union, the United States and the Russian Federation was not applied. Mr. Powell said at a press conference, just before returning to his country, that he was disappointed with President Arafat, who, in his opinion, could do more because the time had come for him to adopt "a strategic decision". Sentences such as this will be recorded in the history of contemporary shamefulness.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Once again, for the third time in the month of April, I must thank you, Mr. President, for convening this open meeting of the Security Council in response to the growing call of the immense majority of the Member States of the United Nations, who are concerned by the continuing deterioration and worsening of the crisis in the Middle East, especially in Palestine. As we waited with great patience for the long- hoped for initiative of the United States Secretary of State in the Middle East, the massacres and repression perpetrated against the Palestinians continued. These have been 10 extremely long days. The long delay in the trip from Washington to Ramallah had nothing to do with the technologically advanced modes of transportation that are used nowadays.”
2002-04-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4515 (2002) · source
“Meanwhile, we will continue to denounce and condemn the failure to act and the impunity with which resolutions, the principles of the Charter, international law and international humanitarian law are violated. We will also speak, fearlessly and frankly, with right on our side, with total independence and with faith that justice will overcome iniquity.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“All - not just some - of the human rights of the Palestinian people must be respected, including their most precious right, the right of which they are deprived every day: the right to life. Cuba will not cease to denounce, strongly and loudly, the crimes committed against Arab peoples, especially against the Palestinian people. Cuba will not cease to denounce the daily manipulation and distortion of the situation. Cuba will continue to denounce the double standards used in this Council - a Council that is rendered impotent by the threat or the use of the veto. One day soon, justice will be done, and a just and lasting peace will be achieved in the Middle East region for the benefit of all the peoples who live there.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“I call on the members of the Security Council and of the United Nations as a whole: let us do away with hypocrisy and rhetoric; let us leave diplomatic formalities on one side. These massacres must be brought to an end. The Government of Israel must be compelled to abide by the provisions of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and to respect minimum rules of coexistence and behaviour among States. Specific and effective action - not half- measures - must be taken. This should include the immediate dispatch of an impartial international force - I stress the word "impartial" - mandated by the Security Council to ensure compliance with a ceasefire and to demand the effective withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian cities. State terrorism must be brought to an end.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“It is impossible to accept that somebody may be an honest and credible mediator while being both judge and party, when he or she gives unlimited support to all the atrocities committed or supports militarily, politically and economically, with enormous subsidies estimated to be around $5 billion annually, a military and political machine trained and ready to kill and plunder with hatred and brutality, using the alleged pretext of defending its nation and ensuring its national security. Unfortunately, timid voices can still be heard in the Council appealing to the parties as if they were fighting on an equal footing. How much longer will this despicable blindness continue?”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“That member uses it undemocratically every time something is supposedly done - even if just the touch of a rose petal - that might affect the Israeli regime: that country to which some attach the label of democracy, despite so many abuses that are committed in the illegally occupied Arab territories and despite its flagrant and ongoing failure to comply with many General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, whose paper has yellowed in archives where they await implementation. Israel's disregard for what we do will persist while the alleged mediators, who may be effective in negotiations, continue to maintain deceitful and unbalanced stands when they speak with the conflicting parties.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“How long is it going to play unscrupulously with the lives of millions of human beings? If this situation continues to deteriorate, will we have to come here one day to make speeches condemning the use of weapons of mass destruction against concentrations of Palestinian people or against Arab neighbouring countries? Of course, this disregard for what we do in this forum on behalf of the overwhelming majority of Member States is based on the absolute certainty and confidence provided by the indecent umbrella of the use or the threat of the use of the veto by one permanent member.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens continue to be surrounded by tanks while they are brutally attacked from state-of-the-art helicopter gunships or military equipment. And the Israelis still think that this is how the determination of an entire people will yield, a people who aspire only to living in peace in their own free and independent State. We are going to speak very clearly and frankly. The credibility of the Security Council is on tenterhooks. If the situation continues like this, the Security Council must adopt broad and credible measures and must assume the authority and responsibilities assigned to it by the Charter of the United Nations. How long is the Government of Israel going to mock Council resolutions and the calls and demands of the overwhelming majority of the international community?”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The massacres continue. Repression continues. Threats to the physical integrity and the dignity of the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat, continue. Arbitrary detentions, mistreatment and humiliation continue. Attacks against temples of different creeds continue. The tanks of the Israeli army continue to destroy houses, offices and the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah and other cities in the West Bank. The images of hundreds of children and young people with their hands bound, their eyes blindfolded and their heads hooded being taken to detention camps burst onto our television screens, despite the ferocious censure and manipulation of what is happening there.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Allow me to express our gratitude to you, Mr. President, for having convened this open meeting of the Security Council in response to the growing call of the overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States, who are concerned about the continuation and the deepening of the crisis in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the situation that once again brings us together today has not improved. To the contrary, it has worsened despite the appeals made by resolutions 1402 (2002) and 1403 (2002) and the trip of new envoys to the area. The Israeli Government's disregard for everything we have discussed here over recent days fills us with indignation. Not even the little that is recorded in resolutions, which are diligently prepared to maintain so-called balance, is respected or taken into account.”
2002-04-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4510Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Cuba believes that the only path towards the genuine and lasting peace that all desire is negotiation, mutual respect and the effective support of the entire international community for those efforts. My delegation reiterates its support for the legitimate struggle of the Arab peoples and for that of the Palestinian people in particular towards the realization of its aspirations as a people and a nation, including its inalienable right to build its sovereign and independent State with its capital in East Jerusalem. At the same time, Cuba demands that the Security Council fully assume its obligations in order to prevent once and for all the consummation of the genocide that is unfolding behind walls of silence and in the absence of the delegation that should be here listening to these words and taking them carefully into consideration.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The world cannot remain a passive spectator of the tragedy that continues to unfold day by day in the Middle East. Never before has there been greater justification for the demand for the immediate deployment of an international force mandated by the Security Council to ensure effective compliance in the field with resolutions that have been adopted after strenuous efforts to overcome the veto barrier. The policy of aggression against the Arab peoples, the Palestinian people in particular, must cease. The illegal occupation of Arab territories must cease. The disproportionate and desperate use of violence against civilians, Palestinians and Israelis alike, must cease. The language of force and terror, be it expressed in isolated incidents or through state terrorism under a different name, must be silenced.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“There are no valid pretexts to justify massacres, selective assassination, mass detention, extrajudicial execution, the forced exile of Palestinians from the land of their birth, attacks on religious sanctuaries that serve to provide refuge to threatened civilians, torture and denigrating and inhuman ill-treatment. Nothing can justify an entire people being denied the full enjoyment of its most elementary rights as a nation. The Security Council, and its permanent members in particular, must put an end to the ongoing policy of the Government of Israel to ignore the Council's resolutions, including an end to the illegal occupation of Arab territories. Nothing will ever be resolved if we do not act with firmness, courage and resolve.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“The pretexts and justifications being brandished to justify that situation clearly indicate the moral duplicity of those who threaten, or use, paralysing vetoes. Those of us who are here have seen how the double standard is applied in the Council, as well as the different degrees of emergency and speed in the adoption and subsequent implementation of resolutions, as if the lives of some human beings were less valuable than those of others. In recent days, we have been listening to how the issue of terrorism is manipulated and how oppression and the illegal occupation of territories are justified under the right of self-defence. This must be denounced and rejected as firmly as possible.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“There are emergency closed-door meetings in the Security Council to try to resolve the situation, and nothing happens. Early in the morning of Saturday, 30 March, the Council adopted resolution 1402 (2002) - a resolution pallid and ambiguous as few others have been. Despite the emergency nature of the situation, the timid provisions of the resolution continue unimplemented, and nothing happens. It looks as though resolution 1402 (2002) will suffer the same sad fate of earlier resolutions - such as resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978) - whose full implementation has been pending for many years without the Council adopting the necessary measures to insure full compliance with their provisions.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Unfortunately, we the Member States of the United Nations remain aware of the inability of the Security Council to carry out the functions so clearly ascribed to it in the Charter of the United Nations with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. The situation is deteriorating moment by moment, and nothing happens. Bombs and bulldozers are being used to destroy the headquarters of the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority inch by inch, and nothing happens. Dignity is trampled underfoot and the physical integrity of President Yasser Arafat is placed in danger - someone whom for many years we have hosted in the Organization and to whom we have accorded the well-deserved rank of head of State - and nothing happens.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Allow me to express our pleasure at seeing you, Mr. President, presiding over the work of the Security Council during the month of April, precisely at a time when the situation in the Middle East is undergoing an almost unprecedented deterioration. My delegation trusts in your experience and wisdom in leading the work of the Council in an expeditious and resolute manner. The news that continues to arrive from the occupied Palestinian territories remains horrifying. Not even censorship and the ham-fisted manipulation by those who control the media at the global level have prevented the daily arrival of some of the horrible scenes of destruction and death that appear as if they were already something usual in our lives.”
