New York, 28 September 2009
Mr. President,

I wish to congratulate you on your election and reiterate to you our
confidence on your capacity to unerringly conduct our works and
deliberations.

Likewise I would like to recognize the excellent work developed by Father
Miguel D' Escoto, President of the recently concluded session. The
ethical dimension and the political scope of his presidency, which
enabled us to move forward in the purpose of giving back to this
Assembly all of its powers, will stand as a required benchmark in the
future. Thanks to his example, it has become clearer to us now that
reforming the United Nations Organization is about democratizing it and
bringing it closer to the peoples.

Since the celebration of the General Debate one year ago, important
events have occurred in the international arena. Climate change is now
more visible and dangerous. The economic crisis became intense and
global. Social exclusion increased.

However, the international community reacted with profound optimism to
the change of government in Washington. It seemed that a period of
extreme aggressiveness, unilateralism and arrogance in the foreign
policy of that country had come to an end and the infamous legacy of the
George W. Bush regime had been sunk in repudiation.

As it was realized at this same conference room, the original and
conciliatory speech from the White House has raised great hopes and its
reiterated messages about change, dialogue and cooperation have been
welcomed.

Unfortunately, time goes by and the speech does not seem to be supported
by concrete facts. His speech does not coincide with reality.

The most serious and dangerous aspect about this new situation is the
uncertainty about the real capacity on the part of the present
authorities in Washington to get over the political and ideological
trends that threatened the world under the previous administration.

The neoconservative forces that took George Bush to the presidency, which
promoted the use of force and domination with the support of the US
colossal military and economic power, the ones to blame for crimes such
as torture, assassination and the manipulation of the American people,
have very quickly regrouped and still have the reins of power and
considerable influence, which is contrary to the announced change.

The detention arid torture center in the Guantanamo Naval Base -which
usurps part of the Cuban territory-, has not been shut down. The
occupation troops in Iraq have not withdrawn. The war in Afghanistan is
expanding and is threatening other States.

As for Cuba, which has suffered the US aggression for half a century,
the new US government announced some new measures on April last to
abolish some of the most brutal actions taken by the George W. Bush
administration which prevented any contact between Cubans resident in
the United States and their relatives in Cuba, particularly, the
possibility to visit them and send them some assistance without any
limitation. These measures are a positive step, but they are extremely
limited and insufficient.

The announced measures included the authorization to some US companies to
carry out certain telecom operations with Cuba, but other restrictions
that prevent their implementation have not been modified. Neither has
there been any signal indicating that the US government is ready to put
an end to the immoral practice -quite expanded in recent days- of
misappropriation of the Cuban funds that remained frozen at American
banks, and of other goods, based on orders issued by venal judges who
violate their own laws.

The crucial thing is that the economic, commercial and financial blockade
against Cuba remains intact.

The US President, despite the existence of laws such as the Helms Burton
Act, still has broad executive powers, such as the ones required to
grant licenses, by means of which he could modify the implementation of
the blockade.

Should there be a true desire to move towards change, the US government
could authorize the export of Cuban goods and services to the United
States and vice versa.

The United States could allow Cuba to buy any product containing more
than 10 per cent of US components or technology anywhere in the world,
regardless of its trademark or country of origin.

The US Treasury could abstain from persecuting, freezing and confiscating
third countries transfers -whether in US dollars or in any other
currency- to Cuban nationals or entities.

Washington could lift the ban that prevent third countries vessels from
entering any US port until 180 days after touching any Cuban port.

The persecution unleashed by the US Treasury Department against financial
institutions and companies that trade or carry out operations with Cuba
could also be suspended.

President Obama could allow American citizens, by means of a license, to
travel to Cuba, the only country in the world they are not allowed to
visit.

The report submitted to this Assembly by the UN Secretary-General abounds
with examples. In the course of 2009 numerous actions have been taken to
impose fines, confiscate and hinder transactions carried out by Cuba or
by third countries with Cuba.

As has been reported by the very US Treasury Department, since January
this year, almost half of the funds collected by its Office of Foreign
Assets Control came from the sanctions imposed on American and foreign
companies for alleged violations of the economic blockade against Cuba.

The truthful and indisputable fact is that the new US government
continues to ignore the overwhelming appeal that is launched by this
General Assembly year after year to put an end to the blockade against
Cuba.

Contrary to what all the American public opinion polls reflect, two
weeks ago President Obama instructed the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of the Treasury that "it was in the US national interest" to
maintain the economic sanctions against Cuba under the Trade with the
Enemy Act approved in 1917 to cope with war situations, which is only
applicable to Cuba.

The US blockade against Cuba is an act of unilateral aggression that
should be unilaterally terminated.

For many years Cuba has expressed its willingness to normalize relations
with the United States.

On August 1st last, President Raul Castro publicly reiterated Cuba's
disposition to sustain a respectful, arm's length dialogue with the
United States, without overshadowing our independence, sovereignty and
self-determination. He emphasized that we should mutually respect our
differences and that we do not recognize in the government of that or
any other country, or in any other group of States any jurisdiction over
our sovereign affairs.

The government of Cuba has suggested the US government a set of essential
topics it considers must necessarily be discussed during a future
process of dialogue aimed at improving relations, namely, the lifting of
the economic, commercial and financial blockade; the exclusion of Cuba
from the spurious list of countries that sponsor terrorism; the
abolition of the Cuban Adjustment Act and the "wet foot/dry foot"
policy; the compensation for economic and human damages; the return of
the territory occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base; the end of all
radio and television aggressions from US territory against Cuba; and the
cessation of the funding of domestic subversion.

An essential topic in that agenda is the release of the five Cuban anti
terrorism fighters who have been unjustly imprisoned in the United
States for eleven years. President Obama has the constitutional
prerogatives to set them free, as an act of justice and of commitment by
his government against terrorism.

Furthermore, we made a proposal to the United States to begin talks in
order to establish cooperation to fight drug-trafficking, terrorism and
human smuggling, to protect the environment and cope with natural
disasters.

It has been in that spirit that the Cuban government has held talks on
migration and the resumption of direct postal services with the US
government. These talks have been respectful and fruitful.

Mr. President,

Cuba has broad and fruitful relations with countries all over the
planet. Except for the United States, Cuba maintains friendly relations
with all the countries in this hemisphere and enjoys solidarity from the
whole region.

We maintain a fraternal cooperation with tens of countries from Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ours is a stable country with a united, cultured and healthy people,
which has proven, beyond any doubt, even under a blockade, that is
capable of coping with the consequences of the global economic crisis
and the effects of climate change, which last year cost the national
economy 20 per cent of its GDP.

Cuba can cope with its own problems and look for a solution. We do it in
a just and equitable society, which relies on its own efforts and has
been able to move forward and develop under the most adverse conditions.

We are ready to continue facing those challenges with patience and
equanimity, confident that not a single citizen has been or will be left
to its own fate, and certain that we defend the cause of national
independence and a socialist project that is overwhelmingly supported by
the Cubans.

Those who try to put an end to the Revolution and bend the will of the
Cuban people are suffering from delusions. Patriotism, social justice
and the decision to defend independence are all part of our national
identity.

Mr. President,

Latin America and the Caribbean are living through a dramatic juncture,
characterized by the sharp contradictions that exist among the big
majorities.

They, together with the progressive governments and the broad social
movements, are claiming for justice and equity in the face of the
traditional oligarchies that insist in preserving its privileges.

The coup d'etat in Honduras is a reflection of that. The putschists and
usurpers that kidnapped the legitimate President of that country violate
the Constitution and brutally repress the people, as was done during the
dark years of the military dictatorships propped up by the United States
in Latin America.

Hundreds of thousands of assassinated, missing and tortured peoples are
restlessly weighing on the consciousness of "Our America" in the face of
impunity.

Still there has not been any clarification as to why the plane that
kidnapped the constitutional President of Honduras made a stopover at
the US Air Base of Palmerola. The American fascist right, represented by
Cheney, openly supports and sustains the coup.

President Jose Manuel Zelaya should be immediately fully and
unconditionally reinstated in the exercise of his constitutional duties.
The inviolability of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa must be
respected.

The siege and aggression against its premises must cease.

The Honduran people are putting up a heroic resistance and will say the
last word.

These events coincide with the renewed and aggressive interest of the
United States to establish military basis in Latin America and
reactivating the Fourth Fleet, obviously with the objective of placing
the region within the reach of the US troops only in a matter of hours,
threatening the revolutionary and progressive processes, particularly
the Bolivarian Revolution in the sister nation of Venezuela and getting
control over the oil and other natural resources of the region.

* The slanders and lies uttered against the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela are brutal. We should be reminded that this was the way in
which atrocious aggressions were perpetrated and carried out against our
country.

The broader and clearer the policy towards that sister nation is, the
bigger our contribution to independence and development of the Latin
American and Caribbean peoples will be.

Latin America and the Caribbean can move on and, to a certain extent,
they are moving on to new and superior forms of integration. They have
more water, land, forests, and mineral and energy resources than any
other region in this planet. Their population exceeds 570 million.

The Rio Group, the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and
Development and UNASUR are bodies created as a result of the bonds that
unite us.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA-TCP) and
the PETROCARIBE cooperation scheme are the most outstanding examples.

Mr. President,

The recent and moderately optimistic forecast on the evolution of the
global economic crisis which portend a probable economic recovery early
next year are not based on solid data. At best, they only forecast a
relief after the collapse suffered by a very limited group of the most
powerful economies in the planet.

No one should ignore that this is an unheard-of crisis of the capitalist
system that encompasses its respective food, energy, ecological, social,
and financial crisis; or the risk of debt-inflation combination, the
bursting of other financial bubbles or a second collapse.

Developing countries are not responsible, but rather victims of the
consequences of the irrational and unsustainable model of consumption,
exploitation and speculation, the destruction of the environment and the
corruption of the industrialized economies.

As discussions take place, the number of hungry people will reach the
record figure of 1.20 billion in 2009, which is equivalent to one sixth
of the world's population. This year an additional 90 million will go
into poverty and another 50 million will be left unemployed. In the
current months, another 400 thousand children are expected to die as a
result of the crisis.

The measures that have been adopted are mere palliatives that perpetuate
the deficiencies of an unjust, excluding and ecologically unsustainable
international economic system. It is necessary to promote a fully
inclusive and encompassing international dialogue, with the active
participation of all developing countries.

We need to establish a new international economic order based on
solidarity, justice, equity and sustainable development. The
international financial architecture should be founded anew. The United
Nations, particularly this General Assembly, is called to play a key
role in this endeavor.

Mr. President,

In concluding my speech I would like to reiterate Cuba's appreciation
for the traditional and invaluable solidarity it has received from this
General Assembly in its struggle against aggression and the blockade.
Today, that solidarity continues to be indispensable.

As was expressed by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz at this very
rostrum nine years ago: "There is nothing in the existing economic and
political order that can serve the interests of Humankind. Thus, it is
unsustainable and it must be changed. Suffice it to say that the world
population is already 6 billion, 80% of which live in poverty. Ages-old
diseases from Third World nations such as malaria, tuberculosis and
others equally lethal have not been eradicated while new epidemics like
AIDS threaten to exterminate the population of entire nations. On the
other hand, wealthy countries keep investing enormous amounts of money
in the military and in luxurious items and a voracious plague of
speculators exchange currencies, stocks and other real or fictitious
values for trillions of dollars every day.

Nature is being devastated. The climate is changing under our own eyes
and drinking water is increasingly contaminated or scarce. The sources
of man's seafood are being depleted and crucial non-renewable resources
are wasted in luxury and triviality...The dream of having truly fair and
sensible rules to guide human destiny seems impossible to many. However,
we are convinced that the struggle for the impossible should be the
motto of this institution that brings us together today!"

Despite everything, the Cuban Revolution, victoriously and self assured,
is celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary.

Thank you, very much.