• Submitted by: manso
• International
• 08 / 25 / 2011

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GENEVA.—Cuba has assumed the presidency of the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva with a call to preserve and strengthen the group as a guarantor of world peace.

Solutions agreed in a multinational context constitute the only way to approach issues related to disarmament and international security, noted Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Abelardo Moreno in the initial session of the Cuban presidency.

We need to begin our substantive work with all urgency and guarantee the right of human beings and peoples to live in peace and in a world without nuclear weapons or interventionist wars, Moreno stated.

We should dedicate to promoting life and development the astronomical sum of $1.5 trillion currently being channeled into military costs and squandered on weaponry, he commented.

Cuba is assuming the responsibility of heading up the Conference with the idea of it not losing its importance on account of resistance to change and a lack of political will, Moreno said in his address before Kassym-Jomarte Tokayev, director general of the UN Office.

He lamented that, for more than 10 years, the Disarmament Conference has been unable to achieve substantive agreements, particularly on nuclear weapons, one of the principal threats to humanity’s very existence.

It is simply unacceptable that there are almost 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world, 7,560 of them ready to be deployed immediately, Moreno asserted. (PL)

Translated by Granma International
 
Source: www.granma.cu/ingles/news-i/24agost-assumes.html