The meeting, marking 50 years of the Treaty, to which the island has been a party since 2020, was held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which this year holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

During the debate, Cuban ambassador Yadira Ledesma denounced that the escalation of US aggression against Havana is illegal, unjustified and multidimensional; and covers numerous emerging threats discussed in the forum.

Among them, Ledesma mentioned economic, trade, financial and energy blockades, threats of military action, and diplomatic pressure.

As a whole, by the extent and damage they inflict, through their use as collective punishment, they qualify as an act of genocide against the Cuban people, he pointed out in his intervention.

Cuba condemns several scourges that constitute emerging threats, in particular: the use of disinformation campaigns, fake news and interference in digital space to manipulate public opinion.

New information and telecommunications technologies, including artificial intelligence, are being used maliciously against the country to the detriment of security and critical infrastructure.

The diplomat also referred to the threat or use by Washington of tariffs and blockades as instruments of economic coercion; the invention of unilateral and illegal lists to classify sovereign countries as alleged sponsors of terrorism and thus justify aggression.

It also condemned piracy, threat and illicit appropriation of cargoes in international waters violating maritime security, among other forms of blockade.

Finally, Ledesma ratified the commitment to the principles of peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation among states, endorsed within the framework of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

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