«All peace-loving states can become members of the United Nations (…)»
UN Charter, Article 4. A guiding principle now torn apart by most, North and South, East and West; but always actively honored by the Republic of Cuba, in all international forums and beyond factions of convenience, in the post-cold war and post-Ussr scenarios. The world is indebted to Cuba also for this.
«Desert Storm»: The watershed moment of the war on Iraq (January 1991) comes after a long escalation. On November 29, 1990, the die was cast: the UN Security Council approved the fifteenth resolution, Resolution 678, authorizing member States to use «all necessary means» (including force) to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait; and sets the ultimatum for the following January 15th. None of the five permanent members vetoes it: China abstains; the Soviet Union (on the brink of dissolution and cajoled with offers) votes in favor. Among the non-permanent members, only two States dare to say no: Cuba (in the Council for the biennium 1990-91) and Yemen, recently unified. In the Onusian hunt for the approval of the ultimatum, the US and its allies (Western and Gulf) intertwine threats and promises, aid packages, denunciations and lies (the famous incubators in Kuwait). Their pressing fails only with Cuba and Yemen.
After the war, Havana tries in vain to amend resolution 687 on the ceasefire, which was designed in such a way as to leave Iraq under embargo; it votes against, on its own. End of 1991, a delegation of Italian pacifists visiting Baghdad hospitals met a Cuban-Palestinian doctor, Anuar, who was sent with others to embody the internationalist solidarity of Fidel Island. The same one that over the decades has led doctors and workers to help populations –particularly in impoverished countries – affected by emergencies and violence.
1999: At the time of Operation Allied Force (March-June), the NATO bombing of Jugoslavia, Cuba had no UN mandate, but immediately condemned the unilateral act; it spoke of «imperialist war», emphasizing that the humanitarian purpose was a pretext. In 2001, after the attack on the Twin Towers, the island, which had always been opposed to terrorism, supported international cooperation, not war, rejecting US Enduring Freedom. Fidel Castro’s exhortation l’11 September remains famous: «Búsquese la paz en todas partes»: «Pursue peace as an antidote to violence against peoples and terrorism, which is one of the plagues».
In 2003, faced with the new – especially Anglo-American – aggression against Iraq, Cuba speaks of «imposition of the law of the jungle». And under the bombs in Baghdad, Ambassador Ernesto Gómez Abascal keeps the diplomatic headquarters open, visited by a handful of peace groups from various countries; the embassy closes only when the occupation begins.
In 2011, Cuba is a rotating member of the UN Human Rights Council based in Geneva. From the beginning of a polyphonic war campaign against Libya, Fidel Castro, with his Reflexiones del compañero Fidel, on Cubadebate, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (though Venezuela has no UN mandate) have pledged to avoid NATO intervention, with the two countries’ media countering the media chorus. On February 25, the Cuban mission in Geneva was the only one to dissociate itself from the request to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council of which it is a rotating member: the ambassador asked why «states that start wars are not suspended» (Venezuela anche other ALBA countries were not members at that time).
On March 3, Fidel Castro (in vain) appealed to the peoples and governments of the world to support the negotiating proposal put forward by Chávez (immediately accepted by Tripoli, but rejected by the armed “rebels”) for an international mission intended to prevent another atrocity after Iraq. Seeds of peace fall into the sand. During the seven months of NATO bombings, the Cuban ambassador remains in Libya.
Also in Geneva, Cuba is calling for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Assembly to stop the war threatened by the US and the Gulf against Syria in 2013. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla is also calling on the UN Security Council to «uphold the peace protection mandate». But the proxy conflict in the Middle Eastern country continues.
Havana’s role as a mediator between 2012 and 2016 in negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC, culminating in the historic agreement that ended 52 years of armed conflict, was more successful. «And’ the FARC war is over. Peace made thanks to the mediation of Cuba and Norway», summarizes a title.
And if peace is a fundamental human right and condition for development was the subject of recognition in 2016 by the UN Council of Human Rights, it is due to the proposal presented by the usual Cuba in 2013 on behalf of the Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States); which then in 2014, at its second summit, with the Havana Declaration it is committed to making the region a «zone of peace».
Concerning the war in Ukraine, Cuba (by the way, in the past decades Cuba has welcomed thousands of child victims of the Chernobyl nuclear tragedy) supports a diplomatic and peaceful solution in compliance with international law but denounces NATO expansion as a contributing factor, and avoids talking about an invasion.
Instead, he does not mince his words about Israel and Palestine.
«Crime of genocide» in Gaza: this is how Cuba expresses itself, leading statements condemning dozens of other countries and criticizing the Security Council’s inaction. President Díaz-Canel recently recalled that Cuba «the sister nation of Palestine» was among the promoters of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in 1975.
And of course, Havana has repeatedly condemned Israeli-US aggression against Iran.
