p>
Cuba denounced on Thursday at the United Nations the lack of political will of several states to make real progress in nuclear disarmament.
It also proposed the immediate creation of a UN fund with at least half the world military spending to be allocated to economic and social development of countries in need, reported Prensa Latina.
Cuba’s stand was put forward by Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Rodolfo Benitez at the closing session of the UN Disarmament Committee. Benitez also presented an initiative to agree on an International Convention to wipe out nuclear weapons in 25 years and ban them forever.
The Cuban diplomat said that for the twelfth consecutive year the group concluded its work without any substantial recommendation to advance towards nuclear disarmament and no proliferation or a project to declare a Fourth Decade for Disarmament.
Benitez warned that the existence of nuclear weapons and of the doctrines on their possession and use constitute a threat to world peace and security; therefore, “nuclear disarmament remains a highest priority” in the field.
Cuba will continue working in the committee and in other forums “until the total ban and elimination of nuclear weapons in the planet is achieved,” he said.
Also on Thursday, at a special session of the United Nations Security Council, Cuba urged to sign a peace agreement in the Middle East and criticized the Council’s passive reaction regarding Israeli actions and policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Cuban permanent representative to the UN Pedro Nuñez Mosquera spoke about the increasing global recognition granted to the Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967 and said that Cuba hopes that “September 2011 is the appropriate time to finally achieve this objective.”
Nuñez Mosquera expressed Cuba’s concern about the increasing deterioration of the situation in the region caused by the escalation of Israel’s military offensive, called for a cease fire and demanded that Israel immediately lift the cruel and illegal blockade of Gaza.