CUBA, February 5, 2009. Cuba’s achievements in education, health care, international solidarity and defense of its sovereignty were acknowledged by several countries during the presentation, on Thursday, by the Caribbean nation of its report to the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland. Cuban Minister of Justice, Maria Esther Reus, presented the document to the UN body and explained that the drawing up of the report was based on a wide consultation process that included the Cuban civil and over 200 NGOs. The Minister underscored the great importance Cuba gives to the Universal Periodic Review and added that the main characteristic of the Cuban political system is its capacity to constantly develop by considering the necessities put forth. Cuba’s project is genuinely autochthonous, since it is based on its rich history of struggle for equality and solidarity between men and women, independence, sovereignty and social justice, she pointed out. Reus ratified that the Caribbean nation pledges to the principles of objectivity, impartiality and non-selectivity, which must characterize international cooperation on human rights, while the country is always open to dialogue. After Cuba’s presentation the delegates took the floor; though more than 100 delegates asked to expose their points of view, only 60 were able to do it due to reasons of time, with 51 of them expressing views in a constructive way, most of which did it with remarked admiration. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba’s First Deputy Foreign Minister highlighted the encouraging and respectful atmosphere that characterized the session at the Palace de Nations, a reality quite differently from previous practiced marked by manipulation and double standards. At the session, delegates from Sri Lanka, South Africa, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Filipines, Ecuator, Mexico, Jordan, Pakistan, Algeria, China, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica expressed their opinions. (Cubaminrex- ACN) |