Mr. President,

The United States embargo against Cuba is strictly a matter of bilateral policy. It is not a subject which the General Assembly should spend valuable time considering. We strongly oppose this misguided draft resolution, and we encourage all delegations to do the same.

The allegation that the United States prohibits other nations from trading with Cuba does not reflect reality. Trade figures show that Cuba imports some $1 billion worth of goods every year from many different countries, including member states of the European Union. Related assertions that the embargo is the cause of Cuba’s economic problems are equally untrue.

The objective of United States policy toward Cuba is clear – to foster a rapid, peaceful transition to a democratic form of government where human rights are protected, civil society thrives, and economic prosperity is extended to all Cubans. Our bilateral economic embargo is but one element of a multi-faceted policy designed to accomplish this objective.

While maintaining significant restrictions on trade with Cuba, the United States has moved to dramatically expand its support for the Cuban people. Cuba benefits greatly from the generosity of American citizens. In the past two years, direct cash remittances from Americans to Cubans are estimated to have totaled at least $1.2 billion. In 2001 alone, the United States Government approved licenses that permit humanitarian donations to Cuba worth up to $362 million.

In the wake of Hurricane Michelle, the United States offered assistance that the Cuban Government declined. However, Cuba did reverse its previous policy of refusing to buy American food. As of August of this year, the Cuban Government had purchased, according to published reports, $96 million in American agricultural commodities. It is currently negotiating to purchase much more. These sales benefit both American farmers and the Cuban people.

Changes in Cuba would allow us to reconsider our trade restrictions. As President Bush said in his May 20 speech describing his Initiative for a New Cuba, "If the Cuban Government takes concrete steps towards democracy and market reforms, I will work with our Congress to ease the United States trade and travel restrictions."

Unfortunately, the Cuban Government shows no signs of abandoning its policies that deny the Cuban people their fundamental rights. The fact is that the Cuban Government consistently flaunts the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Its human rights violations include the continued harassment of independent voices such as Pedro Castellanos, who was detained for merely distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another recent example is the continued imprisonment of people such as Leonardo Bruzón, who was locked up simply for expressing his opposition to the regime. Bruzón, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, is now in a hospital prison, suffering from the consequences of a hunger strike he undertook to protest his imprisonment.

We were particularly disappointed this year by the Cuban Government’s decision, apparently disregarding it own constitution, to ignore the Varela Project, in which 11,000 Cuban citizens petitioned for a referendum that would bring about the release of political prisoners, free elections, and economic reforms.

The failure of the Cuban Government to respect the rights of its people concerns more than just Cuba. The focus of the international community, as manifested in the United Nations, should be on the continuing human rights crisis in Cuba rather than on the bilateral United States efforts to encourage a peaceful transition to democracy.

For all these reasons, the United States strongly opposes this misguided draft resolution. We encourage all delegations to do the same.

Thank you, Mr. President.