The South Must Change the Rules of the Game: Cuban President

On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called to address the needs of the countries of the South by democratizing international governance institutions.

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During the opening speech of the G77+China Summit being held in Havana, he recalled the importance of this group of 134 countries in a context of global «multidimensional crisis.»

Diaz-Canel stressed the need to «change the rules of the game» in favor of developing countries, which are the main victims of international finance, unequal exchange, the scientific gap and the climate crisis.

The president stressed that the current international order is unjust and unsustainable. Therefore, without addressing these issues it will not be possible to achieve the sustainable development to which the G77 countries and China are entitled.

The text reads, «With great pleasure, I received the UN Secretary Antonio Guterres, whom I thanked for his presence at the Havana G77 Summit. We reiterate Cuba’s support for the promotion and respect of multilateralism as well as for the UN Charter’s principles and purposes.»

«This summit occurs at a time when humanity has reached unimaginable scientific-technical potential. This has an extraordinary capacity to generate wealth and well-being that, under conditions of greater equality, equity and justice, could ensure decent, comfortable and sustainable living standards for almost all the inhabitants of the planet,» he said.

«It is necessary to remove the international barriers that have hindered access to knowledge by developing countries and their use of such determining factors for economic and social progress,» Diaz-Canel added.

Currently the G77+China, which is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries, brings together nations from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In this group, however, Mexico and Russia do not participate.