. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/36 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6094) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English/ 
 Spanish 
 
  
CUBA 
 
Statement by HE Mr Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz
 
Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment  
   Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in the 50
th Anniversary of the Multilateral Trading System, during 
the Second WTO Ministerial Conference held in Geneva in 1998, anticipated and I quote: 
 
 "Despite so much euphoria no one can be su re of how long the United States economic 
system, ruled by the blind laws of the market  economy, will be able to prevent a financial 
meltdown.  There are no economic miracles.  That  is clear now.  The absurdly inflated stock 
prices in the stock exchange markets of that  economy - unquestionably the strongest in the 
world - cannot be sustained.  In similar situ ations history is not known to have made 
exceptions.  The problem is that now a big cr isis would go global and have unforeseeable 
consequences.  Not even the adversaries of the prevailing system could wish that to happen.  
It would be worthwhile for the WTO to assess these risks and include among the so-called 
"new themes" another one:  "Global Ec onomic Crisis.  What to do?"  End of quotation.  
 
 Only ten years after, his premonitory words came  true.  We are witnessing a global crisis that 
is multidimensional, inherent and inevitable to  the neo-liberal capitalism, a model that is 
unsustainable from the political, economic, social and environmental point of view.   The crisis has denied the myths that deregul ation and economic libera lization promote growth 
and development.  Thus, we are witnessing a steep drop in global trade and its financing.  The 
solution is not to continue applying the failed neo-lib eral formula, but to apply different approaches 
that consider the human being as the reason and cen tre for development, in accordance with to the 
Millennium Development Goals.   Neither will the crisis be solved by finish ing the Doha Round by demanding more flexibility 
for developed countries, more liberalization to und er-developed countries and ignoring the fact that 
the centre of its mandate is Development.   The international trading and financial syst em needs to be radically transformed, not 
superficially, so as to face the challenges of the 21
st Century.  It is necessary that developed countries 
eliminate or effectively reduce their multimillion do llar subsidies or, at least, freeze them at the 
actually applied levels with a view to  their gradual and total elimination. 
  An important contribution of the Multilateral Trad ing System to solve the crisis would be the 
unilateral and immediate commitment by developed countries to open their markets to exports from 
under-developed countries;  to refrain from impl ementing technical regulations and sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures, including priv ate rules that restrict the entry to  their markets;  to provide the WT/MIN(09)/ST/36 
Page 2  
 
  necessary resources and access to tech nology on preferential terms to stimulate our exports, including 
those aimed at securing an effective adaptation process to climate change.   Under supposedly environmental tricks, there is a current proliferation of initiatives like 
taxing products from under-de veloped countries on the basis of the level of greenhouse gas emissions 
linked to their production.  The purpose is not to protect the planet, when in parallel the historic 
responsibility for pollution do not take on multilateral commitments, but to stop the process of development of the South through the application of unilateral protectionist measures that will not 
solve the problem of the global climate change.  
 Given this complex reality, it is imperative the central role of the state in developing 
sustainable development strategies, including its  responsibility for regulating the market and its 
authority to legislate, administer, select and c ontrol foreign investments, depending on its national 
priorities and development goals.  
 In this context, the initiatives of South- South integration contribute to the economic 
independence of the under-developed world.  The ALBA emerges as a unique opportunity for Member countries, because its primary objective is  the welfare of human beings, not the market. 
  The negotiations procedures in the WTO have not improved enough in recent years in terms of transparency, as it is not yet guaranteed the real and effective participation of all Members in all 
stages of the process, as the only and genuine way to achieve consensus. 
  The current situation of the Doha Round is far from achieving the Development goals that 
sought to support it.  The issues of the Applicati on that should have eliminated the imbalances 
inherited from the Uruguay Round have been abandone d.  Mandated negotiations on the Special and 
Differential Treatment have been pushed into th e background.  Meanwhile, there is an increasing 
demand for more commitments and openness from ca ndidate countries that not even the developed 
countries comply with and those who are already Memb ers, like us, do not elude similar claims either. 
  The purpose of completing the Doha Round next year cannot be a goal translated into rush that undermine the legitimate inte rests of the South.  The aim should be to achieve significant and 
balanced progresses in all negotiating areas, partic ularly in those relating to development. 
  Let us put aside the failed speech that says that  liberalization is the formula for the solution to 
the global economic crisis and for the successful co mpletion of the Doha Round, when nine years 
after its inception, the Empire still continues k eeping its multilateral commitment to the opening of 
trade of under-developed countries, while it applies to my people, for over 50 years, an economic, 
commercial and financial blockade that violates its much proclaimed doctrine of free trade and 
extends its effects to other countries, in a clear impairment of the fundamental principles of this 
House.   
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