ITEM 1: “CESSATION OF THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE Mr Chairman, As this is the first time my delegation takes the floor under your Presidency, allow me to congratulate you on your assumption of that responsibility, to wish you success and to assure you of our full cooperation. I also wish to extend my congratulations to your predecessor, Ambassador Mtshali of South Africa, for the excellent way in which she conducted our debates. Likewise, I wish to compliment Ambassador Wegger Strommen of Norway, for the work he has carried out as coordinator of our informal debates on Agenda item 1, entitled: "Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament", which is of particular importance under the current global circumstances. Mr Chairman, In terms of disarmament, Cuba attaches the highest priority to nuclear disarmament, as it was agreed by all Members of the United Nations in the Final Document of the first extraordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly devoted to disarmament, held in 1978. This has been a position historically defended by the Non-Aligned Movement, and it was recently ratified in the Final Document adopted in the context of its 14th Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government, held in September 2006 in Havana, Cuba. The section on Disarmament and International Security of this document has already been published and distributed as an official document of the Conference on Disarmament under the symbol CD/1811. Mr Chairman, It is contradictory that some States keep pressuring others to increasingly direct the attention of the international community to horizontal non-proliferation to the detriment of nuclear disarmament, when the only safe and effective way to avoid the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is through their total elimination. Nuclear disarmament is intended to be replaced with questions of horizontal non-proliferation and the approach indicating that non-proliferation is an aim in itself is intended to be imposed when it should, in fact, be seen as a contribution to the efforts to achieve the final objective of nuclear disarmament. While it happens, some initiatives with dangerous implications are progressing outside the traditional disarmament machinery, without the majority of Members ever having had the possibility of participating in their elaboration. Such is the case, for instance, of the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative, about which my delegation has expressed its opinions on several occasions. Mr Chairman, Cuba considers that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is illegal in any circumstances whatsoever. The International Court of Justice’s consultative opinion of 8 July 1996 regarding the legitimacy of the threat or use of nuclear weapons has become a historical document in the field of nuclear disarmament and constitutes an important legal precedent that requires an appropriate follow-up. Military doctrines based on the possession of nuclear weapons are unsustainable and unacceptable. The very existence of nuclear weapons and the so-called doctrines of nuclear deterrence create an environment of instability and insecurity worldwide. The only solution to prevent new nuclear catastrophes from occurring is to completely eliminate nuclear weapons and to prohibit their existence forever. Despite the years passed since the NPT came into force, the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament has not been met and, on top of that, very worrying backward steps are occurring. It is evident that some nuclear powers do not have the political will required to achieve the objective of eliminating and prohibiting nuclear weapons forever. In this regard, the lack of progresses in the implementation of the unequivocal undertaking given by the Nuclear Weapon States at the 2000 Review Conference to accomplish the total elimination of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. We must all work together to ensure that the next NPT review cycle, which will begin in April of this year in Vienna, produces positive results in that direction. Mr Chairman, Cuba considers that the adoption by the Conference on Disarmament of a balanced and comprehensive programme of work, which includes the establishment of an ad-hoc committee to begin negotiations on nuclear disarmament, is a fundamental and most urgent task. The proposals presented by the Group of 21 in this direction -contained in documents CD/1570 and CD/1571- maintain their full validity and usefulness. During its 14th Summit Conference, held in Havana, Cuba, from September 11th to 16th 2006, the Non-Aligned Movement reiterated its “call on the Conference to agree on a balanced and comprehensive programme of work by establishing, inter alia, an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament as soon as possible and as the highest priority”. Likewise, it “emphasized the necessity to start negotiations on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons with a specified framework of time, including a Nuclear Weapons Convention”. In this context, and unless we make some progress on the abovementioned, the conclusion of a universal, unconditional and legally binding instrument on security assurances to Non-Nuclear Weapon States cannot be delayed any longer. Mr Chairman, Even in the middle of a dangerous international juncture and permanent hostility towards our country on the part of the main nuclear power and the only one in the American Continent, Cuba became a State Party to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Tlatelolco Treaty, and to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2002. Likewise, on 27 May 2004, Cuba ratified its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as its corresponding Additional Protocol. This constitutes another proof of Cuba’s political will as well as our country’s firm commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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