2002-04-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4506Resumption1 (2002) · source
“We demand the immediate and unconditional cessation of Israeli aggression against the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah and the re- establishment of power and telecommunications service to the offices of President Arafat, whose example of valour and struggle have already found a page in history. Presidential statements that solve nothing are not enough, nor are hollow commitments and new promises that are never kept. The Security Council must act decisively and firmly. It must discharge its obligations without delay or it will quite simply cloak itself in shame once again by virtue ofits impotence.”
2002-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4503 (2002) · source
“Cuba fully supports the heroic struggle of the Arab people, and the Palestinian people in particular, against Israel's occupation and aggression. We feel solidarity with their resistance and their rebellion. We reiterate our condemnation of all suicidal acts with bombs or other acts against Israeli civilians, who become innocent victims of their Government's policy. We also reject the clumsy manipulation being made of these isolated acts in order to attempt to justify the disproportionate response by an army that is equipped and funded by the United States of America and that, with the most modern means, is trying to crush the spirit of rebellion of the heroic Palestinian people in its struggle to gain the exercise of its most legitimate rights. Cuba demands full respect for the physical integrity and dignity of President Arafat.”
2002-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4503 (2002) · source
“The paralysis of the Council with respect to the question of Palestine and the Middle East in general is manifest not only when it fails to adopt resolutions that are urgently needed, but also when it fails to act to ensure compliance with those that it has already adopted. The cycle of uncontrolled violence has reached unheard levels. We wonder how many more deaths there will be, how much more suffering and destruction before we put an end to this escalation of violence. Is it even possible? My delegation reiterates the need to establish a protection force or some other analogous, impartial mechanism that can protect the civilian population, observe the ceasefire and monitor the situation on the ground.”
2002-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4503 (2002) · source
“From virtual house arrest we have moved to armed aggression against the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. How much longer will the Security Council flagrantly shirk its responsibilities? How much longer will we be victims of paralysing vetoes or the threat of vetoes that prevent this organ, supposedly entrusted with carrying out functions clearly enshrined in the United Nations Charter as regards peacekeeping and international security, from taking immediate and emergency measures? In addition to the genocide that has been committed for so many years against an oppressed and occupied people, are we now to allow regicide to occur?”
2002-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4503 (2002) · source
“Mr. Requeijo Gual (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Mr. President, allow me, first of all, to convey my delegation's congratulations to you for the excellent manner in which you have guided the work of the Council during the month of March and to thank you for convening this meeting. Once again the Security Council has to meet on an emergency basis in order to examine the deplorable consequences of a conflict that has lasted for several decades without any just and honourable solution being found to the satisfaction of all parties. The escalation of violence has reached unprecedented levels of danger in the dramatic and sorrowful history ofthis conflict. Those of us who have been following the events of recent hours see a veritable nightmare that begs us to ask different questions.”
2002-03-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4503 (2002) · source