CUBA: Washington's biggest enemies, from communist Cuba to North Korea, called on developing nations to challenge U.S. dominance

More than 50 heads of state and leaders from over 100 developing countries, among them Iran and Venezuela, on Sunday (September 17) rejected U.S. use of the "axis of evil" label and supported Tehran's right to nuclear technology for peaceful use as the Non-Aligned Movement summit came to a close in Havana. Cuba, which hosted the summit under the new leadership of Raul Castro - because his brother and iconic revolutionary Fidel Castro was still recovering from life-threatening surgery, said the movement was reborn. Leaders took turns at the podium to criticize global poverty, unfair trade practices and "arbitrary" actions by powerful nations that -- they complained -- controlled the United Nations. Some said NAM should be strengthened as an alternative. Announcing the approval of the final document, Raul Castro said the summit proved that NAM was more relevant than ever before. "Our debates have shown that - more than four decades since the movement was created - today it is more important than ever to strengthen the non-aligned movement," said Castro. "The fact that in this summit a spirit of understanding was started and we were able to reach clear consensus including on the most complex subjects is proof that we have decided to give priority to that which unites us, and confront together the effects of the economic order imposed by the powerful," said Castro. Earlier in the day, North Korea took the opportunity to blast the United States for unilateral actions against individual countries and joined the call for a revitalized NAM to raise a united voice. North Korea, which defied international warnings by test-firing ballistic missiles in July, will not return to talks on ending its nuclear programs under growing U.S. sanctions, he said. The NAM, founded in 1961 by nations that wanted to assert their independence from both Washington and Moscow, backed Iran's right to development, research and production of nuclear energy. It also urged Iran to continue co-operating with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Tehran has cut back on short-notice U.N. inspections and ignored a Security Council deadline of August 31 to stop enriching uranium, a process that could yield atomic bombs. In one concrete result of the summit, nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan agreed to resume formal peace negotiations that were frozen after the July train bombings in Mumbai. Fidel Castro, a symbol of opposition to Washington, was supposed to preside over the summit but was too ill to attend. Raul, 75, who lacks his brother oratorical skills, shed his military uniform for a business suit to host the summit and read brief speeches.

ITN Source | September 17, 2006

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