00:00 We go once again live to the G77 and China Summit venue in Havana with our colleague
00:04 Gladys Quezada, who has the latest on today's Panama event for the Global South.
00:08 Hello Gladys.
00:09 Hello Luis, and yes, the G77 and China Summit is close to an end and there is just one speaker
00:20 away from the end of the debate sessions and these remarks that have been taking place
00:25 in Havana, in Cuba, in the Convention's Palace since yesterday, September 15th, and that
00:31 will conclude today, September 16th.
00:34 As part of the latest events in this afternoon, the Director General of the Multilateral Issues
00:40 and Affairs of International Law of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Cuba, Rodolfo Benitez,
00:49 delivered the final briefing of the Summit, one of the briefings that gave us the overview
00:55 of the Summit and also gave us the characteristics and the main achievements and aftermath of
01:01 the Summit.
01:02 As he was saying, technically speaking, the Summit has not concluded, but there is just
01:07 one speaker away, so we can have some conclusions and also some results.
01:13 So as he was saying, over 1,300 participants took place in this Summit and attended the
01:23 Summit and also from 116 countries and 12 international organizations, programs, and
01:30 organisms.
01:31 That's one of the evidences of the value of Cuba in the international arena and also the
01:37 prestige of Cuba to gather and host one event like this.
01:42 Also that's one of the main features that says the high level of the Summit and the
01:49 high level of the G77 and the importance that the bloc concedes to the Summit and to this
01:54 gathering.
01:55 Also, Havana hosted 33 Latin American countries and 45 nations from Africa and 34 from Asia
02:04 and three from Europe.
02:06 As we see, many of the countries come from the global south, of course, but that's to
02:12 say that many of them had a high level of representation, a top level of representation
02:17 in this Summit.
02:18 Also this Summit is paramount and the top official of Cuba's foreign ministry was saying
02:25 that the group had not a meeting of this kind since the one held 23 years ago here in Havana,
02:32 the first South Summit, and the second one that was held in Qatar 18 years ago.
02:38 So this one comes to gather the group once again in a paramount moment and in a time
02:46 when the global south needs to research and to come together facing hegemonism and imperialism.
02:52 Also the outcome of the Summit shows that it's a high level event and it was paramount,
02:58 necessary, and it cannot be postponed.
03:02 It was one of the main remarks in this briefing that the Summit cannot be postponed as it
03:07 comes in a paramount and a key moment of history and in the landscape of geopolitics.
03:13 Also, he was stressing that Cuba hosted a gathering and a Summit with no expenses, no
03:20 luxuries and being austere in all the moments as Cuba faces a hardship economic situation
03:29 and the sanctions are heavier and heavier on the island.
03:34 Also the briefing and the top officials were saying that this was a transparent Summit
03:41 and it's not just because of the amount of information that the authorities and the main
03:48 organizers have offered to the press and have offered to the public in general.
03:54 It's also because all the debates, all the briefings and all the remarks have been broadcasted
04:00 in real time so everyone in the world could see and everyone in the press could see what
04:05 is going on in the Summit and what is being debated in the Summit.
04:09 He was also referring that this kind of transparency regarding high level events is more and more
04:15 scarce and is more and more needed also in high level events.
04:21 Also he was saying that over 100 heads of state subscribed to this Summit and he said
04:29 that the main focus were the global issues regarding development, science, technology
04:35 and also the issues that the global South is facing and how the global South can find
04:40 the solutions to put those strategies into motion and to solve these kind of issues and
04:46 problems.
04:48 And the main concern is the growth of hunger, poverty, famines, the inflation and the climate
04:54 crisis and that the G77 with this Summit has said to the world that it's not going to stand
05:00 still to wait for the North to take the demise of the South and to take the decisions.
05:06 The G77 has said to the world the South exists, the South is here and the South is going to
05:12 thrive and is going to fight for its own rights.
05:16 Also the Summit has been emphatic and has been stressing the need for a new financial
05:21 system, a new inclusive trade and financial architecture that allows smaller economies
05:28 to grow and not to be in the shadow or under the threat of the bigger economies and under
05:35 the threat of the dollar and the bigger financial organisms and bodies in the world.
05:40 As we know the Global North uses the dollar and that's one of the claims of this Summit
05:45 that the Global North uses the dollar as a weapon, a financial weapon against the South
05:50 and the minorities.
05:52 Also this Summit was strong in the claim of the international community against the sanctions
05:59 and the blockade imposed on Cuba by the U.S. and the claim that those sanctions must be
06:04 lifted at any time and with immediate effect so that Cuba can thrive and other countries
06:12 under sanctions can grow.
06:14 And one of the main topics that I think distinguishes this Summit from others that maybe can occur
06:22 is that all the participants, all the attendees took a moment to send their sympathies and
06:28 their condolences to the people of Morocco and Libya regarding and taking into account
06:34 the latest tragedies that occurred there with the climate disasters and the climate phenomena
06:39 that have been ravaging those countries.
06:42 So those were the main claims and the main characteristics and features of this Summit.
06:49 And it's important that from the 48th previously drafted paragraphs in the Declaration, the
06:56 last one regarding the condolences to Morocco and Libya was the 49th addition, was the last
07:03 addition to this final draft and this final resolution.
07:08 Also this was a strategical Summit.
07:10 The G77 is going to have a high-level meeting in late September as the ministers of the
07:18 G77 are going to meet to review and to assess the accords and all the agreements taken in
07:25 this Summit, in this gathering.
07:27 And this Summit serves as a huge platform for two upcoming briefs.
07:33 One of them, or gatherings, one of them is a United Nations meeting on the next week,
07:41 on Monday, and that is going to take place on September 18th precisely in New York.
07:48 And it's one gathering of the United Nations.
07:50 And also the South Summit that is going to have place, or going to take place in Kampala,
07:58 Uganda.
07:59 Those are the main points of this last briefing, this summarized that we're offering the conveners
08:05 in the course of the Summit.
08:06 Guys, I'm sorry to interrupt you for your very first summary that you were giving, but
08:09 we have to go back live to the Summit as Marrero is giving a closing statement of the Summit
08:16 that is being held there at the Palace of Convention.
08:18 We'll be with you in a moment.
08:20 Okay, let's listen to the statement of Marrero.
08:22 [INAUDIBLE]
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