Fidel will head the Cuban delegation at NAM summit
Campaign News | Monday, 11 September 2006
Cuban leader recovering satisfactorily says Felipe Pérez Roque, Cuban foreign minister
BY ELSA CLARO -Granma International staff writer-
PRESIDENT Fidel Castro is to preside over the Cuban delegation to the 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit and will receive various dignitaries, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, affirmed Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque before close to 1,000 foreign and national correspondents accredited for the event, which officially begins this Monday September 11 with a meeting of experts representing their countries.
Responding to questions to that effect, he commented that the mission entrusted to a group of officials during this period when the Cuban president was not heading the government has not been easy, but that there has been constant contact with his substitute and the rest of those delegated to tasks of the highest priority without abandoning the rigor of their treatment with due discipline.
The capacity and dedication of Raúl Castro’s work is evident, as is popular confidence in him and the rest of those that have the task of leading the various enterprises of the country.
Approaching the central theme of this contact with the media, Pérez Roque stated that one of Cuba’s prime objectives during the three years of its presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement is to attain greater cohesion and solidity for the movement.
The heterogenous group of nations constitutes two thirds of the UN General Assembly (118 members with the entry of Haiti and Saint Kitts and Nevis), noted the foreign minister, who affirmed that even though bipolarity or East-West confrontation no longer exits, this is a decisive force in defense of the Third World during a stage when one sole country has stolen for itself the power to intervene in any other, in violation of everything established in international law to avert conflicts.
The host country is in agreement with the rest of the NAM members in plans to foster peace and development. For that reason, directly or tangentially, there are common interests that can be promoted, like those linked to international trade, a heated sphere given irregularities that favor the rich North and affect the poor South.
In order to undertake effective work in that terrain and others, the Movement must gain in coherence and unity without losing its diverse nature. Malaysia, the current president - which effected an excellent work - is leaving advances in Cuba’s hands in relation to revitalizing the NAM that were already initiated by South Africa, observed Pérez Roque who, in response to other insistent questions on the theme, affirmed that President Fidel Castro is the head of the Cuban delegation to this event. He has been directing the key issues of the meeting and, in spite of his convalescence, has kept totally up to date with its preparations.
The acting head of state, Raúl Castro, is to assume the duties of host at the important Summit, to be attended by more than 50 heads of state and government, including the South African president, Thabo Mbeke, in charge of the Group of 77 during this stage; Algerian Abdelaziz Bouteflika; Presidents Evo Morales and Hugo Chávez of Bolivia and Venezuela, respectively; Mahmud Almanideyad of Iran; as well as maximum leaders of the UN, African Unity and the Arab League; and observers from 11 countries.
The 30 invited guests comprise delegations from various continents including the European countries.
The broad and varied attendance indicates that the issues to be debated are attractive ones, in particular the principle of promoting peace, for which the elimination of nuclear arsenals is urged. Perhaps by dedicating the billions of dollars currently being spent on military equipment the existing tremendous inequalities could be abolished by investing that huge sum in development.
At the same time, the utilization of that kind of energy for peaceful ends, including the complete cycle of enriched uranium, as foreseen by Iran, is being advocated, as is rejecting double standards that qualify or not nations that can possess it.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/septiembre/domingo10/38cumbre1-i.html
Cuba to use summit to rally developing nations, minister says
Cuba says majority of 116 member countries to attend
(Bloomberg News) - Cuba will seek the backing of developing countries to wrestle economic and political pressure by the world's biggest powers at a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement group this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque said.
Cuba, which takes over the presidency of the 118-nation group from Malaysia at a summit in Havana, will propose an agenda that includes cutting developing nations' dependence on imported energy and fighting trade policies imposed by the U.S. and other developed countries, said Perez Roque.
He added that Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who's recovering from stomach surgery, may attend some of the summit's events.
``If we unify positions and work together for the defense of our positions, then we will be able to play a bigger role in the international stage," said Perez Roque, 41, a former Communist Youth leader.
Cuba is taking the helm of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of countries that represent about 60 percent of the world's population and two-thirds of the seats at the General Assembly of the United Nations, at a time of increasing opposition to U.S. policies in the Middle East and Latin America.
