27/09/2026
🗣🇨🇺 Statement by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, during the General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Madam Deputy Secretary-General,
In approximately three hours, exactly 66 years will have passed since Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz uttered the following words, in a memorable speech delivered from this very rostrum, and I quote: “Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared! Let the colonies disappear, let the exploitation of countries by monopolies disappear, and then humanity will have reached a true stage of progress.”
However, the advance of expansionism, acts of usurpation and conquest, and military and economic aggression are alarming. The intention of the Government of the United States to impose peace through force is absurd and unfeasible. Fundamental pillars of International Law and of the United Nations, such as the sovereign equality of States, are under constant attack.
The genocidal crime committed by Zionism against the Palestinian people, the pirate attacks against vessels and extrajudicial executions in the Caribbean Sea and areas of the Pacific, the military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran are new manifestations of this atrocity.
They also reflect the crisis of identity and relevance that has been imposed upon the United Nations, including this General Assembly, the most universal, democratic and representative organ of the international community.
We are convinced of the indispensable need to preserve and strengthen the United Nations, while making it more democratic, effective and closer to the peoples.
In Cuba, as is well known, we are facing a multidimensional aggression by the Government of the United States, a permanent, abusive and ruthless hostility that has lasted for almost seven decades. Since January 2026, it has intensified and become more cruel and dangerous with the establishment of an energy blockade which, through intimidation and coercion, prohibits all countries from exporting fuel to Cuba, which is tantamount to a naval blockade, classified under International Law as an act of war.
Through successive measures, the U.S. Government has continued adding prohibitions affecting all countries with regard to products and services that may not be exported or transported to Cuba. More than 7,000 containers have been detained in various ports, many of them carrying food, medicines and medical devices, or even contracted by private Cuban companies.
In an unprecedented and extraordinary development, a superpower is unilaterally depriving all States of the right to export whatever product they wish to whatever country they wish, while comprehensively and persistently infringing upon freedom of trade and navigation.
Added to this are the intimidation of businesspeople from various countries in order to force them, against their will, to abandon their investments and businesses in Cuba; obstacles and traps designed to prevent the arrival of entirely legitimate commercial shipments; pressure to impede the flow of visitors and tourists; and efforts aimed at restricting, to the greatest extent possible, Cuba’s legitimate access to financing, technology and markets.
The situation has reached the extreme of exerting unprecedented pressure on sovereign governments to renounce medical services that they themselves requested for the benefit of their respective populations and which are provided altruistically by Cuban professionals, simply because the U.S. Government opposes such cooperation, regardless of the consequences and harm inflicted upon populations deprived of free, quality medical care, that is, deprived of a fundamental human right. Last Thursday, while this General Assembly was in session, the Department of State convened a humiliating meeting specifically with recipient States in order to exert pressure and issue threats.
As described by the Secretary of State, the official policy of the United States is to close every valve, avenue and formula for Cuba’s survival.
The impact of such a harsh and ruthless siege has a human face. The economic war is directed against the people. It affects the Cuban population as a whole. It claims lives, causes individual and collective suffering, and generates anguish. It is not “collateral damage.” It is a policy deliberately designed to strike Cuban families where they are most vulnerable, prevent their well-being and undermine the dignity of the Cuban people.
It is an act of collective punishment, a crime also prohibited under International Humanitarian Law. Its evident and immediate objective is to induce a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, which also constitutes a crime.
The Government of the United States and the Department of State have been forced to acknowledge the suffering inflicted, yet they have the audacity and cynicism to insist on blaming the Government of Cuba. The executioner blames the victim.
They continue to follow the formula established by the Department of State in 1960, in the infamous Mallory Memorandum, which established as official policy, and continues to do so today, the overthrow of the Cuban Government through economic asphyxiation and the extreme suffering of the Cuban people through material deprivation, hunger and desperation.
The President of the United States declared from this rostrum a few days ago that Cuba is a failed state. If that were so, why then did they have to establish a fuel blockade? Why did they impose secondary sanctions? Why do they have to threaten, pursue and pressure every State on the planet? The President of the United States also acknowledged that his government is imposing the greatest pressure ever exerted on Cuba. Months earlier, he had said, and I quote: “All that’s left is to go in and tear the place apart.”
The threat of the use of military force against Cuba persists, conduct that constitutes a violation of International Law and a serious breach of the Charter of San Francisco.
If carried out, it would constitute a grave crime. It would cause the deaths of Cubans and young Americans and enormous destruction. We hope it never happens. Cuba would exercise, with all its determination and energy, its legitimate right to self-defense. This aggression is accompanied by a brutal media and cognitive warfare, directed not only against the Cuban people, but also against U.S. citizens and world public opinion. It is characterized by crude and blatant attempts to interfere in Cuba’s internal affairs, which likewise constitutes an international offense.
We are often asked what the United States seeks through such aggressive conduct. This is a question that usually surprises us, since representatives of that government have openly declared their objective of taking possession of Cuba, controlling the country, dominating its economy—in other words, of nullifying, through aggression and economic asphyxiation, the national sovereignty for which generations of Cubans have struggled since the 19th century: first to achieve it, and, since 1959, after attaining full freedom, to defend it steadfastly in the face of the greatest risks, including that of holocaust.
U.S. conduct rests upon the falsehood declared at the beginning of this year that Cuba constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, an absurdity that government repeats shamelessly. In a futile attempt to substantiate it, it floods the media with mendacious accusations through its spokespersons and through publications it contracts and pays for, taking advantage of the growing governmental control exercised by the United States over major communications platforms. The U.S. President himself repeated this falsehood in this chamber a few days ago.
Any minimally informed observer understands the fanciful and malicious nature of presenting a developing nation such as Cuba, relatively small and with a modest-performing economy, as a threat to the planet’s greatest nuclear, military, technological and economic power.
This Organization and its Member States have abundant evidence that we are a peaceful country, of Cuba’s efforts in favor of international cooperation, understanding and the peaceful settlement of disputes, and of the active role we have always played in support of the United Nations.
Cuba is not a threat; the blockade is!
Cuba is not a threat; the blockade is!
We have always been, and remain, willing to engage in dialogue with the Government of the United States in an effort to find solutions to bilateral differences on the basis of seriousness, respect, sovereign equality, observance of International Law, non-interference in internal affairs, and without preconditions. We are open to trade and business relations with U.S. companies, just as we are with any other country.
We are aware of the immense challenge our nation faces with regard to its security, survival, the well-being of its people and the destiny of the Homeland. We do not face this challenge passively. We do so with firmness and dignity.
On this basis, we are advancing a process of profound transformation of the economic and social model, grounded in our historical experience.
On July 30, during the Seventh Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated: “Faced with the complex scenario I have described, how can we persist in building socialism, how can we find the financial and material resources to maintain the social achievements of the Revolution? Just as in previous particularly complex periods, such as the Special Period, when, under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief, and subsequently under the leadership of the Army General, the economic model was transformed to adapt it to challenging external circumstances, in the current context we have set ourselves the task of undertaking the transformations required by the moment, under the leadership of the Party, collectively and democratically, in consultation with the people, without compromising independence, national sovereignty, or the social achievements of the Revolution.” End of quote.
At that session, the National Assembly of People’s Power approved an innovative program incorporating new practices, actors and economic concepts. All of this is being carried out within the framework of the Constitution in force, approved through a free and universal referendum, and within the conception of our socialist State governed by the rule of law and committed to social justice.
As the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, pointed out, and I quote: “the most important thing will be its proper and timely implementation, with clearly defined priorities and the conscious participation of the people.” End of quote.
This process rests upon the strength we have been able to build, the potential of our human resources, and our determination to respond to the needs of the people with the greatest possible degree of social justice, without abandoning our commitment to defend, in the most absolute and vigorous manner, sovereignty and the right to self-determination.
We know that we have the support of the international community and the solidarity of millions, including an increasing number of U.S. citizens. This is manifested in repeated expressions and statements of support for Cuba and rejection of abusive aggression. It is expressed in the material solidarity and assistance received by our people, aimed at mitigating the enormous damage inflicted upon the Cuban economy and society.
That spirit of solidarity and empathy is also expressed with particular strength among Cubans who reside permanently or temporarily outside the national territory and among their descendants, particularly here in the United States.
Mr. President,
We reject the Monroe Doctrine and its Corollaries, just as we reject every attempt at militarization, intervention or imperialist domination in Latin America and the Caribbean, proclaimed a Zone of Peace in 2014, precisely in Havana.
As a small developing island State, we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who share a similar condition and with their concern regarding the worrying and inexorable advance of climate change.
It is necessary to promote more inclusive governance of new information and telecommunications technologies, particularly disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
We reject the application of unilateral coercive measures. We express our support and solidarity with each and every nation that is a victim of such measures.
We reaffirm our solidarity with the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua.
We reiterate our support for the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence.
The sister nations of Africa and the Caribbean deserve fair and differentiated treatment, as well as reparations for the horrors of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.
We reaffirm our solidarity with the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination.
We reaffirm our support for the principle of “One China.”
We are convinced that the current course of international relations—characterized by disrespect for International Law, defiance of the United Nations, and the imposition of the unilateral will of the most powerful upon other countries through intimidation and coercion—is dangerous and unsustainable. The law of the jungle cannot be the future of Humanity.
It was precisely to prevent such practices, and to promote peace and justice, that the generations before us founded the United Nations and, over the course of decades, developed and sought to strengthen its work. Let us restore its role, while there may still be time, before the United Nations becomes part of history as an unrealized dream of great promises.
In this year of its centenary, let us share the confidence of Fidel Castro Ruz, historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, that if we struggle with determination, a better world will be possible.
¡Patria o Muerte!
¡Venceremos!
