YouSaid · the spoken record

Reyes Rodriguez

lines on the record: 124
first: 2013-01-15
most recent: 2016-08-23
sittings or episodes: 16
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

“We reaffirm our conviction that the only absolute guarantee for preventing the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction, including by terrorists, is the complete and immediate elimination and prohibition of all nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth. No measure will be fully effective in preventing the occurrence of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction as long as such weapons continue to exist.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“At the same time, Cuba believes that international cooperation in the implementation of the obligations and commitments, as well as technical assistance, without conditions or discrimination, plays a key role. We believe that resolution 1540 (2004) must, as a priority, preserve its non-proliferation component. Cuba believe that the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) should play an important role in assisting States in its implementation, which is the purpose for which it was created. The actions of the Security Council must not undermine existing multilateral treaties on weapons of mass destruction, international organizations established in connection with those treaties or the role of the General Assembly.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“In connection with the review process of resolution 1540 (2004) that is taking place this year, Cuba has stressed that the resolution should include a reference to the imperative of total and complete disarmament and the link between non-proliferation and disarmament. Cuba supports the urgent start of negotiations aimed at reaching agreement on an inclusive nuclear-weapons convention that ensures the prohibition of such weapons as well as their irreversible, transparent and verifiable elimination. Cuba is meeting its obligations and commitments under the relevant international treaties to which it is a party. The full implementation of the relevant international instruments is an effective way to prevent the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“With new and modified nuclear warheads, modern intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic systems and sophisticated drones, our planet will not be a safer world. In Cuba, in accordance with the international obligations that we have assumed under the NPT, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention and the International Atomic Energy Agency, all of our programmes in the nuclear, chemical and biological fields have a strictly peaceful character and are directed to the socioeconomic development of the country. Similarly, the Cuban State has adopted a set of measures to ensure that no terrorist acts, which we condemn outright, are committed in the country, nor do we permit the organization or financing of acts of that type against other States.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“We are deeply concerned about the threat posed by the existence of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. We regret that the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) ended without an agreement. We also regret the lack of political will shown by certain nuclear-weapon States and others protected by the so-called nuclear umbrella. As a result, it has proved impossible to put an end to the serious situation of parties' non-compliance with the provisions of the Treaty and the agreements reached at the 1995, 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences. Contrary to the provisions of the NPT and the calls from the overwhelming majority of the international community, multimillion-dollar plans have been launched to modernize nuclear arsenals and create new means of delivery.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“Mr. Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): The increasing challenges to the maintenance of peace and security is a legitimate concern of the international community. The possibility of attacks being carried out using nuclear, chemical and biological materials cannot be ruled out. Such risks cannot be eliminated by applying a selective approach limited to horizontal proliferation while ignoring vertical proliferation and general and complete disarmament. In that regard, we oppose measures that prohibit or restrict the legitimate right of States to gain access to and use nuclear energy, biological agents or chemical substances and the technologies and knowledge associated with them, whenever such use is for peaceful purposes.”
