CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Statement by ambassador Rodolfo Benítez Verson, deputy permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations on item 87: report of the international atomic energy agency. Plenary meeting of the General Assembly, 8 November 2010.

Mr. President,
Cuba welcomes and supports the major role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The implementation of nuclear techniques contributes to reducing soil degradation, desertification, global warming and other natural phenomena affecting food production and human life on the Earth.

We attach high priority to the cooperation among developing countries. In this context, Cuba welcomes the 25th Anniversary of the Regional Co-operative Arrangements for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL). We congratulate IAEA Secretariat on the results attained in the implementation of the Action Plan to materialize the Strategic Alliance between ARCAL and IAEA.

The technical cooperation pillar of IAEA must be unconditionally strengthened and provided the necessary resources due to its priority.

Our commitment to technical cooperation is firm as proved by the following examples, among others:

1.         Cuba complies strictly with its obligations with the Technical Cooperation Programme of IAEA. In 2009, the implementation rate of national projects is 85%, which is higher than the general and regional average.  

2.         Our country has an active participation in the Coordinated Research Programmes. In 2009, Cuban researches took part in 29 research contracts under those programs.

3.         Cuba fulfills its financial commitments to the Technical Cooperation Fund of IAEA, including its contribution of 100% of national participation costs.

Mr. President,

The economic, commercial and financial blockade implemented by the US Government against Cuba for over 50 years, affects the IAEA activities in our country and violates the Statute of the Agency.

Up to December 2009, the blockade has caused my country economic losses higher than 100 thousand 154 million dollars, according to very conservative calculations.

Due to the blockade, IAEA faces difficulties in acquiring specialized equipment for projects in Cuba, since US companies, or those with equities in that country, cannot sell those equipment to use them in Cuba, before the possibility of sanctions. 

Likewise, our nationals face difficulties to participate in trainings organized in the US. The implementation of projects related to the fight against cancer, which is a priority of IAEA, is also affected.

As Cuba denounces once more the unjust and criminal blockade that has been condemned in this very hall just a few days ago by the overwhelming majority of UN members, it recognizes the constant efforts of the IAEA Secretariat to search for alternatives and find solutions, in the face of this scenario.

Mr. President,

We recognize the efforts of IAEA to strengthen the infrastructure of radiological safety, transportation, radioactive waste management and emergencies in countries, as a guarantee of a safe use of sources of radiation.

Cuba allocates significant human resources and materials to safety, and makes contributions in this field in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the organization of regional activities and the contribution of experts and radiation protection services. Cuba, as a member of the Ibero-American Forum of Radiation and Nuclear Safety Regulatory Agencies, engages actively in medical projects.

We see with satisfaction that, despite the financial crisis, more than 60 countries, most of the developing countries, have expressed their interest in including nuclear power as an option for sustainable energy development.   

We attach high value to the studies on energy planning and assessment promoted by IAEA, and to the actions aimed at building capacities and maintaining nuclear knowledge for sustainable energy development. Cuba has benefitted from its participation in these works and shares its knowledge with other countries of our region.   

As to the nuclear fuel supply, we emphasize the review of this question must be inclusive and transparent, and must lead to the adoption by consensus of relevant decisions. 

Cuba rejects any intention of using nuclear fuel supply as a discriminatory means of political or economic coercion, or as a mechanism to establish the monopoly of a few over nuclear fuel supply.

Mr. President,

IAEA certified once more the strict compliance by Cuba with its commitments on safeguards, which confirms us as a country with no nuclear materials or undeclared nuclear activities.

We observe with deep concern the environment of distrust promoted in the IAEA’s verification work in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the Syrian Arab Republic, as a result of well known geopolitical interests and double standards

We reiterate that verification activities must, first of all, respect the national sovereignty and interests of Member States. This entails also an impartial professional action by the inspectors and the rest of the IAEA Secretariat staff, alien to all pressure or interference that undermines the efficiency and credibility of the Agency.

We urge the IAEA Secretariat to continue working to foster an environment of impartiality, confidence, understanding, and transparency based on objectivity and truth, leading to a solution to specific cases of compliance with safeguard agreements, under the consideration of the IAEA Board of Governors and/or General Conference.

In this context, we reaffirm the need to respect the inalienable right of all States to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

We reiterate our support to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the negotiated solution by the actors involved.

We likewise reiterate our support to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The convening of an international conference in 2012 on the establishment of this zone, adopted by the Eighth NPT Review Conference, is a significant step towards that direction. 

We call upon Israel to accede to the NPT without delay or conditions. Israel must place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards.

I would like to conclude, Mr. President, by stressing the common responsibility we all have to deliver a safer world to future generations. Therefore, nuclear disarmament cannot continue to be a constantly postponed and conditional objective. Cuba will remain firm in the struggle for a better world free from nuclear weapons.

Thank you

(Cubaminrex-Misión ONU)