This was stated by the permanent representative of the island to the United Nations, Pedro Luis Pedroso, after being elected this Friday as vice president of the Special Committee on Decolonization of the multilateral organization.

At the inauguration ceremony, in which the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, participated, the Cuban ambassador thanked the trust placed in his country and stressed that the mandate of this Committee is unfinished, since there are still many peoples subjected to colonial practices.

Sixty-one years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, 17 territories are still subject to that domination, among which are Puerto Rico, the Saharawi Arab Republic, the Malvinas Islands, just to mention some.

The Special Committee in charge of Examining the Situation with respect to the Application of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples is known in the UN as the Special Committee on Decolonization or C-24.

Such body was created in 1961 by the General Assembly as a subsidiary body dedicated to issues related to decolonization, pursuant to resolution 1654 (XVI) of November 27, 1961.

The C-24 Bureau is made up of the president (Grenada was elected this Friday), the vice presidents (Cuba, Sierra Leone and Indonesia) and the rapporteur (Syria).

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