2016-08-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7758 (2016) · source
“Unfortunately, the notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who has acknowledged his responsibility for that bombing, has never paid for his crime. On behalf of the innocent victims, we will not tire in demanding the compliance of States with their obligations to prosecute or extradite all terrorists, without exception. In conclusion, Cuba reiterates its unwavering commitment to the fight against terrorism. Multilateral efforts to strengthen the full implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and its forthcoming revision, will enjoy our full support.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“An international convention on terrorism must establish a clear and precise definition of the crime of international terrorism that covers all aspects thereof and includes State terrorism. Its adoption would help to further the implementation of the Global Strategy and the progress of the international community in confronting this phenomenon. States must honour their international obligations and ensure that victims of terrorist acts, including the many victims of state terrorism, enjoy their rights. On 6 October we will mark the fourtieth year since the mid-air explosion of a Cubana de Aviacion commercial airliner off the coast of Barbados. Seventy- three people of different nationalities, including the Cuban junior national fencing team, lost their lives in that horrendous crime.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“Our country strictly complies with its obligations under the Security Council resolutions on the subject, and has participated actively in discussions on the work of the Counter- Terrorism Committee. It has also submitted, within the prescribed time limits, the information requested on the measures taken for the implementation of the resolutions. Member States will soon begin the process of review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. In this regard, the United Nations should devote their full attention to discussions on a future convention on international terrorism. We consider the adoption of the convention to be imperative. It must be broad in scope and fill gaps and omissions in the existing legal framework, which will permit coherent international action against the scourge of terrorism.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“For decades, Cuba has suffered the consequences of terrorist acts that have been organized, financed and executed from abroad. The number of victims of these criminal acts has reached 3,478 dead and 2,099 disabled for life. The degree of this human suffering is incalculable. As part of Cuba's actions undertaken to fight terrorism in the country we enacted Law No. 93, entitled "Law against acts of terrorism," of 20 December 2001, which is a specific criminal law that defines and punishes criminal acts of a terrorist nature with severe penalties. Cuba is a party to 18 international conventions on terrorism, pursuant to which it has put in place legal and institutional measures designed to fight terrorism in an effective manner.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“The fight against terrorism can never be ajustification for sullying the principles of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of States, nor can it be a justification for violating human rights and international humanitarian law or for carrying out torture, kidnapping, illegal detentions, disappearances and extrajudicial executions. Terrorism cannot be eradicated if double standards and selectivity in addressing and confronting this scourge prevailing are prevalent. It is unacceptable that some terrorist acts are condemned while others are met with silence, are tolerated, justified or manipulated by others for narrow political or economic interests. Similarly, claims by some who seek to associate terrorism with a particular ethnicity or religion are also unacceptable.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“Our country has fully endorsed the call of the United Nations to States, international organizations and the international community to collectively refrain from financing, encouraging or supporting terrorist activities by any means whatsoever or from providing training for them. We reiterate our rejection and condemnation of all acts, methods and practices relating to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, by whomever, against whoever, wherever committed and whatever the motivation, including State terrorism. Any Government involved in an act of State terrorism must step up and assume its international responsibility. We strongly oppose actions carried out under the pretext of combating this scourge, which violate the Charter of the United Nations and the principles and norms of international law.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“Mr. Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): I would like to begin by congratulating Egypt on assuming the presidency of the Security Council this month. I also welcome its felicitous initiative to convene today's debate on an issue of crucial timeliness and decisive importance for our work. Terrorism remains today a serious challenge for the international community. Cuba has been actively involved in the efforts of the United Nations to combat international terrorism. It is the Organization's responsibility to take the lead when it comes to international efforts in this area.”
2016-05-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7690 (2016) · source
