TRANSLATION:    "Keeping Cuba on the unilateral list of States that supposedly promote terrorism cannot be justified."

United Nations, September 24 (RHC)-- The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, says it is unacceptable that the United States keeps Cuba among the countries supposedly promoting terrorism and urged an end to a measure that is harmful to the Caribbean nation.

Speaking at the opening of the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, the Brazilian president deplored the persistence of this policy, despite the broad rejection of the international community and the lack of concrete evidence to justify it.

Havana has always denounced that the inclusion of Cuba on the terrorist list of the United States is part of the intensification of the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed for more than six decades and defined as the main obstacle to the progress of the island.

During his speech, Lula also considered it imperative to further support Haiti's return to socio-political stability and deplored the exclusion of Latin America and Africa from permanent seats on the UN Security Council because it "reflects the colonial past."

He also regretted that Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing another lost decade in terms of economic growth, as evidence of high inequality, political disagreements and the weakness of regional cooperation and understanding.  (Source: Prensa Latina)