CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Statement by Ambassador Rodolfo Benítez Verson, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Cuba to the United Nations, at the General Assembly Plenary Meeting on the Follow-Up to the High Level Meeting: Revitalizing the Work of the Conference on Disarmament and Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations. New York, 27 June 2011.

Mr. President,
Cuba reaffirms the importance of promote multilateralism, as the core principle of negotiations in the area of disarmament.
Multilaterally agreed solutions, in accordance with the UN Charter, provide the only sustainable method of addressing disarmament and international security issues.
Within the disarmament machinery, the Conference on Disarmament plays a crucial role in the multilateral negotiation of universally accepted disarmament treaties. If the Conference did not exist, we would have to create it without delay.
We regret that the Conference on Disarmament has been unable to carry out substantive work for over a decade. Some insist that the causes lie in the working methods and the rules of procedure of this body. Cuba does not share that interpretation.
The best example is that what happens to the Conference on Disarmament is far from an isolated situation within the disarmament machinery.
It is not a simple coincidence that the UN Disarmament Commission, for the 12th consecutive time, concluded again its work this year without agreeing on substantive recommendations. In addition, dozens of resolutions continue to be adopted each year in the First Committee of the General Assembly, which are simply not implemented, particularly those on nuclear disarmament.
Still, the Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament has not been convened, in spite of the fact that the Non-Aligned Movement has insisted on this matter for many years.  
Cuba supports the optimization of the UN disarmament machinery, including the Conference on Disarmament. However, we are convinced that the paralysis currently affecting most of the disarmament machinery is caused, first of all, by the lack of political will of some States to achieve actual results, particularly on disarmament.

Mr. President,
We are concerned about the insinuations by some delegations that the time has come to leave aside the Conference on Disarmament and turn to alternative negotiation processes.
Cuba opposes the replacement of the Conference with selective, improvised ad hoc arrangements, outside the framework of the United Nations, exposed by certain countries. If such criterion is imposed, we would be taking a dangerous step back.
The solution is not to start disregarding the Conference on Disarmament or to minimize its importance. On the contrary, today more than ever, its preservation and strengthening is the responsibility of us all.
The Conference must adopt as soon as possible a comprehensive and balanced program of work, which takes into consideration the actual priorities on disarmament.
Cuba is ready to negotiate, in parallel with the Conference on Disarmament, a treaty that eliminates and prohibits nuclear weapons; a treaty that bans the arms race in outer space; a treaty that provides effective security assurances to Non-Nuclear-Weapon States, like Cuba; and a treaty that bans the production of fissile material for the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. 
The Conference on Disarmament can face these negotiations simultaneously.
Initiating the negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty for the manufacture of nuclear weapons would be a positive action, but still insufficient by itself if the subsequent steps to achieve nuclear disarmament are not defined.
Nuclear disarmament is and must remain the highest priority on disarmament. On this basis, the consensus must be achieved in the framework of the Conference on Disarmament.
The Conference must urgently commence negotiations on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, within a specific timeframe, including a Nuclear Weapons Convention
The mere existence of nuclear weapons and the doctrines prescribing its possession and use poses a serious threat to international peace and security.

It is simply unacceptable that there are almost 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, 7,560 of which are ready for immediate use.
On 22 August, Cuba will take on the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament and have the responsibility to draft and negotiate the Report of this organ for its presentation to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.
It is our firm purpose to make every possible effort to foster substantive negotiations with that body, in accordance with its main mandate to negotiate international treaties on disarmament and arms control. That would require the contribution of each and every members of the Conference. The opportunity to prove our commitment to disarmament and peace through concrete actions is in our hands.
Thank you.