Mr. President, distinguished permanent representatives:

We highly value the leadership of the People's Republic of China in defending international peace and security and observing international law. We also appreciate its efforts toward the preservation, strengthening, and appropriate reform of the United Nations—particularly the democratization, transparency, and effectiveness of the Security Council and the empowerment of the General Assembly—as well as in building a just, democratic, and multilateral international order based on sovereign equality.

Proof of this lies in the global initiatives promoted by President Xi Jinping, which we support, to face current challenges through genuine multilateral cooperation. The convening of this open debate is further evidence of this.

On September 26, 1960, at the UN General Assembly, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz pointed out: "Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared!" We vividly remember this in the year of his centenary.

Mr. President:

How can we refer to the defense of the central role of the United Nations, the promotion of peace and development, and the safeguarding of the international order sustained by international law and basic norms in international relations—in order to avoid new conflicts where the strong impose themselves on the weak—without mentioning the genocide against Palestine, the imperialist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the war in the Middle East?

The government of the United States, in practice, stands in breach of international peace and security and in violation of international law and international humanitarian law regarding the Republic of Cuba.

The filing of criminal charges against the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, is a morally infamous and legally arbitrary act. It represents an abuse of jurisdiction by U.S. courts, a manipulation of the location where aircraft were downed within Cuban territorial airspace and waters, and an oversight of the illegal and terrorist missions these aircraft frequently carried out in violation of U.S. laws, conducted with the impunity and complicity of that country's authorities while ignoring the right of states to legitimate self-defense.

It is a politically motivated, fraudulent decision aimed at deceiving U.S. and foreign citizens 30 years after the events took place. It serves the vile purpose of garnering support for a military adventure against Cuba to achieve a "regime change" or "nation-building," as they euphemistically call it now.

The oil and energy embargo that the United States applies to Cuba is equivalent in its effects to a naval blockade. This is an act of war and genocide that subjects the Cuban population to conditions that threaten its integrity and existence. It constitutes a cruel and indiscriminate "collective punishment" that currently causes deaths, as reflected in the doubling of the infant mortality rate from 4.0 to 9.2 per one thousand live births, and the reduction of life expectancy for children with cancer from 85% to 65%.

A military aggression would cause a bloodbath. Thousands of Cubans would die defending their homeland, its values, and sacred causes. Young Americans would also perish without a cause or ideal to defend, dragged into violence by an imperialist, neo-fascist policy of domination, plunder, and conquest.

I address American citizens specifically, especially their youth, and appeal to their human values and noble, pacifist sentiments. I ask them to seek the truth and not allow themselves to be deceived or manipulated by an elitist, corrupt, and powerful Miami clique. This clique does not represent the American people or the Cuban residents in this country, the majority of whom oppose the barbarism of war and the energy embargo.

The President who gives that military attack order, alongside the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War who instigate it, would go down in history as war criminals and direct perpetrators of crimes against humanity. No justification can be used for an aggression or for coercive, inhumane acts that mirror it in human impact. Let Cuba live in peace!

For more than six decades, the U.S. government has manufactured pretexts to try to justify its criminal conduct. It has used the absurd argument of presenting this small but symbolic island as a supposed threat to the national security of a nuclear superpower—an idea that defies logic and common sense, while resting on entirely mendacious claims and insinuations.

As President Miguel Díaz-Canel has reiterated, Cuba is not and cannot be a threat. It is not an enemy of the United States, nor does it want to be, despite significant differences with its government. Cuba shares deep and fraternal ties with the American people and culture. We will continue to warmly welcome American travelers, even if their government restricts their freedoms, as well as their entrepreneurs and companies with competitive projects to participate without discrimination in our economic development, even if the blockade hinders it.

However, a corrupt and immoral plutocracy now wields the myth of our government's incompetence and alleged corruption, alongside the supposed danger of a "humanitarian crisis," as justification for a foreign intervention. This is said cynically by the executioner itself, which coldly, maliciously, and deliberately causes devastating effects through actions that would destabilize any country in the world, regardless of its economic potential, development level, or political system.

Despite the lack of progress and good faith, and despite the lack of seriousness and consistency from the U.S. side, we remain willing to continue conversations. We are ready to address bilateral issues without interference in our internal affairs, political system, or elections, and to seek ways of civilized behavior and multifaceted cooperation—particularly regarding terrorism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, regular and safe migration, human trafficking, mutual economic compensation, and other matters.

This is an unprecedented and unjustified unilateral aggression. Through intimidation and "secondary" sanctions applicable to third parties, the U.S. government intends to force all states to participate against their will in its atrocious policies against Cuba, which will not happen.

I ask the international community to mobilize to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that could be imposed either by force of arms or through an energy embargo and the extreme tightening of the blockade, both of which kill and cause suffering. I ask Latin America and the Caribbean to act to preserve its status as a Zone of Peace and avoid adverse consequences that would destabilize the region.

It is time for a broad international alignment, rising above political differences, ideological approaches, and historical disputes, to limit and prevent the excesses that threaten and damage national interests, peoples, and the sovereign prerogatives of all states. The Global South should fight for this and protect itself collectively from any retaliation through a collective voice, joint action, and mutual cooperation. I humbly ask: the hour has come for solidarity with Cuba, a nation that has always shown solidarity with everyone without ever being deterred by risks—sometimes fatal ones—material shortages, or self-interest.

I find no way to refer to the defense of the central role of the United Nations, the promotion of peace and development, and the primary responsibility of the Security Council in maintaining international peace and security without asking this Security Council to realistically, at least, attempt to fulfill its primary and supreme mandate regarding the military threat and energy embargo against Cuba. Nor can I refrain from encouraging the UN General Assembly to resolutely use its broad and decisive powers, alongside the moral, legal, and democratic authority conferred upon it by the peoples of the world, regarding the situation in Cuba.

Let no one doubt that, should a moment arrive that we hope never occurs, the people of Cuba will fight to the ultimate consequences.

Homeland or death, we shall overcome!

Thank you very much.