YouSaid · the spoken record

Rodriguez-Parrilla

lines on the record: 318
first: 1994-07-31
most recent: 2013-08-06
sittings or episodes: 37
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

“Equally serious are the malaria epidemic and the deaths of millions of people from hunger and curable or preventable diseases. Every year, 4.7 million Africans die of infectious and parasitic diseases, 92 times the number of deaths by the same cause in Western Europe. Life expectancy is expected to drop to 45 years. More than one third of African countries is or has recently been in a conflict situation. In 1998, Africa received less than $5 billion - 3 per cent of the world's total - in direct foreign investments. Its current account deficit was $16 billion, over three times that of the previous year. The debt burden was up $350 billion, more than three times Africa's exports of goods and services. Meanwhile, official development assistance accounts for only 0.23 per cent of the developed countries' gross domestic product.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087Resumption1 (2000) · source
“At a debate right here, on 29 September 1999, these matters were addressed, though no apparent progress has been made. We understand with profound and painful realism that there will be no solutions without economic development. Africa would have to spend more than $57 billion dollars a year just for anti-retroviral drugs for current patients and, if the developed countries' therapeutic schemes were to be followed, they would cost more than $250 billion. Today, Africa can barely spend $10 per capita on health, which in some countries constitutes one ninth of their debt service. Forty-four per cent of Africans - more than half of the sub-Saharan African population - live in conditions of absolute poverty. Eight million African refugees scarcely receive care or resources.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Cuba hopes this debate will contribute to mobilizing the international community to make integrated efforts to assist Africa and that it will help relevant bodies of the United Nations to surmount obstacles that affect the fulfilment of their mandates and programmes. It will be productive if, in essence, it helps the will of the industrialized countries to be expressed in reality and the appropriation of resources. Public opinion should not assume that the United Nations has only just discovered how serious this epidemic in Africa is. Ignorance is not the cause of its inaction. In general, there are no new data or ideas. The growth of the epidemic and the consequences we are seeing were foreseen years ago.”
2000-01-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4087Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Cuba is ready to contribute valuable human resources to any comprehensive and urgent health campaign in Africa. Africa urgently needs the international community; but the international community also needs a stable, strong and prosperous Africa.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“The life of a child can very often be saved by administering in a timely way a vaccine that costs only pennies. Similarly, we will promote the creation of free medical schools with Cuban doctors in order to ensure that health workers in the field are adequately trained. Hundreds of African students are taking courses in Cuba at various levels and about 24,000 African professionals and technicians have graduated from our centres and we have trained more than 5,000 students; these people now contribute directly to the economic development of their countries. Up to 1998, more than 1,100 African students had graduated in Cuba in the health sector alone. Furthermore, in recent years more than 80,000 Cuban civilian workers have lent their services in Africa, including almost 25,000 doctors, dentists, nurses and general health workers.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“The integral health plan that Cuba is developing in Central America and the Caribbean has been extended and will continue to be extended to African countries without any economic benefit for our country. Roughly 200 Cuban doctors are now providing their services completely free of charge in a number of African countries, a figure that should grow in the immediate future and that does not include those who work under contract - among whom over 400 are to be found in villages in southern Africa. No fewer than 3,000 Cuban doctors are at the disposal of this tormented and exploited region of the world as part of the new programme of completely free services that we are developing in the poorest countries of Africa that have the most difficult health conditions. We urge the industrialized countries to cooperate by contributing medicine.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“More than $250 billion would be required in order for every patient in Africa to receive the necessary treatment that victims in rich countries already receive. Where are those resources to come from if today African countries can barely afford to devote $10 per capita per year from their meagre budgets to health expenditures? It is for this reason that 9 out of 10 people in the world who die of AIDS are from the African continent. For Cuba - a country with deep African roots and a profound vocation of solidarity - it is an unshirkable duty to continue to contribute, despite its economic difficulties and meagre resources, to the development of the brotherly peoples of Africa. Almost 1,400 Cuban workers are currently providing assistance in Africa in various important sectors.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“Such unequal attention is also reflected in the insufficient response to Africa's resource needs, a response that is much lower than in the case of other continents. It is therefore necessary for us to devote the necessary resources to this undertaking, which, as the Secretary- General says in his report, is both "reasonable and doable". (S/l999/1008, para. 103) Very little coverage has been given to the silent but alarming crisis of malaria and AIDS in Africa. The continent does not have the minimal resources to deal with the 23 million cases of AIDS that have already been reported and that grow exponentially every day. Two out of every three people infected by HIV live in Africa.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“To illustrate the humanitarian crises in many African countries, most of which are the result of conflicts, we simply need to point out that in 1998 more than 8 million of the approximately 22 million refugees in the world were to be found in Africa. While the media have covered Kosovo to the point of saturation, the serious conflicts in Africa have gone almost un-noticed. Similarly, while the Security Council acts expeditiously in certain situations because of the interests of some members, in the case of many African conflicts they simply issue sporadic statements, even as its own resolutions continue to be flagrantly violated. The case of Angola and UNITA's violations constitute the clearest example of this.