Mr. President, I would like to bring to your attention the last resolution voted by the General Assembly of the United Nations which asks our country to lift the economic embargo on Cuba. This twenty-first resolution related to the embargo on Cuba shows that more and more countries show their support to the Cuban regime, which puts pressure on the American diplomacy. The resolution was approved by 188 votes, and the representatives of different countries, including some of our strongest allies, agreed with the arguments presented by the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs saying that the embargo hampers the economic, political and social development of the Island, and even prevents hospitals from having medications to the patients. Therefore, our foreign policy vis-à-vis Cuba is to review, and must now consider major changes that the country has experienced recently, such the role of women, the level of education, healthcare… First, it is important to point to evolution of the Cuban system of government. If the political system has only one party and the President Fidel Castro is at the same time Commander-in-chief of the army forces, president of the Council of State, president of the Council of ministers and first-Secretary of the PCC, the country has still known some positive evolution, like the Constitutional reform in 1992 that established the direct elections in the provincial and national assemblies in a period of a deep economic crisis. Moreover, the Cuban system of government has a large popular legitimacy, since more than 90% of Cubans are satisfied by the regime and say that their government is more democratic than many other countries. Then, Cuba, unlike many other countries, is a country whose strength is based on gender equality and powerful presence of women. The Cuban’s Federation of Women (called FMC, federacion de Mujeres Cubanas in Spanish) is as unchallenged and hegemonic force as the Communist Party. The example of the Cuban’s federation of Women is a great illustration the role of women. Some of the FMC’s most remarkable achievements have been supporting the mass education of women, preparing them to have jobs, and pushing for legislation and social reform for gender equality. It is not a coincidence of Cuba has the second-highest national literacy rate in the world, since 700.000 people, over half of whom were women, were instructed by more than 100.000 volunteer starting from the great literacy campaign in 1960. After the mass exile from Cuba during the revolution, the FMC also created both programs in cities that taught rural women sewing skills, who then returned home and taught others, as well as locally-run night literacy and farming training classes in agricultural communities. In the field of legal and social support for women, The FMC played a major role in passing the Family Code in 1975, which ensures equal property and social rights for women at home. Women and the FMC have also had important influences on Cubans’ health status and their health care system. The FMC encouraged women to practice nursing and public health. As a result in recent times, the number of women practicing in the medical field is more or less equal to the number of male doctors and nurses. Since the beginning of Castro regime, the FMC was highly effective in supporting but also pushing the government’s campaigns to improve vaccination rates and educate the public on health and hygiene topics. We should also consider the United States economic interests in this lift of the embargo. Cuba will be a great land for American businessmen and increase of American investment in the Island will be benefic for both countries. One 2009 study estimated that doing away with all financing and travel restrictions on U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba would have boosted 2008 dairy sales to that country from $13 million to between $39 million and $87 million,