Cuba confirms Raul Castro to attend U.N. General Assembly in New York

President Castro meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in Panama, 11 April 2015 (US Government photo)

HAVANA, September 17th, 2015 (EFE) The Cuban government on Wednesday confirmed the attendance of President Raul Castro at the events surrounding the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, will also be on hand, as well as Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solis and Pope Francis.

Although no bilateral meeting between Castro and Obama has yet been scheduled, “there will be interactions” at the world gathering, the government said.

Castro will speak on Sept. 26 at the summit on the post-2015 development agenda and, on Sept. 28, at the General Assembly session, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told reporters.

In addition, Castro will attend the Sept. 25 General Assembly session at which Pope Francis will address world leaders after a visit to Cuba.

During this presence at these events, Castro “will fulfill a broad program of a multilateral nature,” will hold “numerous bilateral meetings” with heads of state and government, and will meet with representatives of assorted sectors of U.S. society, including members of groups expressing solidarity with Cuba and the Cuban exile community.

Castro’s unexpected presence at the U.N. meetings coincides with the celebrations surrounding the 70th anniversary of the world body, “which must be defended against the attacks, manipulations and attempts to distort its objectives that it is experiencing,” Rodriguez said.

The foreign minister said that the U.N. needs to undergo a “profound reform” to democratize itself and so that the General Assembly may exercise the authority provided to it by the U.N. Charter and contain the “interference and voraciousness” of the 15-seat Security Council with its five veto-wielding permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain.