President John Dramani Mahama has called for the removal of blockade on Cuba.
The United States embargo against Cuba is an embargo preventing US businesses and citizens from conducting trade or commerce with Cuban interests since 1960.
Speaking at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) in New York, President Mahama said: “As Dr Kwame Nkrumah, our nation’s founder, famously said, ‘we seek to be friends with all and enemies to none’.”
The President noted that the Cuban people shed their blood on African soil in the fight against apartheid.
He reiterated that Cuba had been and continues to be a faithful friend of Africa.
Touching on UN, the President said Ghana demands not only a reform of the Security Council, but also a reset of the global financial architecture, which was currently rigged against Africa.
“Africa must have a greater say in the world’s multilateral financial institutions,” he said.
The President said the very fact that he could stand at the UNGA and ask these things, and the fact that all nations could ostensibly gather there to address critical global issues, air grievances, and express
concerns—that was what makes the survival of the organisation so important.
“In every old city or village, you will find a town square, a courtyard, or a plaza that once served as a gathering place for the citizens and their leaders,” President Mahama said.
“Meetings and celebrations were held there, as were trials and elections. They were spaces that brought people together and held them as a community. Sadly, time and technology have eroded those spaces.”
President Mahama said in many ways, the United Nations was the proverbial town square of our modern global village.
“And it has never been more critical for us to protect this one space that brings and holds the world’s nations together as a community.”
He said the internet, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence offer them the illusion of connectivity, when in fact they reinforce isolation by using algorithms that ensure they do not receive new ideas and perspectives, but rather more of the same.
“We are served alternative facts and manipulated images, making it easier to disseminate disinformation and sow seeds of division,” he said.
“These are dangerous times. Our world is currently experiencing a rise in nationalism and economic instability.”
The President said there was a general breakdown of multilateralism; various acts of aggression had been committed against the sovereignty of others, and nations were attempting to circumvent the very safeguards put in place to prevent large-scale global conflict.
He said these conditions were all too like the ones that led to the League of Nations’ failure in fulfilling its mandate.
Source: GNA
Source: ghanabusinessnews.com