“Multilateral efforts to consolidate the full implementation of the United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy assuredly have our support.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“The fight against terrorism requires the cooperation of everyone, with full adherence to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law. Cuba has demonstrated its commitment to and full support for the call of the United Nations to States, international organizations and the international community to refuse, as a whole, to finance or encourage terrorist activities, to support them by other means or to provide training for them. Cuba believes that we can do much more in the matter of the fight against terrorism. The Council and all Member States can count on our unwavering commitment to combating this scourge in all its forms and manifestations, wherever it occurs and independently of whomever the perpetrators of terrorist acts may be.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“Cuba reiterates the duty of States to fulfil their obligations to prosecute and extradite all terrorists without exceptions, such as the notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, responsible for the first terrorist attack against civil aviation in the Western Hemisphere. In that crime, he instigated the mid-air explosion near the coast of Barbados of a plane of the commercial airline Cubana de Aviacio'n on 6 October 1976, with the resulting loss of 73 passengers. Cuba actively participates in the actions and efforts of the United Nations aimed at combating international terrorism. We firmly believe that the Organization is the appropriate setting for confronting this scourge with determination and energy and without double standards.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“In that regard, we ought to condemn the practice of certain States in funding, supporting and promoting, through the Internet, radio or television, acts that violate the self-determination of other peoples, as well as messages of intolerance against cultures or political and socioeconomic systems that do not agree with the imposed prescriptions for their models of hegemonic power. Justice and reparations for victims must be at the heart of our course of action. States are responsible for meeting their international obligations and securing the achievement of victims' rights, including the numerous victims of State terrorism.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“Some of them were included in the last review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which is, with its four pillars, the guiding framework for the global fight against terrorist acts. Information and communications technologies must be used in strict accordance with international law. Access to such technologies should be blocked for recruitment activities of terrorists and for the financing and carrying out of terrorist acts. States also have the obligation to refrain from resorting to those tools to undermine the exercise of sovereignty of other States.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“The international community must not accept the fact that the fight against terrorism is being used as a pretext to justify interference in the internal affairs of other States, carry out acts of aggression, or allow gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, such as torture, kidnapping, illegal detentions, disappearances or extrajudicial executions, thereby undermining the national sovereignty of a State. Those actions are in contravention with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles and norms of international law. Wherever those legal and ethical principles are violated, the legitimacy of our struggle against international terrorism will be undermined. Today, the question of terrorism is made up of a number of important issues, tied in to the threat to international peace and stability.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“It has been in force since 20 December 2001 and is part of our penal code, with specific provisions for defining efforts to respond to criminal conduct of a terrorist nature. We are also party to 18 international conventions relating to terrorism, pursuant to which legal and institutional measures have been put in place to effectively confront the phenomenon. Cuba has never allowed nor will it ever allow the use of its national territory for carrying out, planning or financing terrorist acts of any kind against any State, without exception.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“It is impossible to eradicate terrorism, however, if only some terrorist acts are condemned while others are ignored, tolerated, justified or reinterpreted, an approach that seeks to to promote narrow political and economic interests. It is unacceptable that double standards, political bias and impunity prevail in addressing such a sensitive issue. Cuba is a country that, in seeking to defend its independence and sovereignty, has suffered for decades from the consequences of terrible terrorist acts that were organized, financed and planned from abroad, resulting in a toll of 3,478 dead and 2,099 injured. Our people have suffered in their own flesh because of that scourge, and we will always fight against it. One such concrete example of our fight against terrorism is our Law No. 93 against terrorist acts.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“Mr. Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Cuba welcomes the presidency of the People's Republic of China in the Security Council this month and, in particular, its leadership of our work. Cuba strongly supports the collective efforts of the United Nations in its fight against terrorism, and therefore accords great importance to this debate. Cuba rejects and condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all of their forms and manifestations committed by whomever, against whomever, wherever they are committed and whatever their motivations, including State terrorism. Any Government involved in an act of State terrorism must be held accountable at the international level.”
2016-04-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7670Resumption1 (2016) · source
“Cuba would like to reaffirm here in this forum the unswerving commitment of the Cuban people to the Charter of the United Nations, in particular to its purposes and principles. It reiterates its vocation for peace and unlimited respect for the sovereignty of States and its commitment to the realization of the rights of peoples to development, to a just, democratic and fair international order, to solidarity between peoples across the world, to a healthy environment, including one in which everyone can live free of the ongoing threat posed by nuclear weapons, a threat to the very existence of the human species.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“The rule of law in international relations is therefore incompatible with unilateralism and economic, commercial and financial measures and policies that run counter to international law; with any effort aimed at subverting the political, economic or social order freely chosen by a people or aimed at interfering in a country's internal affairs; and with measures intended to foment conflict in sovereign States for the benefit of actions aimed and domination and hegemonic influence. That is why we firmly reject all actions aimed at destabilizing the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which are in flagrant violation of the requirements for the rule of law in international relations, as well as the actions aimed at intervening against Ecuador, Bolivia and other nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“They may be indispensable in certain circumstances, but they cannot be a substitute for the need to address and resolve the deep-seated causes of conflicts and they cannot be a replacement for diplomacy and political dialogue. Many are saying today that the rule of law at the international level should become the cornerstone of relations between States. For Cuba, that means that the principles set out in the Charter and in international law must be applied fully and non-selectively across the board as essential requirements for peaceful coexistance between nations, sustainble development and the promotion and protection of the human rights of all.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“They must be the first countries to reject any attempts to reinterpret the mandate of the Council and to usurp from it the role assigned to other principle organs of the Organization, particularly the General Assembly. Seventy years have gone by since the founding of the Organization. It must be strengthened. In particular, the Security Council must be made democratic in order to convert it into a model of transparency, democracy and genuine participation. The General Assembly must be revitalized so that it can play its central role in achieving the rights of peoples and of every human being in a just, democratic and fair international order. We also understand that peacekeeping operations are becoming increasingly complex and involved.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“That is why the members of the Council must be the first countries to support peaceful solutions and exercise firm, effective and clear resistance against the recourse to war and the violation of the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter. They must be the first countries to exhaust all possible avenues to preserve life and prevent the promotion and application of a policy of regime change and prevent the violation of people's right to self- determination. They must stop abusing the veto in their attempts to ensure the impunity of the perpetrators of the serious violations of international law and human rights that victimize the people of Palestine.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“While it is true that sustainable development cannot be achieved without peace and stability, it is also true that there will not be peace or stability without development; that is true, yet millions ofpeople continue to be condemned to hunger, poverty and despair. We therefore affirm that the prevention of conflicts and the maintenance of peace require solidarity, cooperation and international assistance, as well as joint action to eradicate poverty, unemployment, hunger, inequality and their underlying causes. We recognize that the Security Council has an important role to play in the maintenance of international peace and security by virtue of the responsibility conferred upon it by the Charter.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“That also presupposes the unlimited recognition of the sovereign equality of States, the peaceful solution of international disputes, respect for political independence and the political, socioeconomic and cultural system that nations have freely decided on for themselves, and the rejection of the threat or use of threat of force against another State. The countries of our region clearly understood those concerns when, at the second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, held in Havana in January 2014, we formally approved the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone ofPeace. That is a document oftranscendental and historic importance that is fully applicable to the relations of the countries of the region with other countries of the world.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“However, its fulfilment requires the elimination of threats that conspire against its full realization and the eradication of all violations of the Charter and all threats to the right to peace, such as interference in the internal affairs of States, acts of aggression, wars that seek control of natural resources and non-conventional wars. In recent years, such wars have become the most serious attacks against the exercise of people's right to self-determination. We must also oppose the application of unilateral, coercive measures and the unjust and exclusive international order that we have today; we must oppose the inequality and selfishness that result from neo- liberal globalization, discrimination and xenophobia, as well as the growing aggressiveness of the NATO military doctrine.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“Mr. Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): We welcome the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is our honour to participate under its guidance in this debate. The historical reflection on and firm adherence to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations are essential obligations for all those committed to international peace and security. The Charter of the Organization, in its Preamble, calls for saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, practicing tolerance and living together in peace with one another as good neighbours. The Charter's first goal is the maintenance of international peace and security, a precept that over the years has become an inviolable right of all peoples and nations.”
2016-02-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7621 (2016) · source
