In a forceful and eloquent intervention, young Cuban representative Ian Pedro Carbonell denounced that the Global South continues to face structural challenges derived from an economic system that maintain inequality and dependency.

He welcomed the push for the New Development Bank and the efforts to foster payment systems in local currencies, as well as the promotion of sovereign digital platforms.

These mechanisms, Carbonell said, could reduce the exposure of countries in the South to sanctions and unilateral coercive measures imposed by hegemonic powers, and insisted that, despite the mechanism’s growing economic weight, intra-BRICS trade and investment remain modest.

Therefore, he urged intensifying cooperation in trade, taxation, infrastructure, digital integration, and climate finance, as proposed by the Brazilian presidency.

One of the main points of his speech was the call to promote integrated value chains and sovereign technological capabilities in fields such as artificial intelligence.

Cuba also reaffirmed its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, despite the severe impact of the US economic, commercial, and financial blockade, which was further tightened by the island’s inclusion on the unilateral list of state sponsors of terrorism.

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