Cuba’s leader, President Miguel Diaz-Canel, has emphasized the urgent need for a transformation in the global order that has long favored wealthy Western nations, prioritizing their interests. Diaz-Canel made these remarks at the commencement of the G77+China summit in Havana, where he asserted that developing nations are the primary sufferers of today’s multifaceted global crisis, encompassing unjust trade practices and catastrophic climate change.
He articulated, “After an extended period during which the Northern hemisphere has orchestrated global affairs to its advantage, it is now the responsibility of the Southern nations to redefine the rules of engagement.”
These emerging countries collectively constitute 80% of the world’s population. This summit comes at a time of mounting discontent with the Western-led world order, largely due to escalating tensions over the Russian conflict in Ukraine, the battle against climate change, and the global economic structure.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with leaders from 30 African, Asian, and Latin American nations, participated in this two-day assembly. Guterres, speaking at the summit’s outset, called for a world that is “more equitable and responsive to the needs of developing economies,” underscoring the fact that nations find themselves ensnared in a web of global crises.
Although many G77 member countries have made significant strides in reducing poverty, they continue to grapple with issues such as food scarcity, inflation, climate-related disasters, and crippling debt burdens, often without adequate assistance. In Guterres’s words, “The verdict is clear: the world is falling short in supporting the development of these countries.”
The G77, originally established by 77 Global South nations in 1964 to collectively advance their economic interests and strengthen their negotiating power, convened for this summit. Distinguished leaders from Latin America, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and Argentina’s Alberto Fernandez, joined hands with international leaders like Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Angola’s Joao Lourenco, and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.
China, represented by senior Communist Party official Li Xi, pledged to consistently prioritize South-South cooperation in its global interactions. President Fernandez underscored the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which laid bare the stark inequality in access to vaccines, highlighting that “90% of vaccines were controlled by just 10 countries.”
The summit is expected to culminate with a statement highlighting “the right to development in an increasingly exclusive, unfair, unjust, and exploitative international order,” as stated by Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. A preliminary version of the closing statement underscores the myriad challenges confronting developing nations and calls for the establishment of a new global economic order.
This gathering coincides with the impending UN General Assembly meeting in New York City, and Secretary-General Guterres expressed his belief in the continued importance of the G77 plus China bloc, calling upon its members, longstanding advocates of multilateralism, to wield their influence and advocate for a system grounded in equity and poised to rectify centuries of injustice and neglect.