[NYTr] TEXT of Cuban FM's Speech to Group of 77 Meeting - 9/27/07 Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:11:00 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) - Sep 28, 2007 http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles Cuban Foreign Minister Speaks at Group of 77 Meeting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque spoke at the 31st Annual Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, September 27 in New York. CAN brings you the full text of Perez Roque's Speech: Mr. Chairman: On behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, of which most of the countries making up the Group of 77 and China are members, I hereby express our desire for a successful 31st Ministerial Meeting. I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda on being elected to the Chairmanship of the G-77 and China for 2008. In a world that is currently going through a globalized economic crisis, in which there is an increasingly voracious hunger by the transnational corporations and the powers with Empire-like designs of domination, and in which the survival of our own species is even endangered, the countries of the South continue to fall prey to the scourge of impoverishment and exclusion. Today, out of the 854 million starving people in the world, 820 million live in underdeveloped countries. Inequality among and within the countries is on the rise. And 1% of the world's richest people own 40% of the wealth, while 50% of the poorest population merely has 1%. The realization of the right to development for the 130 countries of the G-77 is increasingly more remote. There is a widening gap in the historic debt of the developed nations to the Third World, as a result of the colonial exploitation that drowned us in underdevelopment. At this rate, not even the modest goals of the Millennium Summit could be met by 2015. They are increasingly becoming a vanishing dream. The lack of political will by the developed countries to honor the international commitments entered into, along with the increasingly unjust international economic order, undermine the pressing efforts made by the developing nations. According to the Millennium Development Goals, we should reduce extreme poverty in underdeveloped countries by half by 2015. While in 1990 some 1.276 billion people suffered from abject poverty, that figure has now grown to 2.5 billion people. Some 1.1 billion people have no access to clean water and 2.6 billion lack access to cleaning services. At the current rate, how much longer will it take to meet this modest objective? We should reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in children under five years of age by 2015. However, it is obvious that at the current rate this goal will not be attained. We intended to stop and start reducing, by 2015, the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, the World Health Organization is now asserting that 74% of the drugs to fight off AIDS are controlled by monopolies, that 77% of Africans have no access to treatment and that 30% of the world's population continues to receive such drugs in a disorderly fashion. The agreed goal was to have universal primary education by 2015. However, 115 million children cannot gain access to primary education - and 53% of them are girls. Some 781 million adults around the world are illiterate, 64% of which are women. At the current rate, when will it be possible to proclaim the implementation of this goal? We should guarantee environmental sustainability by 2015. However, there is an increase in the threat of the accelerated climate change on the globe, whose root cause lies with the untenable consumption patterns of the industrialized nations. The developed countries consume 61% of the oil and cause 63% of CO2 emissions. A mere US$ 150 billion is required to meet the Millennium Goals. However, Official Development Assistance only accounts for 0.3% of the developed countries' GNP. In order to pretend that they are increasing their official assistance, some donor countries, while increasing their conditionalities, have resorted to the practice of counting as assistance the cancellations of our extreme debt, which they know will not be paid. The Doha Round, which should have ended in 2005, is increasingly deviating from its development scope. Still unchanged are the multi-million dollar agricultural subsidies of the developed countries, aggravating rural poverty, food insecurity and the indebtedness of the developing nations. Mr. Chairman: In light of the problems and challenges characterizing the unipolar world in which we live, the 130 member countries of the G-77 and China must and can become a decisive force in international relations. South-South cooperation has to be enhanced, and we must work in order to strengthen the unity and coordination of the Group, while preserving the legitimate interests of our peoples. The Group's diversity, far from dividing us, must bring us together and enrich the harmonization of our positions. The Cuban Chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement intends to work closely with the Chair of the G-77 and China with a view to coordinating our efforts. The first results are already tangible. We managed to revitalize the Joint Coordinating Committee between the NAM and the G-77 and China to harmonize positions on issues of the utmost importance. With the support of the members of both groupings, the JCC has managed to take root as an interlocutor representing the common interests and concerns of our countries. We recognize and appreciate the support and contribution of Pakistan in its capacity as Chair of the G-77 - which has been of extraordinary value in the work done by the JCC. We would also like to reiterate our full willingness to continue cooperating with the new Chair of the G-77. Mr. Chairman: We would also like to avail ourselves of this opportunity to extend appreciation for the permanent support that the G-77 and China has provided all these years in our struggle to put an end to the unjust policy of blockade imposed on us for nearly 50 years. We are sure that such support will happen again this year. The G-77 and China, delegates, will always be able to count on Cuba's commitment and solidarity. Thank you very much. * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================