Geneva - The existence of more than 15,000 nuclear weapons was denounced by Cuba at the UN Working Group in charge of the progress of multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament.

The island´s delegation described nuclear armament as one of the main challenges for the survival of the human species.

The Caribbean nation reaffirmed that the use of nuclear weapons cannot be justified under any circumstances even for security reasons, according to a statement issued at the Permanent Mission of the Caribbean island in Geneva.

Claudia Perez, adviser to the Mission, said that the 2nd Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean, held in Havana in January 2014, had proclaimed Latin America and the Caribbean as a peace zone.

She also emphasized the strong commitment of the members of the regional consultation mechanism to the promotion of nuclear disarmament as a primary objective, and stressed the importance of starting multilateral negotiations for the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Perez recalled several views expressed by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, who has stated that no large or small country has the right to possess nuclear weapons and that their existence is one of the most serious dangers threatening the existence of our species.