Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accompanied by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil at the opening of the 25th summit of ALBA-TCP on Sunday, December 14, 2025. Photo: Venezuelan Presidential Press.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inaugurated Sunday the 25th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) from the Battle of Boyacá Hall at Miraflores Palace, on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the founding of the regional bloc by commanders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro.
President Maduro welcomed the presidents, prime ministers and delegates from Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Saint Lucia.
In his opening remarks, the head of state emphasized that the presidents of ALBA-TCP are experiencing a pivotal moment to step forward and set an example of how international law is defended by the peoples of South America and the Caribbean in defense of the homeland against imperialist abuses.
For President Maduro, ALBA-TCP is a “great project of unity, emancipation, and multidimensional liberation of our people, in a time of wonderful challenges.”
“This summit is being held at this time to unite joint efforts in favor of equality, respect, and justice,” he said. “Furthermore, it is to firmly denounce all violations of international law and to ratify the Havana Declaration of January 2014, signed and approved at the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which declares Latin America and the Caribbean a territory of peace.”
He then stated that “this declaration is law and has jurisprudence, approved by the 33 governments and peoples that make up CELAC,” while noting that in 2025 a total of 20,000 tons of various commercial components were moved through the ALBA ship.
“This year, 2025, has been a good year for ALBA-TCP, a year of close coordination, joint work, and from planning to action,” said President Maduro, referring to the trade exchanges carried out between the 10 member countries.
In his opinion, these actions represent great solidarity and support between nations, and he emphasized that “we must unite our naval fleets to ensure that trade is guaranteed in the Caribbean, both for goods, products and everything that our countries need.”
Petrocaribe will revitalize energy agreements
President Maduro told the ALBA-TCP presidents that the time has come to resume the Petrocaribe energy projects and how they have been carried out.
He recalled that a year ago, the decision was made “to jointly invest and produce all hydrocarbon components, from oil and refining to petrochemicals and beyond. These are projects that are already quite well designed,” he pointed out.
He went on to highlight that Petrocaribe is a commercial entity that was created in 2005, under the guidelines of Commander Hugo Chávez, which facilitates access to Venezuelan oil for countries in the Caribbean and Central America with positive negotiation conditions for all members of the alliance.
Cuba
During the summit, Cuban President Miguel DĂaz-Canel denounced the arbitrary exclusion and censorship exercised against Venezuela, Nicaragua and his own country in multilateral spaces.
“True Latin American and Caribbean integration will be extremely difficult if arbitrary exclusions and censorship continue to be accepted in multilateral forums, as has happened in recent Summits of the Americas, including the most recent failed attempt to hold this hemispheric event this December,” DĂaz-Canel said.
He also emphasized that the decision to exclude Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba clearly followed the directives of the United States government. “Unfortunately, some countries in the region complied, turning their backs on virtue, dignity, and respect among peoples. These exclusions go against the essence of multilateralism, the principle of the sovereign equality of states, and international law,” the Cuban president added.
The Cuban president also condemned the US military deployment in the Caribbean and denounced the act of piracy committed by the US military in stealing an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude oil.
(Últimas Noticias) by Olys Guárate with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/JB
