00:00Diplomatic representative.
00:01It remains unchanged.
00:03The application of unilateral coercive measures against sovereign states
00:06in violation of the UN Charter is unacceptable.
00:10This constitutes a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of international law.
00:15It undermines the system of multilateralism and the foundations of civilized relations between nations.
00:21The ongoing trade, financial, economic, and now energy embargo of Cuba
00:28is an example of cynical disregard for the rules of conduct shared by all civilized states.
00:34The purpose of the embargo is well known.
00:36It consists of forcing a sovereign state whose people have independently achieved freedom and independence
00:42to change its internal political system, renounce the fundamental principles of its existence and its ideology,
00:51and ultimately sacrifice its freedom.
00:54Every possible means is being used to achieve this end,
00:57even going so far as to designate Cuba as sponsor of terrorism.
01:02Is this not a direct attempt at enslavement and colonization?
01:05Have we not returned to the 16th century and the days of witch hunts?
01:09We categorically reject such practices, and we believe it unacceptable in international relations.
01:15What's more, the ongoing embargo of Cuba violates not only legal norms,
01:19but the principles of humanity and morality.
01:21The figures repeatedly presented by the Cuban delegation on rising infant mortality rates
01:26and the number of seriously ill people deprived of medical care
01:29speak louder than any passionate calls for respect for human rights.
01:34And such calls are sounding increasingly cynical against the backdrop of the consequences
01:39of collective punishment of an entire people
01:41and the use of starvation as a means of pressure against an entire people.
01:45Can any of today's speakers who oppose ending the pressure on Cuba
01:50answer the question, which human right, including the new, often artificially invented ones,
01:57is more important than the right to life,
01:59the very right which ordinary Cubans are currently being deprived of?
02:02We're convinced that no rhetoric can be built on the deaths of innocent people, including children,
02:07and that no greatness, no state greatness, can be achieved or affirmed through cruelty.
02:14Colleagues, today we will once again vote on the draft resolution.
02:18The resolution will be adopted, and then what comes next?
02:20That is a rhetorical question.
02:22It is time to recognize that the fate of Cuba is also the fate of the UN.
02:27How our organization responds to the ongoing attempt to destroy a sovereign state
02:31will be the most eloquent indicator of the UN's effectiveness and viability.
02:35If everything ends up being limited to just as a resolution as always,
02:40then that will demonstrate the true value of today's UN in practical terms,
02:44empty words and a simulation of vigorous activity.
02:46There are no reforms that could help such a UN.
02:49What we should fear is not a liquidity crisis.
02:52What we must fear is a crisis of confidence in the UN, which has already arrived,
02:57and Cuba is a striking example.
02:58Unfortunately, it is not the only one.
03:00Belarus has always defended and will continue to defend the right of every state
03:03to independently determine its own model of development.
03:07Economic and political coercion as a method of exerting pressure on sovereign states
03:11is completely at odds with the contemporary concept of civilized relations between states.
03:18We call for complete, unconditional, and irreversible lifting of the economic, financial,
03:22and commercial embargo against Cuba,
03:24where we sincerely hope for a constructive bilateral dialogue
03:30between the two countries in the spirit of mutual respect
03:33and peaceful resolution of differences.
03:34There is no alternative.
03:37I thank the distinguished representatives.
03:41Those were the statements at this hour from the Belarus.
