Online+Debate,+Cuba,+venue+of+the+XIV+NAM+Summit



=Online Debate “Cuba, venue of the XIV NAM Summit”=

Preparations to hold the 14th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Countries Movement in Cuba have been stepped up. The summit will be in session at the Havana Convention Centre Sep 11-16, in which Cuba will be NAM president for the second time since 1979. A significant number of presidents of most 114 NAM country members have confirmed their attendance.

With the presence of the Cuban Foreign Minister, Hon. Felipe Pérez Roque, the Deputy Ministers Abelardo Moreno and Manuel Aguilera heads of the Politic Commission and Organizing Committee and others sub commissions representatives on June 14 at 10.00 hrs in Cuba (16.00 hrs in South Africa) will be the official launch of the NAM Summit Web Site (**[|www.cubanoal.cu]**) then the Online Debate titled “Cuba, venue of the XIV NAM Summit”, through the Web Site **http://foro.cubaminrex.cu/** there will open until 12.00 (18.00 hrs in SA)

Find hereby the instructions to joint to the Cuban Online debate and the latest news about the preparations of the NAM Summit.

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Cuba to Urge NAM to Act
Havana, Jun 7, 2006. (**[|Prensa Latina]**) Cuba will strive to defend the adoption of an action plan at the summit of Non-Aligned Movement countries (NAM) to be held in Havana in September. This plan should translate the movement´s far-reaching decisions into concrete deeds, a diplomatic source indicated.

According to sources from the Cuban Chancellery, the Island´s stance is in line with the drafted Final Document presented by Malaysia, the current president, and approved in the ministerial preparatory meeting recently held in Putrajaya.

The document is to be submitted to delegations of the 116 NAM country members, 60 of which will be represented by heads of State and Government, at the 14th summit in Havana, Sep 11-16.

As it is customary, Cuba will assume the presidency of the movement for a three-year mandate.

The Island is expected to channel complex issues in the international agenda, as well as support agreed upon stands of the movement, including the recognition of Iran´s right to develop its peaceful nuclear program.

In fact, the declaration of Putrajaya included condemnations of the US-imposed economic blockade on Cuba, of torture in US prisons, including Gitmo, and of military aggression against other nations, as in the case of Iraq.

For the Island, which has played an active, consistent historic role within this bloc, the challenge of this summit is to honor by matching Malaysia´s performance, as it kept the promise made in 2003 to strengthen the movement.

Mali to Attend NAM Summit in Cuba
Havana, Jun 5/2006 (**[|Prensa Latina]**) Mali's National Assembly speaker Ibrahim Boubakar Keita has confirmed his country's attendance at the 14th Non-Aligned Countries Movement (NAM) Summit, to be run in Havana on September 11-16.

In statements to Prensa Latina Sunday after arriving in this capital, the parliamentary leader stated the meeting will be transcendental, because it will discuss important issues for the NAM.

Boubakar Keita, who is fulfilling an invitation by Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon, also said Cuba is an example of dignity, freedom and struggle for independence, and talked for strengthening even more ties with Havana in all spheres.

His agenda includes, among other things, a meeting with Alarcon, Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples president Sergio Corrieri and with relatives of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters unfairly imprisoned in the US.

Malaysian PM Backs Up Cuban Presidency of NAM
Havana, May 31, 2006. (ACN) Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, ratified his total confidence in Cuba's ability to successfully assume the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and to continue revitalizing that international organization.

The Malaysian leader and Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, held talks shortly after the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the NAM was officially inaugurated, reports Granma newspaper. NAM currently has 116 member nations and represents more than 50 percent of the world's people.

Badawi had words of affection for Fidel Castro and expressed his satisfaction that Cuban president takes over its leadership once again in September for a three-year period to lead the Movement in the context of the complex current international scenario.

Earlier, Perez Roque had a friendly meeting with his Malaysian counterpart, Syed Hamid Albar, in which they discussed preparations for the upcoming September 2006 NAM Summit in Havana as well as the current Ministerial Meeting.


 * The Cuban Foreign Minister emphasizes importance of 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement**

Taken from **[|Granma International]**

HAVANA, May 24, 2006— During its Summit this September in Havana, Cuba hopes to reinvigorate the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that was formed in 1961 because that bloc "is more necessary now than ever before," affirmed Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.

"The movement has been enjoying a strengthening process" causing "Cuba to inherit a situation in which the Movement has reactivated its work, but much still remains to be done," Pérez Roque said during an informal meeting with the press.

The minister emphasized that "the fact that there are no longer two blocs of countries as occurred during the Cold War (…) and a unipolar world has emerged, where there is only one superpower with more military might and technology than the rest, does not mean that the Movement is not needed."

"It is more necessary now than ever before, as a forum where the countries of the South define their positions and fight together for our rights, above all the right to peace and economic development," he commented.

Pérez Roque explained that during the meeting, planned for September 11-16, "a political declaration that updates the framework of action, principals, and proposals within which the Movement functions will be discussed, along with a plan of action for the next three years of Cuba’s presidency." Cuba, which previously led the NAM between 1979 and 1983, will again assume the presidency following Malaysia, which has occupied this position since 2003. More than 160 delegations are expected to participate in the 14th NAM Summit.

"We expect the 114 member countries to attend, along with 27 other countries and observing organizations. We expect a high level of political presence, including no less than 60 heads of state and (…) we think that there will be massive representation from Latin America and the Caribbean," said Pérez Roque.

He added that at a ministerial meeting of the NAM in Malaysia next weekend, Cuba will present "an extensive report regarding the preparations and documents that must be presented to the heads of state in September in Cuba."

According to Pérez Roque, the NAM "complements" Cuba’s membership in the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), the project of integration promoted by Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia, "that includes Latin America and the Caribbean (…), while the NAM has a more universal focus." (AFP)

For more information please phone to:

//**Liber Puente Baró**// Embassy of Cuba
 * Media and Cultural Officer

45 Mackenzie Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria Tel: (012) 346 2215 Cell: 083 381 6704 Fax: (012) 346 2216 P.O. Box 11 605, Hatfield 0028 Email: primersec@cubanembassy.co.za http://emba.cubaminrex.cu/sudafricaing**

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