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“We cannot hope to stop the cycle of violence in Africa without developing and implementing solutions to help achieve the sustainable development of its economies. This is particularly so in this era of neo-liberal globalization in which the marginalization of developing economies and of the most vulnerable populations and the gap between the underdeveloped South and the industrialized North continue to grow. Not only are the financial and material resources devoted by the international community and the international financial institutions to combat the real causes of conflicts in Africa completely inadequate, but there is also insufficient emergency financial aid being devoted to the needs of the African continent.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“Official development assistance currently represents only 0.23 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries, which is well below the already insufficient 0.7 per cent that they had promised. This affects African countries in particular. In 1998, Africa received less than $5 billion in foreign direct investment, representing only 3 per cent of the world total. From a level of $4.9 billion in 1997, Africa's current account deficit rose to the dizzying height of $16 billion in 1998. Forty-four per cent of the African population, and more than 50 per cent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, lives in conditions of absolute poverty. The debt burden of African countries rose to $350 billion in 1998, which is more than 300 per cent of the total value of goods and services exported from that continent.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“More than one third of the African countries are now or have recently been in conflict situations. If we really want to find effective and lasting solutions we cannot overlook the fact that the roots of the current problems are found in the centuries of colonial exploitation during which African economies were looted and distorted in order to turn them into providers of natural resources, raw materials and cheap manpower at the cost of the annihilation and enslavement of tens of millions of people. Nor can we overlook the fact that the current unjust and unsustainable international economic order continues to treat Africa as an economically undeveloped source of natural wealth, that serves the unsustainable consumption patterns of industrialized countries, among which are included the former colonizers.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“We observe with concern that the measures that are announced are weak and poorly structured, while the African continent urgently requires massive and multifaceted assistance. As a result, the continuous and systematic attention to the complexities of the situation in Africa goes well beyond the purview of the Security Council. While not disregarding the merits of this debate, we are convinced that it is up to the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies to act as coordinating centres for designing and implementing long-term measures that would guarantee the security, stability and, above all, the economic and social development of Africa, all of which are inextricably linked. The inescapable reality is that there are currently more armed conflicts taking place in Africa than in any other continent.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): Having had the opportunity to listen to more than 40 preceding speakers, the great concern of the international community over the current and future situation in Africa is quite obvious. However, it is also clear that beyond the rhetoric and the generally well-developed reports, there is a lack of practical action and of the necessary political will on the part of industrialized countries to find ways to resolve the mounting and pressing problems of an entire continent. Those problems are not limited to internal conflicts or conflicts between States, but rather relate primarily to the poverty, marginalization and underdevelopment in which African nations are mired.”
1999-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4049Resumption3 (1999) · source
“The report will be an indispensable element for any analysis of the situation. The United Nations must urgently provide the necessary humanitarian assistance, with the support of the Government of Indonesia so as to ensure that it is effective and to provide for the security of the personnel providing such assistance. For now, at least, we are reassured by several press reports that seem to indicate that caution is prevailing and that this time the new doctrine of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will not be invoked, that East Timor is not being placed within the so-called Euro- Atlantic periphery, that there is no talk of global threats and that no one is even thinking of repeating the criminal mistake of trying to resolve humanitarian problems with bombs and missiles.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Any international action would require due authorization and direct mandate from the United Nations, fully in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter, and would most definitely require the explicit consent of the Government of Indonesia, which is responsible for taking all measures to guarantee order and security in East Timor. We must recall that it was the Government of Indonesia that launched the initiative leading to the 5 May Agreements and the popular consultation, in which 98.6 per cent of registered voters participated freely. The ballot was recognized as democratic and successful. We await with interest the report of the Security Council ambassadorial mission which travelled to Jakarta and East Timor and continues to make tremendous and valuable efforts.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The people of East Timor came out clearly in favour of independence, and they should get it. Neither threatening language nor unilateral sanctions are the way to restore the climate of peace that is essential for the implementation of the Agreements. Cuba firmly rejects, and will always reject, any unilateral intervention or military action by any country or group of countries. We have confidence in the ability of the Government of Indonesia to restore peace and order in East Timor, acting with all of its strength and authority under martial law.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): We wish you all the very best in your presidency, Sir. We have been following with concern the serious events that are causing losses of life and flows of refugees in East Timor. Cuba believes that measures should be taken, with all due urgency, to end the Violence, leading to the full implementation of the 5 May Tripartite Agreements. We were pleased to hear the statements made by the Government of Indonesia reiterating its decision and full resolve to honour those Agreements. Through the popular consultation held on 30 August, the people of East Timor exercised their right to self- determination, and the international community expects the Agreements to be fully implemented and all parties to act effectively and in good faith.”