“In March in Amman, we will hold a round table on legal issues to strengthen the capacities of the State of Palestine to meet its obligations in light of its recent accession to a series of international treaties and conventions. Throughout the year, we will continue to promote the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and to support efforts to achieve the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders and a just resolution of all issues related to the final status and mobilization of and assistance to the Palestinian people, as mandated by the General Assembly. The Committee remains open to everyone 4 Government representatives, members of academia, civil society - who wishes to join us in this noble task.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“Following the previous debate on the situation in the Middle East in October 2015 (S/PV.7543), the Committee organized events around the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in November. Together with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, we convened a conference on the question of Jerusalem and a civil society forum on the question of Palestine, in Jakarta. One aspect that the two events highlighted was the fact that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a religious one, and that anyone trying to exploit it to ignite a religious confrontation is misrepresenting the values of their own religion. These two events reaffirmed our shared universal values of peaceful coexistence among all peoples of the Earth.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“If we allow that to happen, we will not only have failed the Palestinian people and their neighbours, but also the nations of the world that have entrusted their peace and security to us. The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People welcomes all the efforts undertaken by the Council and its members, the Middle East Quartet and all actors with a view to finding a way out of the current situation and to resolving the question of Palestine in accordance with the formula of two States living side by side in peace and security. The Committee will do its best to support those efforts through its own work and reaffirms its commitment to the principle of a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on those premises.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“Within the Organization, it is the Security Council, as the organ to which the Charter assigned the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, that must assume that responsibility and act to promote the cause of peace for Palestine and Israel. Over the past 12 months, there have been efforts and discussions behind the scenes, but the time has come to bring all of that out into the spotlight and onto the Council floor. A resolution that sets clear parameters and a time frame for ending the conflict would be the appropriate step. The Palestinian people cannot wait any longer. Every delay raises the risk that the damage on the ground will become truly irreparable.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“Jerusalem remains a classic tinderbox, one spark away from igniting a religious war that could embroil the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the other regional conflagrations. Yes, the situation does indeed seem bleak. But it is at this moment - at a time when the Palestinian people cannot envisage a viable future, when the Israeli people have given up all hope ofa peace process, when after more than 20 years of on-and-off negotiations no mutual trust remains - it is precisely at this point that we, the peoples of the world who have come together at these United Nations, must step up and provide the blueprint for a path forward. We must rekindle the candle of hope and ensure that it is never extinguished. That is our responsibility and we must not fail to carry it out.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“They are accepted by the international community as the best, indeed the only, way to arrive at a peaceful settlement. The situation on the ground today remains bleak, and the temptation to give up - or at least to press the pause button on the issue and for the time being to deal with others - is great. Gaza is still under a near- total blockade and its reconstruction is progressing far too slowly. The Israeli settlement construction has not stopped; Israeli settlers continue their extremist acts; and the Israeli Government continues to apply a double standard to the violence committed by Israelis against Palestinians versus the Palestinians' struggles against the Israeli occupation.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“If we, the nations of the world, are fully committed to preventing violent extremism within our own borders and fighting it wherever it occurs, we must do all we can to find a comprehensive, just, lasting and peaceful solution to the question of Palestine that will enable the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights within a sovereign country of their own, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side in peace with Israel. The path to that solution is clear, and has been for a long time. The terms of reference of the Madrid Conference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted by the League of Arab States in 2002, and the Quartet road map for a permanent two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, endorsed by the Security Council in 2003, form the basis for it.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“What many who talk, with good reason, of the dangers of violent extremism are missing is the fact that the unresolved question of Palestine is one of the principal tools for extremist recruitment, and that Israel's occupation of Palestine's lands and ill-treatment of its people is one of the main reasons that idealistic and impressionable young people are attracted to such extreme and unforgivable forms of rebellion.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“We are honoured to have the Eastern Republic of Uruguay presiding over the Security Council this month, and it is doubly pleasing that two countries of Latin America, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, will fulfil that task in 2016. With 2015 now ended, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, remains deeply troubling. The acts of violence to which the prevailing despair drives Palestinian youth continue, and Israel, the occupying Power, continues to respond with overwhelming and excessive force. And While there are a host of challenges facing the region as well as affecting many Member States outside it, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict remains a top priority and should not be relegated to secondary status by other, seemingly more urgent, crises.”
2016-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7610 (2016) · source
“The issue of the veto is intrinsically linked to the Council's working methods, particularly the decision-making mechanism. The veto is an anachronistic and anti-democratic privilege that should be eliminated as soon as possible. A more transparent Council will be a more legitimate Council. And an inclusive and accessible Council that takes into account the opinions of the Member States of the Organization would be a more effective Council. Let us leave aside rhetorical devices as we discuss this important subject. There is no lack of ideas or proposals. What we need is immediate action. Let us once and for all remove the secrecy and lack of transparency in the work of the Security Council, as well as the exclusion of the great majority of the Members of the Organization from its work and its decisions.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“We are concerned about the growing trend in the Security Council to consider matters and assume functions that do not fall within its area of competence, increasingly usurping the role assigned by the Charter to other organs of the United Nations, particularly to the General Assembly. The Council is required to present annual reports to the General Assembly. Such reports should be genuinely analytical and make it possible to adequately evaluate its work, including the reasons that prevented it from taking action in a given situation or specific case in fulfilment of its mandate. We reiterate the need for the Council to present special reports mentioned by the Charter in Articles 15 and 24, which unfortunately continue to go unpublished.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“The countries concerned should always be allowed to participate in the Council's discussions that directly affect them, pursuant to Article 31 of the Charter. The Council's resolutions and presidential statements should reflect the views of Member States as expressed in the public debates. Countries not members of the Council should have access to the subsidiary bodies, including the right to participate in their discussions. We should formalize the rules of procedure of the Council - which unfortunately continue to be provisional rules, as has been the case now for 70 years - in order to increase transparency and the level of accountability.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“However, in practice those debates become a formal exercise and the members of the Council do not even wait until the conclusion ofthe debates before effectively taking their decisions. In accordance with Article 24 of the Charter of the United Nations, Member States recognize that the Security Council is acting on their behalf in the exercise of its functions, which implies that it should guarantee genuine participation on the part of the 193 States Members in its work and in its decisions. Cuba reiterates that, at a minimum, it is urgent to make the following changes in the working methods of the Security Council. There is a need to increase the number of public meetings pursuant to Articles 31 and 32 of the Charter. Closed-door meetings and informal consultations should be held only in very exceptional cases.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“Fundamental agreements - above all on sensitive or highly relevant issues - continue to be taken just by the permanent members of the Council and, on occasion, not even by all of them. The remainder of the members have a limited margin to influence the process. The majority of them face the dilemma of accepting or not accepting the final product presented to them without having had a possibility of participating in genuine negotiations that would address their opinions and interests. The public debates should be the ideal opportunity to channel the contributions of non-member States to the Council in analysing specific aspects on its agenda in order to contribute to the negotiation of draft resolutions and decisions that will be adopted.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“Mr. Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): We support the statement made by the representative of Iran on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. A genuine reform of the Security Council to transform it into a transparent, representative and democratic organ and which is in line with developments experienced by the United Nations and developments in international relations over the past 70 years continues to be an outstanding issue. Without that reform, the reform of the Organization will be incomplete. Changes to the Security Council's working methods are an essential aspect of its reform. In our view, the changes that have been made to date have been merely formal and do not guarantee the genuine participation of Member States in the work and decision-making within the Council.”
2015-10-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7539Resumption1 (2015) · source
“Cuba will continue to contribute its modest resources to the welfare of other peoples, especially the most vulnerable. It will remain committed to supporting international cooperation to achieve sustainable, inclusive development and to the defence of international peace and security.”
2015-08-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7505Resumption1 (2015) · source
“But in that battle, we must neither forget nor violate the principles that underlie the Charter of the United Nations. To prevent conflict and maintain peace, it is necessary to have solidarity, cooperation and international assistance. And we must work together to eliminate poverty, unemployment, hunger, inequalities and the causes of those inequalities. In our view, international peace and security can be maintained only if we all respect the principles of the Charter of the Organization, as well as international law, which enshrine the principles the sovereign equality of all States, the peaceful settlement of international disputes, political independence, the non-resort to the threat or use of force against any State and non-intervention in the internal affairs of States.”
2015-08-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7505Resumption1 (2015) · source
“International peace and security will continue to be threatened in the absence of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which threaten the survival of the human species. Cuba will continue to work actively in its national capacity and as a member of other groups of States - such as the Non-aligned Movement and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean - to achieve the elimination and total ban on those weapons. International peace and security will continue to be threatened as long as there is no defined concept of the terrorism that we are fighting - because we cannot define terrorism as good or bad depending on who perpetrates it. We must all commit ourselves to combating terrorism, whatever its forms or manifestations, wherever it takes place and whoever its author.”
2015-08-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7505Resumption1 (2015) · source
“That includes having a Security Council that is democratic and transparent, in which none of its members should promote armed confrontations or the philosophy of regime change. That contradicts the purposes and principles that should guide the Organization. The General Assembly must also be revitalized. It should assume its key role in achieving the rights of peoples and every individual to have a fair, democratic and equitable international order that supports the efforts of States to build a future that each nation decides for itself. We are convinced that, despite the positive contribution made by regional and subregional organizations, international peace and security will continue to be threatened as long as we do not have a common view of what are the actual threats to peace and security.”
2015-08-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7505Resumption1 (2015) · source