Excellencies:

On behalf of our people and government, accept our warmest welcome to Havana and our wishes that you have a happy and fruitful stay in our country.

We are welcoming you amid the renewed effort by our people to cope with the difficulties and, in particular, to overcome the ruthless policy of isolation and blockade that we have been subjected to for more than 45 years.

We pay tribute to the wonderful work carried out by Malaysia as Chair of the Movement, whose performance and commitment will set an example for our future endeavor. I can assure you that the coordination of positions between our countries will continue to take place closely within the Troika. It is also fair and well-deserved to recognize South Africa’s work as part of the Troika over the last 11 years and, particularly, during the four years and a half in which it held the Chair of our Movement.

We now welcome Egypt, which will be part of the Troika for the next three years and will be responsible for hosting the next Summit and presiding over the Movement.


Distinguished delegates:

Last 1 September, the Non-Aligned Movement commemorated its 45th anniversary. For more than four decades, we have waged a tough battle in defense of the legitimate interests and rights of our peoples.

Today, we can confidently assert that the Non-Aligned Movement is more necessary than ever and its member countries are committed to its preservation, revitalization and strengthening as an essential forum to discuss our most pressing problems and continue fighting in order for our just demands to be heeded in the unjust and unequal world in which we are currently living.

We are presently 116 countries from four continents, and we account for nearly two-thirds of the total number of members of the United Nations. Recently, we were pleased to admit two new members, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, whose delegations we are now welcoming in Havana in their first-ever Summit as full members.

Moreover, another two Caribbean nations will join us at this XIV Summit, Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis, to which we now give the warmest welcome. Their admission is indicative of the interest of the countries of the South to become integrated into and belong to this forum – where, without a doubt, we share common values and interests and, in a united and friendly manner, defend our right to live and develop as independent nations.

We are pleased that this XIV Summit will also provide the context for another two Summits which bring together groupings of countries of the South. We are delighted to host the Summit of the Group of 15 and the Summit of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries.

Excellencies:

In a few minutes, the intense work and negotiation sessions will begin in the Committees set aside for such purposes. We are confident that there will be a straightforward and solidarity-based debate in defense of our viewpoints, positions and interests.

We are meeting after the brutal aggression perpetrated against the brotherly people of Lebanon, and while we bear witness – in outrage – to the daily genocide committed against the Palestinian people. Our Summit also happens to coincide in time with the tightening of pressures against Iran for the exercise of its sovereign right to develop a program for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and when other non-aligned countries are threatened with “pre-emptive” wars and aggressions.

Therefore, we believe it is indispensable for us to close ranks in defending our rights. The risks, threats and difficulties that we are facing are similar and with a common origin. We must show our strength to the world, our ability to collectively cope with the enormous challenges imposed on us by a world governed by the most powerful. The diversity that characterizes our Movement, far from becoming an obstacle preventing us from reaching harmonization, must be the driving force for us to act united in light of the principles and purposes that we have jointly defined.

You, the Senior Officials of the non-aligned countries in this historic Summit, are responsible for advancing the negotiations on the documents to be finally submitted for approval by the Heads of State or Government.

You will have before you the Final Document, which started to be negotiated last August at the Coordinating Bureau in New York. This document has been extensively worked on by each of the delegations and is nearly ready for adoption. However, we must continue working to solve the pending issues.

You will also discuss aspects relating to our Movement’s working methods. We hope that work will be carried out to systematize what has been agreed upon and to provide more effectiveness to the implementation of the agreements and decisions to be adopted by the non-aligned countries in their major harmonization meetings. We hope that what you adopt in terms of methodology will emerge as a useful tool for the future work of the Movement.

The draft Political Declaration prepared by Cuba was conveyed in advance to the Foreign Ministers of each of the Movement’s member countries with the request that the contributions deemed necessary be given to us at the beginning of this Meeting. This document identifies the priorities, principles, goals and common objectives of the countries of the Movement in the current circumstances, while reaffirming the Bandung principles and the basic tenets that incepted this grouping. It is, in Cuba’s opinion, a valuable document that, once adopted by the Heads of State or Government, will be the most steadfast expression of our countries’ commitment to the principles and purposes of non-alignment.

Once your contributions have been received, the Cuban delegation will present a new draft of this document for consideration by the delegations.

Distinguished delegates:

The Movement can trust that Cuba will proceed, during its Chairmanship, with the transparency and firmness of principles inherent in it for nearly half a century of revolutionary diplomacy. Our country will act in a transparent and serious manner in the context of the Movement’s mechanisms.

We will work for an inclusive and representative Movement, whose decisions result from a broad-based debate.

In order to successfully cope with the challenge entailed by assuming the Movement’s Presidency, we need the united strength of our 118 nations. The Non-Aligned Movement can count on revolutionary Cuba as we are now counting on your support and cooperation.

Thank you very much.

(Cubanoal) 11-09-2006