1999-09-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4043Resumption1 (1999) · source
“No type of agreement can be accepted, nor should the Security Council adopt in any way the so-called agreement of the Group of Eight, as long as the bombing continues. Cuba reiterates its vigorous condemnation of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, which caused deaths, wounded and the destruction of the building, and reaffirms the need for an impartial, urgent and exhaustive investigation, the immediate publication of its results, the severe punishment of those responsible and the Security Council's continuing attention to the matter, an obligation that falls within its competence in compliance with the United Nations Charter.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“Neither can it be forgotten that terrible humanitarian crises are occurring, particularly in Africa, without receiving the necessary attention of the United Nations, the international community and the press. Resources earmarked for dealing with the emergency needs of 11 million people in Africa are less than those already arranged for some of the Balkan countries. It is a serious omission that the resolution just adopted does not say a single word about the urgency of stopping the bombing of Yugoslavia by the United States and NATO, which has caused hundreds of civilian deaths and thousands of wounded and a real humanitarian catastrophe. The acts of genocide in the form of deliberate bombing of civilian targets and systematic actions depriving the population of its means of support must cease immediately.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“With the humility, altruism and discretion that characterize real humanitarian action, Cuba has offered as long ago as 5 April to cooperate by contributing 1,000 doctors, completely free of charge, to take care of the Kosovar refugees. Each refugee is a human tragedy that cannot be reduced to cold statistics, much less be used for political propaganda and headlines in the press. It would be useful to have official and exhaustive information on how many refugees have been accepted and under what conditions by those who are the very ones responsible for what has occurred. With their vast resources and many sins, NATO members, as the figures show, appear more inclined to create refugees rather than receive them.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“Cuba shares the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons and has offered its full cooperation to alleviate their suffering. In response to the information from the United States authorities regarding the decision to use the Guantanamo base, part of Cuban territory, which it is occupying illegally and against the will of our people, to temporarily shelter 20,000 Kosovar refugees, our country agreed not only to that number, but also to even larger numbers if possible, offering its willingness to cooperate in caring for those refugees with our hospital services, medical personnel and available supplies.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba)(spoke in Spanish): It is encouraging that the Security Council is using its meagre powers to at least tackle the terrible humanitarian situation that has been created in the Balkans. It is also encouraging that this is occurring at the initiative of the non-aligned caucus of the Council. I must say that my delegation deeply shares the legitimate concern for the victims of this conflict - all those who have died, the wounded, the orphans, the mothers who have lost their children, all those suffering from hunger, those who have lost their homes, their hospitals and their schools, those who have no means of support, the many lives lost and the dozens wounded caused by the bombing in Korisa only a few hours ago.”
