Group photo of the heads of state and government participating at the 24th ALBA-TCP Summit held in Caracas, December 14, 2023. Photo: Presidential Press.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, welcomed the heads of state and government of the ALBA countries as well as all the delegations that will participate at the 24th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) at the Simón Bolívar Convention Center in La Carlota, Caracas, on Saturday, December 14.
Earlier on Friday, in a preparatory meeting at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said, “At the heart of the revolutionary, anti-imperialist and Bolivarian Caracas, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty, the vital nucleus of the independence, dignity and sovereignty of the Great Homeland … Two visionaries like Commanders Chávez and Fidel were able to unite their capabilities and take the bold step, full of convictions and morals, to urge Latin America and the Caribbean that we must move forward, build together and unite all the forces of a heroic continent that has achieved so many feats for centuries, for its definitive liberation.”
The heads of state who attended the summit were the presidents of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; of Bolivia, Luis Arce; of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel; the prime ministers of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit; Antigua and Barbuda, Gastón Browne; and of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves.
The plenary session was also attended by the minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas; the minister for Economic Development and Planning of Grenada, Lennox Andrews; the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of Saint Lucia, Claudius Francis. As special guests were present the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Gerardo Torres Zelaya, and the advisor to the President of State for International Affairs and Special Envoy of the State of Palestine, Riad Maliki. Moreover, a delegation of Haiti headed by the controversial president of the Transitional Presidential Council of Haiti, Leslie Voltaire, was present at the summit.
After bilateral meetings and special activities, the heads of state and government and the delegations were scheduled to hold a private meeting, and in the afternoon they toured the exhibition depicting the achievements of ALBA-TCP during its 20 years of existence.
The meeting was also attended by more than 80 leaders of social and popular movements from 30 countries, belonging to the ALBA Movements.
Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Saint Lucia are the member countries of this regional bloc that is essential in the current international scenario headed by the US and European imperialist powers.
President Maduro: We have no option to be colonies or cowards
In his inaugural speech, President Maduro recalled the first meeting between commanders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, in December 1994. “The forces of the old imperialist civilization of the West refuse to accept the right of peoples to live in independence, in sovereignty, to build their own models of equality, justice, freedom,” he said, referring to the constant attacks that ALBA-TCP has suffered from interests alien to and contrary to the development of the Latin American and Caribbean bloc.
“For us, it is not an option to return to being colonies or to be cowards; for Latin America and the Caribbean, it is not an option,” he said, as reported by Últimas Noticias.
He described the step taken by Commanders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro in Havana, just as the 21st century was beginning, as “a giant step,” highlighting that both historical leaders embodied the historical dreams of the legacy of the liberators and the union of the peoples of the region.
President Maduro highlighted the progress made by the bloc in the first stage, which paved the way for justice, equality, balance and stability.
The Venezuelan president said that since the birth of ALBA-TCP, the creation of “the most powerful programs, economic and social missions ever seen in any sub-regional or regional integration mechanism in America or in the world” began.
He highlighted the literacy programs in the region, such as the Cuban program “Yes, I can,” the medical programs in the poorest neighborhoods to provide care to those most in need, and the Venezuelan program Misión Milagro aimed at restoring sight to blind people.
President Maduro further highlighted some of the future plans of this integration platform, such as the creation of the Alba Tourism visa to strengthen and promote tourism among the ALBA-TCP member states.
He acknowledged ALBA-TCP’s capacity for innovation and creation to navigate various situations, as well as being at the center of the truth for the right of peoples to development, democracy, and the construction of the model of their choice.
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President Díaz-Canel: We must make reality the dreams of Fidel and Chávez
Twenty years after Fidel and Chávez sealed the birth of ALBA-TCP with an embrace, “an emancipatory process that time has transformed into an embrace of our peoples, it is always pleasant and exciting to be in these sacred places with friends and brothers and sisters of ALBA, celebrating a transcendent moment in our common history,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in his speech at the opening ceremony.
“Today we once again meed at the ALBA-TCP Summit, a milestone in the battle for the unity of Our America and in defense of social justice for a better world that we all long for,” he continued. “We have never overlooked a single summit, just as we will never ignore the cause of American integration with so many dreams and projects pending. This meeting never ceases to move us.”
In his remarks, Díaz-Canel conveyed to the Palestinian delegation invited at the summit Cuba’s solidarity, which Cuba offers every day to the hundreds of Palestinian students who are receiving high quality education in Cuba.
He added, “Those of us who follow in the footsteps of Fidel and Chávez must promote and make a reality their dreams, now when the times are no less challenging for our nations. The road has not been easy, the strong will of each one of us to see ALBA-TCP advance was what allowed the alliance to consolidate itself in an inclusive integration process that is distinguished by the coordination of actions and always putting the well-being, development and prosperity of the people at the center of decisions.”
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC
