New York, 29 October 2019.Cuba advocates the legitimate right of all States to have access to outer space on equal conditions and without discrimination; and to benefit from cooperation in terms of training and transfer of space applications and technology; stated today Yailin Castro Loredo, Third Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, at the thematic debate on "Outer Space" of the First Committee of the United Nations.
The Cuban representative reflected on how the threat of an arms race in outer space, the continuous development and improvement of space weapons and the presence of war material in space, undermine the realization of the aspirations of peoples, particularly the smallest countries, to benefit from the potential of space technologies for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
She rejected the argument that any country needs advanced weapons in space to protect its economy, lifestyles and increase its competitiveness, as well as the assertion made by the United States that "space is a war-fighting domain" and its attempts to turn it into the next battlefield.
The Caribbean diplomat pointed out that the use of space technologies to the detriment of the security of nations is also disturbing, including the existing network of spy satellites, which, in addition to being incompatible with peace and development, continues to saturate the geostationary orbit with a large amount of space debris.
Castro Loredo urged the need to strengthen the applicable legal regime by adopting a multilateral treaty on the prevention and prohibition of the placement of weapons in outer space, in view of the imperative need to prevent outer space from becoming a new theater of military operations.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN