Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
United Nations, Oct. 6.- Cuba urged a comprehensive and lasting solution to the problems of external debt during the debate generated at the United Nations (UN) on issues of macroeconomic policies and financing for development.
The countries of the South cannot advance if they continue to carry a debt whose disproportionate amount hinders their efforts to focus on development, Adiel Guevara, third secretary of the Cuban mission to the organization, said at the forum.
Faced with these challenges, the diplomat rejected the application of unilateral coercive economic measures, incompatible with International Law and the UN Charter.
For more than sixty years, Cuba has resisted an economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, which constitutes the main obstacle to the economic and social development of my country, he stressed.
Countries in the Global South need support through concrete actions that include external financing on favorable conditions, capacity building and technology transfer, he noted.
The Cuban representative recalled that the global debt reached 11.4 trillion dollars in 2022 in a context where developing nations are the most affected by hunger, extreme poverty, the negative impact of climate change and the consequences of the current economic order. and international financial.
Last year, he added, 25 countries dedicated more than a fifth of their total income to servicing external public debt.
A nation that has to dedicate that amount of resources for that purpose does not have the necessary liquidity to invest in the social sphere and at the same time encourage the production of goods and services, the development of technology, innovation and increase competitiveness. of its products, he said.
Faced with this context, the diplomat considered it incomprehensible that very few first world nations fulfill their commitment to offer 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product as Official Aid, while some powers waste billions of resources on military spending.
In response, Guevara proposed defending and strengthening a rules-based, open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system.
This, he added, must guarantee and expand its special and differential treatment provisions for all developing countries. (PL) (Photo: Archive)