Tito, Nasser, Nehru
The Non-Aligned Movement lost much of its influence since the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Perez Roque says only by sticking together on issues before the UN may the group be able to revitalize itself.
Asked whether the summit would be used as a ``bashing" of U.S. policies, Perez Roque said that ``there will be no attack of any country in particular."
He added, ``We have the right to denounce the arrogant language of a super power that has secret jails around the world, that mistreats prisoners, that invades other countries illegally and that intimidate nations."
He said St. Kitts and Nevis, an island state in the Caribbean, as well as Haiti are slated to join the group during the summit.
The group was founded by Josip Broz Tito, then the ruler of Yugoslavia, Indonesia's Sukarno, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and India's Jawaharlal Nehru and 20 other leaders in 1961 as a way of distancing Third World countries from both the Soviet and Western power blocs during the Cold War.
Castro, Cuba's leader since Jan. 1, 1959, underwent surgery and gave his brother Raul, 75, temporary control of the government on July 31. Fidel Castro remains Cuba's main representative to the summit, Perez Roque said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aUL9GMQoOLH0&refer=latin_america
Big turnout expected at Nonaligned summit
HAVANA Most of the 116 members of the Nonaligned Movement will be represented at the group's summit in Cuba Sept. 11-16, organizers said Monday.
The Communist Party daily Granma said many of those countries' heads of state or government will attend the event, but provided no specifics.
Leaders who have officially confirmed attendance thus far include: Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, Bashar Assad of Syria, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Alfredo Palacio of Ecuador and Fradique de Menezes of the west African island of Sao Tome.
Others who have confirmed they will attend include Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia and Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. From the Caribbean, Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent, Keith Mitchell of Grenada and Baldwin Spencer of Antigua have said they are coming.
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, among Cuba's closest allies, is also expected to attend the gathering, though he has not yet officially confirmed.
During the gathering, Malaysia will turn over the three-year chairmanship of the Nonaligned Movement to Cuba. The Caribbean countries of Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis are scheduled to officially join the movement during the gathering, bringing the total of members to 118, the Cuban newspaper said.
Cuban officials have not said whether ailing leader Fidel Castro will be well enough to attend the event.
Castro announced on July 31 that he was provisionally granted his powers as president and Communist Party chief to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, while he recovers from intestinal surgery. The Cuban leader looked notably improved on a videotape aired on state television Friday night that showed him receiving a visit from Chavez.
Formed in 1961, the Nonaligned Movement was originally comprised of nations trying to form a third world force through a policy of nonalignment with the United States and the Soviet Union.
HAVANA Most of the 116 members of the Nonaligned Movement will be represented at the group's summit in Cuba Sept. 11-16, organizers said Monday.
The Communist Party daily Granma said many of those countries' heads of state or government will attend the event, but provided no specifics.
Leaders who have officially confirmed attendance thus far include: Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, Bashar Assad of Syria, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Alfredo Palacio of Ecuador and Fradique de Menezes of the west African island of Sao Tome.
Others who have confirmed they will attend include Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia and Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. From the Caribbean, Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent, Keith Mitchell of Grenada and Baldwin Spencer of Antigua have said they are coming.
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, among Cuba's closest allies, is also expected to attend the gathering, though he has not yet officially confirmed.
During the gathering, Malaysia will turn over the three-year chairmanship of the Nonaligned Movement to Cuba. The Caribbean countries of Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis are scheduled to officially join the movement during the gathering, bringing the total of members to 118, the Cuban newspaper said.
Cuban officials have not said whether ailing leader Fidel Castro will be well enough to attend the event.
Castro announced on July 31 that he was provisionally granted his powers as president and Communist Party chief to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, while he recovers from intestinal surgery. The Cuban leader looked notably improved on a videotape aired on state television Friday night that showed him receiving a visit from Chavez.
Formed in 1961, the Nonaligned Movement was originally comprised of nations trying to form a third world force through a policy of nonalignment with the United States and the Soviet Union.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/04/news/CB_GEN_Cuba_Nonaligned_Summit.php