1999-05-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4003 (1999) · source
“Failing this, the Security Council will have to be counted not only among the victims, but also among the accomplices. Let us hope that it will not be necessary to wait 20 years for someone to bitterly recognize, in the year 2019, that this war was a lamentable error. This has happened before, but not before 4 million Vietnamese and 50 thousand Americans had to die. We sincerely hope that a just, dignified and lasting peace will be re-established for all the peoples that built a fraternal federation on the ruins of the Second World War and that lived in prosperous harmony for more than 40 years.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“It is the task and unique duty of the Security Council to regain the powers and mandates assigned to it by the Charter. Its most urgent and important task is to halt the genocide and stop the NATO bombings. Having accomplished that, its task will then be to find the path towards a just and dignified political solution that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and all the States of the region. Cuba hopes that the Security Council will neither accept nor endorse any project that is based on force, inequality or pillage; that it will neither accept or endorse a discussion of the elements of a peace process under NATO bombardment; and that it will neither accept nor endorse any agreement before halting the genocide.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“It is my conviction that there is no alternative but to seek a political solution and that such a solution is possible using a little common sense and reason." I can assure the Council that the Cuban diplomats who remain in and move around everyday in Belgrade are qualified as witnesses to what is now occurring. Cuba hopes that the Security Council will act immediately in accordance with its responsibilities and that it will resume its role under these exceptional and emergency circumstances. If it does not do so, the damage to international order, to the collective security of States and to the United Nations will be irreparable. The historical responsibility will be enormous if the Security Council continues to allow itself to be subordinated, sullied and scorned.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“There can be no just or worthwhile agreement unless the aggression, acts of genocide, bombing of civilian targets and the systematic attempt to deprive a nation of its means of subsistence are first brought to an end. As President Fidel Castro has said in recent days, "Our opinion is that only a political solution is possible in that situation, not a military one, and that it must be based on respect for the rights of all the countries of the region, their religions, and their ethnic groups and cultures - a solution for both Serbs and Kosovars. I have the complete conviction that this problem will not be resolved through the use of force. I have the complete conviction that all military technologies are dashed to pieces against the will of any people that is resolved to fight.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“This is a gross violation of the Geneva Protocols and international humanitarian law. How is it possible that the Security Council does not at least call for a cessation of the brutal bombing against the peoples of Yugoslavia when considering this subject? Can anyone believe the refrain that the war is not against the Serbian people? NATO, headed by the United States, is committing acts of genocide. The genocide must stop. The attacks in recent hours on the Chinese Embassy and on civilian targets show that there has been no progress at all towards a political solution, despite what is being said. Actions speak louder than speeches and papers. How can the Group of 8 agreement be considered acceptable if that agreement begins by ignoring the main cause of the tragedy, which is the NATO bombing?”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“The United States and NATO are deliberately using technologically advanced weapons in order to interrupt the supply of energy for health services, water supply and food production, as though they were unaware that they would cause humanitarian consequences by cutting off electricity, heating, communications, energy and transport, by destroying civilian facilities that provide essential services to the population, information sources and the livelihoods of the population and by engaging in psychological warfare. Residential buildings, hospitals and health centres, schools, old-age homes, historical monuments, churches, places of worship and works of art have been destroyed. Civilian targets have been intentionally attacked, with prior knowledge that they were occupied by civilians and that those attacks would result in their deaths.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“The hundreds of civilians killed, many of them children, the thousands of civilians injured, the passengers burnt to death in the Grdelica gorge train, the dozens of journalists killed in the bombing of the Serbian television station, the children trapped in the mangled iron remains of the refugee convoy on the Djakovica-Pec road and the people who were travelling in the bus on the Luzane bridge may not for now be present in the records and resolutions, but they are present in the consciences of all of those seated around this table and, more importantly, in the consciences of those peoples that feel - rightly, in almost every case - that this place has little to do with their lives and aspirations.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“The Government of the Republic of Cuba forcefully condemns this new act of genocide, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, of the Charter of the United Nations, of international law and of the Geneva Convention. As Jose Marti said, the truth must be spoken. The Security Council cannot remain impassive and silent, as though it were unaware that the yesterday's bombings and those of the past 45 days have brought death, injury, hunger, desolation and terror to millions of people.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Belgrade has been destroyed by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) missiles, causing deaths, disappearances and serious injuries. The United States and NATO, which refer to civilian dead and wounded as "collateral damage", now cynically declare that the Embassy was not a deliberate target, that it may have been an accident, that they are investigating, that they do not attack civilians and that we must see the "big picture". It is not an accident, but an act of aggression. After one has seen the terrible images traversing the world, there is not much to investigate. Furthermore, there is information that today other civilian targets were bombed.”
