President Maduro Proposes a Common Development Path for ALBA

On Tuesday, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro called for the creation of a comprehensive economic development plan for the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP).

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During his speech at the 12th ALBA Summit, he recalled that this integration mechanism arose from a meeting between Venezuelan Commander Hugo Chavez and Cuban Commander Fidel Castro. In 2004, these revolutionary icons proposed the construction of an institutional alternative to the "rapacious and barbarous neoliberalism" that attempted to colonize Latin American countries through the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area with the Americas (FTAA).

“ALBA has been our space, our home. Here we are all the same,” Maduro said and called for building a “world of peace without Imperial robbery wars and war threats.”

The Bolivarian president also asked the ALBA countries to raise their voices so that their interests are heard in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and other international forums.

“We have made ourselves feel and respect... In a world that does not respect cowards or the weak, ALBA has made itself respected with the strength and power of ideas,” Maduro added.

Besides remembering the ALBA solidarity actions during the pandemic and natural disasters, the Venezuelan president urged the summit participants to prevent foreign powers from dividing the Latin American peoples. In this context, he once again congratulated the re-election of Daniel Ortega as president of Nicaragua and appreciated the firmness of Bolivian President Luis Arce in his fight against the far-right destabilization plans in his country.

Maduro urged ALBA leaders to draw up a comprehensive development plan because the success of revolutionary projects depends on finding paths to shared economic development. “We are weak if we stay apart. No one will achieve development acting individually,” he concluded.