Declaration of the XVI ALBA-TCP Summit held in Havana - MPPRE

Declaration of the XVI ALBA-TCP Summit held in Havana

Under the slogan “In defense of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace”, the Republic of Cuba hosted on Friday the XVI Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Commerce Treaty (ALBA-TCP), in the framework of the XIV Anniversary of the organism. At the end of the day of deliberations, in the evening hours, the final Declaration of the meeting was issued, which, among other matters of regional interest, ratifies the support and recognition of the coalition to President Nicolás Maduro Moros, to whom they augur the success of his management at the head of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from the inauguration of next January 10. Next, the entire Declaration:
  • We reiterate our willingness to keep promoting the construction of a new international order, democratic, fair, inclusive and equitable, in which the equality sovereign between States and respect for the self-determination of peoples is effective. An order that promotes cooperation and multilateralism, while repudiating interventionism and unilateral coercive actions.
  • We reaffirm our commitment to political coordination, cooperation and integration, aware that only the unity among our peoples will give Latin American and Caribbean nations greater capacity to face the interference and political and economic domination historically imposed by the global hegemonic powers.
  • We ratify the need to strengthen the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) as a mechanism of regional political agreement, based on the strict observance and defense of the principles of international law, including the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the use and threat of the use of force, respect for self-determination of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of each country.
  • We recognize the activism of the Republic of El Salvador in order to favor the development and strengthening of Celac since its presidency pro tempore.
  • We reaffirm to the Plurinational State of Bolivia our support in its exercise of the pro tempore presidency of Celac in 2019.
  • We insist that unilateral coercive measures are contrary to the UN Charter and international law, violate international trade rules, threaten international peace and security and restrict the enjoyment of the human rights of the population of the states in which are applied.
  • We accept the need for international organizations, particularly the World Trade Organization (WTO), to adopt the measures required to face the violations of international trade rules that entail coercive, unilateral measures and that the states and their groups adopt actions to prevent the effects of the extraterritoriality that accompany those violations.
  • We denounce the extraterritorial nature of many of these measures that not only affect the socioeconomic indicators of the affected states, but also damage the economic and commercial interests of third parties.
  • We express our concern for the aggressions and actions against regional peace and security, especially the threats of the use of forces against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which undermine the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as an area of ​​peace, signed by the Heads of State and Government in the II Summit of the Celac, held in Havana, on January 28 and 29, 2014.
  • We emphasize the resistance of the Venezuelan Government and people against external interference, unilateral coercive measures and the constant media manipulation against their country.
  • We reiterate our support and recognition of the elected government of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, to whom we predict success in his management of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, from the inauguration of January 10, 2019.
  • We reject the interfering action of the United States, which uses, once again, the Organization of American States (OAS) in its interventionist policy against the sovereignty, self-determination and constitutional order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Republic of Nicaragua and other countries.
  • We ratify our unconditional support to the government and people of Nicaragua in their decision to keep defending their sovereignty, peace, the remarkable social, economic, security and national unity achieved.
  • We reiterate the international community’s demand that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba be unconditionally lifted, which constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the Human Rights of the Cuban people and which extraterritorial nature affects all the states.
  • We celebrate the approval in the General Assembly of the United Nations for the twenty-seventh time of the resolution that demands the end of the blockade and ratifies the overwhelming rejection of this policy.
  • We reiterate our solidarity with comrade Lula da Silva, emblematic leader of our America, political prisoner in Brazil.
  • We regret the modifications announced to the More Doctors of Brazil program that imposes unacceptable conditions and does not fulfill the guarantees agreed for the participation of Cuban doctors in the program.
  • We reject the questioning of the dignity, professionalism and altruism of the Cuban collaborators.
  • Reaffirm our committed support to the people and government of Bolivia in its historic and just right to an exit to the sea with sovereignty.
  • We urge the Republic of Chile and the Plurinational State of Bolivia to restart the dialogue and exchange, within the framework of the ruling of the International Court of Justice, with the purpose of resolving the maritime confinement of Bolivia.
  • We strongly reject the measures adopted against our Caribbean countries, considering them as non-cooperative jurisdictions, while we encourage the revision of graduation criteria to middle-income countries, which hinders their access to credit and international cooperation.
  • We reaffirm our continued support to the Caribbean countries in their claim for compensation for the genocide of the native population and the horrors of slavery and human trafficking.
  • We reaffirm our commitment to face climate change, aware that the causes of this phenomenon lie in the irrational and unsustainable models of production and consumption imposed by the capitalist system. The aggressions to our Mother Earth show evident negative impacts, which imposes haste in the actions of the international community in this regard.
  • We emphasize the considerable vulnerability of our countries in the face of climate effects and natural disasters. ALBA-TCP calls for the full implementation of the Paris agreement, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities to stop global warming and work on sustainable development in harmony with nature.
  • We reaffirm our commitment to the preservation and strengthening of the institutions that have arisen within ALBA-TCP, which benefit our peoples through cooperation, economic complementarity and consensus-building.
  • We express our willingness to study the possibility of implementing new initiatives within the ALBA-TCP that promote the equitable and complementary benefit of the economies of the member countries.
  • We recognize the need for constant dialogue between progressive political forces and social movements. The ALBA-TCP has the duty to be a platform that facilitates the meeting of social organizations in the region, aware that the unity of our peoples constitutes the bulwark of the sovereignty of the Latin American and Caribbean States.
  • We congratulate the Cuban Government and people for the 60th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution against the imperialist forces of the United States and the Batista dictatorship.
  • We ratify the full validity of the words of Commander Fidel Castro, on October 8, 1995 at the eleventh summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, when he said: “We are not mere spectators, this world is also our world. No one can substitute our united action, nobody will speak for us. Only we and only united can reject the unjust global political and economic order that they are trying to impose on our peoples”.