The second day of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the G77 and China is underway in Cuba
teleSUR correspondent Gladys Quesada reports from the Palacio de las Convenciones on the main developments at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the G77 and China. She also highlights the intervention of several presidents who advocate the development of science and technology. teleSUR
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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]