On behalf of the Cuban people and Government, I would like to extend my appreciation to the President of the African Union, Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, and to the President of the Commission, Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, for allowing us to talk to you on this occasion.

Cuba reiterates its unflinching solidarity towards the African peoples and governments in their struggle against poverty and underdevelopment, as inherited by centuries of slavery, wars of prey, colonialism and a profoundly unjust and exclusion-oriented international economic order. We reiterate our will to share efforts with you in building a future of dignity and justice, and our decision to continue lending, to the extent of our possibilities, Cuba’s friendly hand and the support of our main asset: the human capital created by the Revolution.

In the course of 47 years, Cuba has worked and fought alongside the peoples of Africa. The names of African forests and mountains, languages and dialects, cultures and religions are familiar to hundreds of thousands of Cubans, who have fought with rifles, workbooks, medicines and the strength of our ideas, principles and just demands, alongside our African brothers and sisters. Peoples from all over Africa have been able to see on the ground the tenacity and commitment of our doctors in fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other ailments that keep plaguing the Continent.

More than 30,000 African students have been trained in Cuba in the course of these years of the Revolution and nearly 2,000 youths from 44 countries of Africa are currently enrolled in our universities and colleges. Africa has also seen the arrival of tens of thousands of Cuban doctors, teachers, engineers and construction workers. Nearly 2,000 Cuban doctors, nurses and health technicians are presently working in Africa.

The Cuban nation stemmed from the fertile mixture of African and European blood. Cuban descendants from Africa also fought slavery since the mid-nineteenth century and were involved in the struggle for the independence of our country. The Cuban nation came into being with pride for its African roots and the empowerment of its African-born children.

Immediately after the triumph of the Revolution, the Cubans returned to this Continent – aware that they had to settle a historical debt to the centuries of slavery that permanently uprooted millions of its children from their African land. Our determined support for the national liberation movements that intended to do away with colonialism and our involvement in the struggle against Apartheid in Africa enabled more than 350,000 Cubans – Commander Che Guevara among them – to share the trench of battle with their African brothers and sisters.

More than 2,000 Cuban freedom fighters laid down their lives in the African struggles for independence and against Apartheid. From Africa, the Cubans just took away the remains of our dead comrades. In Africa, Cuba does not own any mines or oil wells. It has just earned the warmth and the admiration of the African peoples.

Esteemed ministers:

In 1961, at the I Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, nearly half of the 25 participating and founding nations of this forum came from the African Continent. Today, 53 African States are members of the Movement. It is the largest Regional Group within it. A Movement of Non-Aligned Countries as a forum of political harmonization of the South would be unthinkable without the valuable contribution of each and every one of the countries on this Continent.

Forty-five years after the foundation of the Movement, Cuba will be honored to host its XIV Summit and take over the Chair of a forum which is today as necessary and relevant as when it came into being. In this endeavor, our country relies on the support of all African countries.

On behalf of the Cuban people and Government, and particularly of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, I hereby reiterate the invitation to attend the XIV Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana. At the same time, I can assure you that we will strive to turn this meeting into a more enhanced and vigorous Movement. Cuba will work towards the unity of action and the solidarity among all the NAM members as the only choice to overcome the challenges before us.

We are currently enduring the pretense of some powers to impose their hegemonic designs – resorting to unilateral and aggressive measures based on military superiority – the deterioration of injustice and the inequality of an unsustainable economic order, as well as the scorn by the powerful of the basic rules of International Law and the principles and purposes enshrined in the UN Charter. These are the reasons that reveal the urgency of keeping a united front in defending the right of the peoples to self-determination and independence, to sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is necessary to work together in demanding the right of our peoples to peace and development. Today, like never before, what must prevail is the solidarity-centered action of the South in the struggle for the democratization of international relations and the restructuring of the international economic and financial system.

In order to successfully overcome such challenges, the will and the endeavor of a single country would not suffice. It is essential to rely on the effort and the commitment of the members of the Movement and, in that regard, we attach the utmost importance to the participation of all African countries in the Havana Summit, represented at the highest level.

Cuba will spare no effort to strengthen the important role that our Movement has been playing under the difficult international circumstances currently at work. We will strive at all times to reach and respect the consensus needed by our Movement to act effectively as a diverse and united bloc – with prevalence for solidarity and the firm defense of our interests.

Esteemed colleagues: