United Nations, New York.- Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel held a meeting on Wednesday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who recently visited the island for the ECLAC meeting.

Upon returning from the 37th Session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the head of the United Nations told Prensa Latina about Cuba’s positive commitment to the reforms promoted in his mandate and described his participation in that regard as very useful.

On Wednesday, during his speech at the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly, the Cuban President defended the values of multilateralism and criticized the the threat or use of force, pressures, retaliations and sanctions which increasingly characterize the behavior and rhetoric of the U.S. Government.

Why don’t we just implement the promised strengthening of the General Assembly as the main body of deliberation, decision and representation? questioned the Cuban leader.

Likewise, the reform of the Security Council must not be delayed or prevented, as this body is in need of adjusting to the times by democratizing its membership and working methods, he added.

Diaz-Canel also reiterated Cuba’s denunciation of the blockade imposed by the U.S. Government for more than 55 years.

At the end of his speech, the Cuban President met with his Salvadoran counterpart, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, whose country maintains a fruitful collaboration with Cuba.

The Cuban leader is developing a broad agenda of bilateral meetings at the UN, where he is present for the high-level meeting of the General Assembly at its 37th Session.