1999-05-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4000 (1999) · source
“That is what is at the root of this conflict and of the grave events we are now experiencing. Some of those who today are brutally bombing in the past conspired and fought to dismember that noble and multi-ethnic country. Today they are punishing some of those they previously promoted. Bombs are not the path to peace. War is no humanitarian solution. History teaches us that only negotiations can build peace. Cuba hopes that - without delay, because every minute costs lives - an end will be put to the armed aggression, and there will be a resumption of negotiations in order to reach a just and lasting peace, as a condition for full respect for the rights and the dignity of all the ethnic groups, peoples and religions of the former Yugoslavia.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“If we do not take our rightful place, the United Nations, instead of developing as the emerging government of a global democracy in a globalized and united world, will merely be a crude, repressive instrument of the powerful, as this meeting has made clear. No one can forget in these tragic circumstances, in which the destiny of us all is at stake, the historic contribution made by the Serbs during the Second World War, when they fought more heroically than any other people against fascism and against the Nazi hordes in occupied Europe. Humankind cannot be stripped of its memory, however intoxicated it may be by technology used to disseminate lies or by television used to promote war. It must be recalled here and now - because it is a fact - that these are the bitter fruits of a conspiracy to destroy Yugoslavia.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“The no-flight zones, the missiles striking Kabul, Khartoum, Tripoli, Baghdad and Benghazi, and now Pristina, Pancevo and other cities, remind us of the harsh realities of global disorder. What is going to become of the Security Council, or at least of its remains, after today's vote? What will become of the United Nations? While on the ground floor of this building there is talk of reform, democracy and transparency, in this high command - the Security Council - everyone's real position becomes painfully clear: the positions of those who play with words in order to conceal hegemonic interests, and of those of us who make up the great majority that is always ignored and always subject to the political pressure of the powerful, because the majority often forgets the weight of our countries when we unite to reclaim our place.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“When the Security Council serves as its docile instrument, then the United Nations seems to be working, and its foundations - the Charter and international law - seem to be in force, although they are always subject to capricious interpretations and gross manipulation. Some days ago we were surprised to witness an occasion on which the Security Council refused to authorize an international criminal act by the United States and its accomplices. Today we have witnessed the capitulation of the Security Council. When the Security Council plucks up its courage and refuses to yield to unipolar might, and tries to fulfil the responsibilities that the Charter and the community of nations have entrusted to it, then the super-Power, which does not accept lack of discipline on the part of its subjects, takes matters into its own hands.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“"The ridiculous attempt to impose solutions by force is incompatible with any civilized reasoning and with the essential principles of international law. The firmness of the positions that are being used to try to justify this new crime only reflects the moral impossibility of sustaining ideas and policies that run counter to the interests of the peoples involved in the conflict and of imposing on them an imperial will. If this course were to be continued, there could be unforeseeable consequences for Europe and for all of humankind." We are living in a shameful time in which international legality is being violated. Never before has the unipolar order imposed by the United States been so obvious and so disturbing.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“"During this time of suffering and pain for the peoples of Yugoslavia, Cuba urges the international community to rally its forces in order to put an immediate end to this unjustifiable aggression, to avoid further and even more regrettable losses of innocent life and to allow that nation to resume the peaceful course of negotiations so as to solve its internal problems - matters that depend solely and exclusively on the sovereign will and self-determination of the Yugoslav peoples. "Cuba expresses its concern that the aggression could, in an unpredictable manner, spread to the other States of the region, either because of the violence itself or because of its unsettling social and human effects.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba vigorously condemns this aggression against Yugoslavia by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), under the leadership of the United States, and it denounces the dishonest manoeuvring that has led to the continued imposition of such uncivilized practices on the international political scene in order to satisfy the interests of those seeking to impose their designs on all the States of the globe in the name of a new and unworthy world order, created in their image and likeness.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“This is similar to what took place early and during the first half of this century with the creation of military blocs that enshrouded Europe in destruction, death and misery, dividing it and weakening it as the United States built up its own economic, political and military might. "We may well ask whether the use and abuse of force will solve the world's problems and protect the human rights of the innocent people who are dying today because of the missiles and bombs that are falling upon a small country of cultured, civilized Europe.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“"This action, intended to 'punish the Yugoslav Government', is being conducted outside the context of the Security Council, where the main promoter of the aggression, the United States, would have had to face opposition by other members which from the outset have vigorously opposed any action that could undermine the prerogatives of that organ under the United Nations Charter with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security. This has thus led to a violation of the norms and principles of international law. "The war launched by NATO revives mankind's justified fears concerning the emergence of a contemptuous uni-polar system governed by a warlike empire that has declared itself to be the world's policeman and that is capable of dragging its political and military allies into the most foolish of actions.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (spoke in Spanish): With this shameful vote, the Security Council has just missed a historic opportunity. By their vote, Council members have assumed an enormous responsibility. I wish at the outset to read out a statement issued by the Republic of Cuba on the aggression by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). That statement reads as follows: "Following a series of distressing and highly manipulative political events, prolonged armed clashes, and complex - and hardly transparent - negotiations on the question of Kosovo, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) finally launched its heralded brutal air attacks against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose peoples were the most heroic of those who fought the Nazi hordes in Europe during the Second World War.”
1999-03-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3989 (1999) · source
“Regrettably, the item under discussion is an excellent example of this tendency. The Security Council has an opportunity to enhance its credibility and demonstrate its adherence to the mandate conferred upon it and to the principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations. As the body entrusted with guaranteeing international peace and security, the Council has an obligation to adopt specific measures to put a stop to ongoing actions that violate international law and its own resolutions. In conclusion, I should like once again to express the resolute commitment of Cuba to the cause of the Palestinian people and the achievement of its inalienable rights.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Furthermore, it is worrying that the Council is unable immediately to adopt a resolution that reflects the overwhelming majority position of United Nations Member States and of members of the Security Council on the issue under discussion, a position that has been reaffirmed once again today. We wonder how long we will have to continue to witness the double standard adopted by some permanent members of the Security Council, which look after their national political interests, promoting or blocking as they see fit decisions on issues considered by the Council, thereby exploiting the prerogatives afforded them by the anachronistic right of veto. The Security Council considers issues that are not within its competence and interferes with the mandate of the General Assembly, while at the same time making inexplicable omissions.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Cuba resolutely condemns these and other actions, which are totally devoid of legal validity and represent a clear challenge to the international community. General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on the legal status of Jerusalem must be respected. Holding this open debate is the most basic duty of the Security Council in dealing with the serious developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. The legitimate right of Member States to request the Council to hold open debates so as to deal with questions of international peace and security can in no way be questioned or subject to any conditions.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Despite the urgent appeals of the United Nations, the settlement policy, instead of disappearing, is being strengthened. More housing is being built in existing settlements, encircling roads are being constructed to link them and the Palestinians of Jerusalem are being denied residency rights. The Government of Israel, in a further step in the wrong direction, has recently announced a new programme to strengthen and expand its illegal control over Jerusalem. This programme is a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and of the many resolutions adopted by the Security Council and by the General Assembly at its tenth emergency special session, and is placing the peace process in the Middle East in extreme danger.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The Security Council also held several meetings last year on this question, especially on the decision of the Government of Israel to begin building a new settlement in J abal Abu Ghneim, in the south of East Jerusalem. Only the veto of one permanent member prevented the Council from adopting resolutions on this matter on 7 and 21 March 1997. The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has reiterated that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, is deteriorating alarmingly, in particular with respect to Israeli settlements and the continued blockades, which harm the Palestinians economically, violate their human rights and provoke increased violence and tension.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Mr. Rodriguez Parrilla (Cuba) (interpretation from Spanish): I wish to congratulate the delegation of Kenya on its presidency and express the hope that the representative of Portugal enjoys a well-deserved rest this evening after having so successfully presided over the meetings of this Council for almost a month. More than three decades after the Security Council's adoption of resolution 242 (1967), Israel continues its illegal occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories, in open defiance of the norms of international law and the provisions of the many resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly and this Council. At its most recent regular session and at its tenth emergency special session, the General Assembly considered in detail the deplorable situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The real objective of the United Nations and the Security Council is to see to it that justice and fairness in international relations are applied to all sovereign States equally, and that the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, sovereign equality and non-interference in the domestic affairs of States are respected without limitations or restrictions.”
1998-03-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3864 (1998) · source
“If the humanitarian concerns that some permanent members of the Security Council profess were in earnest, and if the same interest in seeing justice done were shown in all cases, then at that time the dimensions alone of the deed would have sufficed for the Council to take a stand against one of the most repugnant and vile crimes in the history of the acts of aggression committed against the people of Cuba. Cuba supports the request submitted by Libya and is in favour of an open debate, in the context of the Security Council, on all aspects of resolution 748 (1992) and of the sanctions imposed against that country. The role of the United Nations and that of the Security Council is not to serve as a tool for the powerful to further their political agendas.”
1998-03-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3864 (1998) · source