By Hedelberto López Blanch on March 19, 2026
cartoon by: Adán
A few months ago, I wrote an article about planned obsolescence, a key pillar of capitalism, as manufacturers create products that expire over time so that consumers will buy newer ones—and that is practically what is happening with the UN, which, after 80 years, needs a makeover because it has already become obsolete.
The most telling example confirming this observation was the recent Security Council vote in which 13 countries passed a resolution condemning Iran (with two abstentions from Russia and China) for exercising its full right to defend itself against yet another bloody aggression by the United States and Israel, while those responsible for such a war are not even mentioned.
As is well known, in their eagerness to destroy the government in Tehran so that Israel and the United States can control the entire resource-rich Middle East region, Tel Aviv and Washington launched a joint attack on Saturday, February 28, bombing the girls’ elementary school in Minab where they killed 165 students and also assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, members of his family, and senior military officials—acts constituting state terrorism and a flagrant violation of Iranian sovereignty.
Official reports indicate that the attacks against Iran have caused the deaths of more than 1,400 civilians and left nearly 18,000 wounded. Additionally, 16,191 homes, 1,617 commercial and service centers, 77 medical and pharmaceutical facilities, 65 schools and educational institutions, 16 Red Crescent buildings, and several energy facilities were destroyed.
The scale and systematic nature of the attacks clearly qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity, yet this barbarity was ignored by UN Resolution 2817, which limited itself to condemning the defensive actions of the Islamic Republic while failing to even mention those who provoked the conflict in the text.
The reality is that since its founding in 1945, and especially in recent years, the United Nations has become an organization almost subservient to the interests of Western powers, to the detriment of emerging nations and the Global South.
Through strong threats and pressure, the United States has managed to secure the support of UN member states, at specific times, for its wars of plunder or invasions against countries that have not bowed to its hegemony, as occurred in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Iraq, Syria, Libya, or Afghanistan, to name a few.
It also prevents its allies from being condemned, as in the case of Israel, which has committed and continues to commit the greatest genocide of the 21st century against the Palestinians.
Likewise, it omits or ignores any resolution in favor of a country of the Global South such as Cuba, despite the fact that the General Assembly has approved on 33 occasions and by an overwhelming majority the lifting of the criminal economic, commercial, and financial blockade it has maintained against the island for 66 years.
And many ask: what is the point of this international organization if it cannot address the demands of the majority, nor prevent Palestinians from being massacred and murdered by the Israeli regime with Washington’s military, economic, and political support?
The United States, as the country where the UN headquarters is located, has claimed the “right” to bar heads of state or government who do not align with its interests from entering the country.
One such case was that of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, whom the regime of convicted President Donald Trump has denied a visa to enter the country and address the General Assembly.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel marching in support of the Palestinian people.
In response to this arbitrary measure, the Cuban leader stated that “what bothers the United States about Cuba is true independence—that transnational corporations do not rule here, that we have free healthcare and education, and that we do not ask permission to condemn crimes such as those committed by Israel and the United States against the Palestinians.”
In the face of the hijacking of the UN and its Security Council by the United States, supported by Western developed nations, the majority of the world’s governments and peoples are calling for the urgent need to reform that organization in pursuit of greater impartiality, free from the influence of the most powerful.
For this reason, in the 21st century, a transformation of the international body has become all the more imperative, as it has entered a period of obsolescence.
Source: Cuba en Resumen