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Cuba Assumes G-77 Presidency

Written by Lourdes Chang

Geneva, Mar 5 (Prensa Latina) Cuba has taken over on Friday the Presidency of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China, on the other hand, as well as the presiding post before the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a ceremony that took place at the Palais des Nations of this city.

Cuban Ambassador in Geneva Rodolfo Reyes received the one-year provisional chairmanship from his Thai peer Sihosak Puanyketkeom in the presence of UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakchi.

The UNCTAD Secretary General assessed the work carried out by Thailand throughout the year, which he described to be very hard given the international food, oil, economic and financial crisis.

The UNCTAD leader welcomed the arrival of Cuba to the presidency of the G-77 and China to the UNCTAD and highlighted that the Caribbean Island "offers great security and expectations with its exemplary international solidarity."

The head of the Cuban mission expressed his condolences to Chile and Uganda for the deaths and damages caused by a violent earthquake and landslide respectively, after he took over the presidency.

Reyes underlined that most of the developing countries, including Cuba, should not benefit from globalization or the liberalization of trade in the way is currently behaving.

The financial and economic crisis demands responses. We can not forget that there are old challenges of great importance that are still unresolved in the poor regions of the planet. We can not confuse the agenda of the rich with ours, he said.

He added that the UNCTAD, as part of the United Nations, is responsible for world peace and security among other things. "But our planet will never be a safe and peaceful place if we do not eradicate poverty and reach a sustainable development", he stressed.

Taken from the web site(www.plenglish.com)