Cuba's Minister of Communication, Mayra Arevich, denounced in New Delhi the economic, commercial, and financial blockade of the United States as the main obstacle to the digital and technological development of the Caribbean nation.
It limits access to technologies and platforms essential for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and compromises the energy sustainability of the country's digital infrastructure, Arevich said, in the context of the Impact AI Summit, the first to be held in a country in the global South.
She referred to the recent executive order declaring Cuba an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States and the consequent imposition of tariffs on countries that supply oil to the largest of the Antilles.
"This is a new and serious attack on our sovereignty. It is economic warfare, a genocidal act that seeks to punish the entire Cuban population, generate internal attrition, and put the lives of millions of Cubans at risk," she said.
In this regard, the Cuban minister strongly condemned the application of unilateral coercive measures that violate international law and, she added, affect development, peace, and global progress, and prevent the transformative power of AI from truly serving all of humanity.
The Cuban communications minister added that the potential of artificial intelligence will only be realized if we overcome the structural inequalities of the current unjust and undemocratic international economic order.
She called for prioritizing strategies and regulations for the ethical and responsible use of AI, adapted to our contexts and values, in the face of technological disparities and digital divides, which affect the Global South to a greater extent.
Arevich affirmed that Cuba defends open, compatible, and non-discriminatory international standards and considered South-South cooperation key to building shared capacities and breaking technological asymmetries.
She ratified her country's categorical rejection of the use of AI for criminal or terrorist purposes or for interference in the internal affairs of our States, including the manipulation of history and sovereignty.
The Cuban minister gave examples of the island's policies regarding this technology, such as the approval in 2024 of the strategy for its development and use, and explained that Cuban universities and companies are already developing applications in health, agriculture, education, disaster management, among other sectors, with a humanistic approach.
She also noted that curricula at all educational levels are being updated to train professionals skilled in AI, with a strong sense of ethical awareness and responsibility.
"This progress is being achieved despite the unjust economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government for more than six decades," he stressed.
Arevich added that the collective challenge is to ensure that the development and use of artificial intelligence translates into well-being for all, without exclusion, and that technological opportunities are widely shared among all regions.
Finally, she reaffirmed Cuba's commitment to collaborate in this endeavor, convinced that only through solidarity—above the selfishness of geopolitical and corporate interests—can a fair and humane digital future be built.
