Embassy of the Republic of Cuba

Press Release

21 September 2013 “International Day of Peace”

Let's honor Peace and Life. Let's Support Nuclear Disarmament and the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons.

The degradation of living conditions on the planet as the consequence of global warming and the existence of nuclear weapons constitute the main challenges for the survival of the human species.

The need to totally eliminate and ban nuclear weapons has enormous international support. However we have not advanced very much towards this goal. Humankind continues to run the serious risk of being annihilated, given the existence of more than 19,000 nuclear weapons, of which 4,400 are operational and 2,000 are ready to be immediately deployed.

Only the use of a tiny part of the enormous world nuclear arsenal, the explosion of 100 warheads, would cause nuclear winter having catastrophic results for the existence of humanity.

The only really effective way of guaranteeing that humankind would never again suffer the terrible impact of nuclear weapons is their complete prohibition and total elimination.

Cuba, along with the other Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) members, is giving utmost priority to nuclear disarmament. The NAM has presented a proposal establishing a concrete schedule for the gradual reduction of nuclear weapons until their total elimination and prohibition, not later than 2025 at the latest; this should be considered by the international community. Nuclear disarmament cannot continue being an aim that is continuously being postponed and left to one side.

The 33 States of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) approved a Special Communiqué on Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons at its founding Summit Meeting on December 3, 2011. This document reaffirms the importance of complete and verifiable nuclear disarmament as of the utmost priority and makes a call for an International Conference to be held to deal with this topic of supreme priority.

Recently, on August 20, 2013, gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, CELAC members adopted the “CELAC Declaration on Nuclear Disarmament” which reiterated the firm commitment of the CELAC to work on convening an International High-Level Conference as soon as possible to identify ways and methods to eliminate nuclear weapons, aimed at agreeing on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons within a specific timeframe.  This program would ban the development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons and stipulate their destruction.   

In December of 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, proposed initially by Cuba and endorsed by the NAM, which convenes a High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament to be held on September 26, 2013. This will be the first General Assembly meeting at this level on this issue and could constitute a step forward on the necessary road to nuclear disarmament. All nations should show their commitment to peace and life by participating constructively in this important event at the highest possible level.

Embassy of Cuba to New Zealand

ENDS

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