ALBA: Regional Integration Is an Imperative - Cuban President

The XXI Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) opened today in Havana, Cuba. This summit provides member nations of the Alliance with an opportunity to share common development strategies and analyze the regional political situation. 

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"Now, as never before, it is imperative to unite wills to build consensus and make progress in regional integration and political coordination," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told the heads of state, government and representatives of the ALBA-TCP member countries.  

Stressing the importance of achieving a Latin America with an independent voice that coordinates its development strategies and the defense of sovereignty, the Cuban president said that "fragmented, they could ignore each one of our representatives, but united, no one will be able to silence us."

In relation to the great challenge posed to the entire world by the Covid-19 pandemic, Díaz-Canel recognized the achievement of Cuban biotechnology with the production of anti-COVID-19 vaccines. The president ratified Cuba's willingness to put its scientific capabilities and achievements at the service of the member countries of the Alliance.

Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez stated this Friday in Havana, during the XXI Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our ALBA-TCP, that the Government of the United States does not have the moral or political authority to exclude any country from the Summit of the Americas.  

In his speech, Díaz-Canel also condemned the U.S. decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the upcoming IX Summit of the Americas. While professing to promote democracy, Washington cannot guarantee a plural space. "They pretend to be interested in a constructive relationship with our region, but they do not respect differences," the Cuban leader said.

"The practice of excluding is not new and confirms the interest of the U.S. to control the Inter-American system in order to use it for hegemonic objectives and impose the power to control democracy. Neither politically nor morally do they have that right," he said.

The president acknowledged the strong opposition of several Latin American and Caribbean governments to an exclusive summit. "Our America has changed; exclusions are no longer possible." The Cuban president added that the decision not to invite everyone is a historical setback, and all countries must be "invited on equal terms," the Cuban president added.  

ALBA-TCP, founded in 2004 by the late Presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, is a regional organization focused on the fight against poverty and social exclusion based on solidarity and cooperation among its members. Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis make up the integration alliance.