Mr. President:

I would like to thank the three speakers for their words and the delegations present in this unexpected early evening session.

Regarding what was said by the United States and the European Union:

This is the 19th occasion on which the U.S. delegation has repeated the same things to us.

The blockade is an act of economic warfare and an act of genocide.

Could it be that the State Department has not done its homework or studied the matter?

Last year, I read here the articles of the corresponding conventions. I shall read them again:

"Article 2: (…) Genocide is understood to be any of the following acts mentioned:

"Subsection (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

"Subsection c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

I have already read here today Mr. Mallory’s famous memorandum.

These are not "ideological arguments" from the past. The blockade is an old ice floe left over from the Cold War. It is not a rhetorical matter, but an act of aggression against Cuba.

The aim of the United States is not to help or support the Cuban people. It is well known that the blockade provokes hardship and suffering. It does not provoke deaths because the Cuban Revolution prevents that. How can it justify punishing Cuban children as has been described here? If it wants to help or support the Cuban people, the only thing it has to do is lift the blockade immediately.

Why do they prevent U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba and receiving information at first hand? Why do they restrict the so-called "people to people" contacts?

The pretexts for the blockade have changed over time. First, for allegedly belonging to the Chinese-Soviet axis; then the supposed export of revolution to Latin America; then the presence of Cuban troops in Africa to help defeat the apartheid system, preserve Angolan independence and achieve it in Namibia.

Later, the manipulation of human rights. But the blockade is a brutal violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.

We are willing to discuss human rights violations. We could start with the concentration camp in Guantánamo where torture is practiced and habeas corpus does not exist. It is the kingdom of "Military Commissions," outside of the state of law. Could the U.S. delegation explain what happened in the camps of Abu Ghraib, Bagram and Nama?

Were charges brought against those responsible? Were charges brought against those in European governments who authorized the secret prisons in Europe and the secret CIA flights carrying individuals who had been kidnapped? Can the representative of the European Union clarify that matter?

We could talk about Wikileaks. Why don’t they tell us something about the atrocities detailed in the 75,000 documents on crimes committed in Afghanistan or the 400,000 on Iraq?

What can they tell us about the extrajudicial executions that Bush mentioned in his famous "State of the Union" speech in 2003 to the applause of Congress? What has the current government done with those responsible? Could it be that the Joint Special Operations Command has been disbanded? Have the executive orders and authorization been revoked or are they still in force? Is it true that General McChrystal reported directly to Vice President Cheney? We could also discuss the brutal violence using state of the art technology that they call "counterinsurgency".

Changes in Cuba are a matter for the Cuban people. We will change everything that has to be changed, for the good of the Cuban people, but we will not ask for the opinion of the U.S. government. We freely chose our destiny. For that reason, we made a revolution. They will be sovereign changes, not "gestures". We know that the only thing that would satisfy the United States would be the installation of a pro-yanki government in Cuba. But that is not going to happen.

You want to advance in telecommunications? Lift the measures of the blockade that make business in this field impossible and end the theft of Cuban funds. Eliminate the blockade measures that severely restrict the Cuban people’s access to the Internet.

You want cooperation between our universities? Eliminate the restrictions on academic, student, scientific and cultural exchanges and allow us to establish agreements between these institutions.

You want cooperation on issues such as drug-trafficking, terrorism, human-trafficking, natural disasters and mail services? Respond, at the very least, to the proposal that we presented, unconditionally, more than one year ago.

The U.S. government has changed, but financing for internal subversion in Cuba remains the same.

A high-ranking official with USAID confirmed yesterday to journalist Tracey Eaton that, during the most recent period, $15.6 million dollars have been handed over to (and I quote) "individuals on the ground in Cuba." That’s what they call their mercenaries.

The illegal radio and television broadcasts continue.

The five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters are still unjustly incarcerated. Recently, with no motive whatsoever, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo was subjected to solitary confinement and denied medical attention.

Self-confessed international terrorists such as Orlando Bosch and Posada Carriles freely walk the streets in Miami and even participate in political activities there.

There are migratory talks but the political manipulation of migration continues with the Cuban Adjustment Act and the "wet foot-dry foot" policy.

Once again, it is totally false that the United States and Cuba are "economic partners". Agricultural sales violate all the regulations and practices of international trade and freedom of navigation. Lies have been told in this hall regarding alleged donations to Cuba from NGOs in the region of $237 million dollars.

The blockade is abusively extraterritorial and affects all those present here. It is not a bilateral matter.

Mr. President:

I have little to add to what has already been said about the European Union:

We do not recognize any moral or political authority whatsoever on the part of that body in terms of human rights.

It would do better to concern itself with its brutal anti-immigrant policy, the deportation of minorities, the violent repression of demonstrators and the growing social exclusion of its unemployed and low-income sectors.

Shamelessly and disgracefully, the European Parliament devotes itself to awarding prizes to the paid agents of the U.S. government in Cuba.

Now it says that the so-called Common Position has been left behind. We shall see. The facts will speak for themselves. But the European Union is dreaming if it believes that it will be able to normalize relations with Cuba while the so-called Common Position exists.

Thank you very much.