The XVI Political Council of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples’ Trade Treaty, referred to as ALBA-TCP, started today in Havana, Cuba with the goal of strengthening Latin American and Caribbean ties and integration.
Representatives from Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Bolivia and Haiti, along with several other countries in the region, are participating in the meeting and will make presentations on various topics.
"Today unity is more necessary than ever when imperialism continues stalking like the relentless giant it is. In the XVI Political Council of ALBA-TCP, this Thursday (...) we will reaffirm the commitment to unity, cooperation and solidarity between our nations," said Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
Some of the topics on the agenda include the Political Council reaffirming their support for Venezuela's sovereignty and self-determination in the face of the political, financial and media siege to which it has been subjected.
Likewise, the XVIII Intergovernmental Commission between Cuba and Venezuela, in which guidelines for bilateral relations will be established.
According to Hassan Pérez, professor at the Center for Hemispheric Studies on Cuba and the U.S., this regional platform is the "source of a perspective where agreement and complementarity are the cornerstones of exchange, as opposed to the traditional capitalist profit."
Furthermore, he added that among the pillars for the consecration of unity is "the triumph of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro and the rise to power of Comandante Hugo Chávez in Venezuela."