Cuban Foreign Minister: Time to Admit Palestine to the United Nations

It is time to admit Palestine as a full member of the United Nations (UN), Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated today.

During his address at the UN General Assembly meeting, convened following the use of the U.S. veto in the UN Security Council, Rodríguez warned that Washington had once again blocked, “abusing its privileges in the Security Council,” the international community’s efforts to end what he described as Israel’s massacre in Gaza.

He reaffirmed the conviction that only a two-state solution—with the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and guaranteeing the right of return for refugees—can bring about a just and lasting peace.

Below is the full statement delivered by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the plenary meeting convened under Resolution 76/262, due to the veto exercised by the United States in the Security Council. New York, October 1, 2025.

Full Address by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

Madam President,

“The government of the United States has once again blocked, through abuse of the veto privilege in the Security Council, the efforts of the international community to put an end to the massacre perpetrated by Israel in Gaza. This confirms its historic complicity with the Occupying Power and guarantees impunity for genocide, extermination, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, and apartheid—all crimes against humanity.”

Far from contributing to international peace and security—the primary purpose of that main UN body—the United States contributes, through its veto, to the perpetuation of what Rodríguez called “Zionist barbarism against the Palestinian people” and thereby assumes responsibility for it.

He questioned Washington’s alleged intention to act as a fair mediator in reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement. Rodríguez described U.S. political, military, logistical, and financial support to Israel as a “clear expression of the double standards and bias that define U.S. policy.”

The Cuban diplomat cited as further evidence “the recent visit of the U.S. Secretary of State to Israel in support of the crime, and the intention to silence the voice of our Palestinian brothers in this universal forum.”

He denounced what he called “the unilateral and arbitrary decision to revoke and deny visas to members of the Palestinian delegation, preventing their participation in the High-Level Segment of the 80th Session of the General Assembly.” Rodríguez stressed that this violates the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement.

Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

According to Rodríguez, “fifteen Palestinians die every day from malnutrition, 12 of them children, victims of a colonial operation of settlement and forced displacement from their own land. At least 132,000 children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, and more than 43,000 are at risk of death.”

He stated that confirmed fatalities caused by Israeli aggression in Gaza since October 7, 2023, amount to 66,148, with an additional 168,716 wounded or maimed.

“It is inadmissible that Israel continues to use hunger, food delivery, and humanitarian aid as weapons of war. Depriving a besieged civilian population of water, electricity, medicine, and fuel is not a military strategy but a crime against humanity, a collective punishment, a genocide.”

Rodríguez also accused Israel of disregarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, International Law, and International Humanitarian Law, pointing to its attacks against other Middle Eastern nations, including Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen. He referred to what he called “the violation of Qatar’s sovereignty, a country that has played a constructive role in mediation efforts,” as another example of Israel’s aggression.

Cuba’s Position and Call to Action

The Cuban Foreign Minister called for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces, and the unrestricted entry of sufficient humanitarian aid under UN supervision.”

He reaffirmed Cuba’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, “firmly condemning the genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza to exterminate or expel the population from that occupied territory.”

Rodríguez stressed that a just and lasting peace is only possible through the two-state solution, with an independent and sovereign Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the guaranteed right of return for refugees.

He urged the implementation of agreements reached at the International High-Level Conference for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.

“It is time to admit Palestine as a full member of this Organization. If the Security Council, impotent in the face of the irritating abuse of the veto privilege, continues to stand as an obstacle to that aspiration, then this General Assembly, as the most universal and representative body of the international community, must unequivocally declare that right and hold accountable the one who impedes it with the greatest political rigor.”

Appeal to the United Nations

Rodríguez asserted that the General Assembly “can do more.” He called on the Assembly to declare Israeli actions as genocide and apartheid, labeling them crimes against humanity.

He urged UN Member States to “impose an arms embargo on Israel and exclude it from participation in international organizations and conferences under UN auspices.”

Additionally, he called for the “opening of all border crossings and humanitarian corridors to guarantee safe and unrestricted humanitarian access, under direct UN supervision, and for states in a position to do so to provide assistance to the Palestinian people.”

Finally, Rodríguez proposed “urgently reconvening the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, to analyze and approve, by majority will, a comprehensive set of measures to end UN inaction.”

He concluded by affirming: “The Palestinian cause is not merely an unresolved political issue; it is the decisive test of the credibility of the multilateral system, and the decisive test of the UN’s ability to defend the purposes and principles for which it was founded—precisely as we mark the 80th anniversary of its creation.”

Thank you very much.