IV Continental Assembly of ALBA Movements opens in Havana

Images via Estudios Revolución

By Leticia Martínez Hernández, translated from the Spanish

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, attended the opening on Thursday of the IV Continental Assembly of ALBA Movements, held in the Cuban capital.

This popular participation platform unites over 400 organizations from 25 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, and other regions around the globe.

Being held for the first time in a Caribbean nation – specifically at the University of Havana – the event serves as a space to show solidarity with the Cuban Revolution amid the tightening of the U.S. government’s blockade on the island, and as a tribute to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz on his centenary.

188 delegates from 27 countries are coming together to talk about regional and global geopolitics, update and organize the shared agenda of common struggles against the regrouping of neo-fascist forces, develop proposals aimed at the socialist future and the role of the left in the region, and plan a major step forward for the social and popular movement in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Hero of the Republic of Cuba and national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, welcomed attendees during his speech at the inauguration. "Cuba, always rebellious and hospitable, charged with the spirit of resistance and faith in the future as Fidel taught us, determined not to give up, aware of the moral responsibility it has assumed on behalf of the poor of the earth, with which it will continue to cast its lot into the sea".

Cuba resists heroically and creatively, he said, "but for too long it has suffered a barbaric, undeserved, unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression."

Hernández Nordelo described the extremely complex and challenging situation we’re facing, driven by the relentless aggressiveness of the heightened economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. government, along with the criminal intent behind the hostile actions of the current administration.

He felt that the presence and participation of social and popular movements in this fourth meeting showed moral support for the Cuban Revolution and the ideals of socialism.

He added that it was a tribute to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on his centennial, who, from his early days in the struggle and insurrection as a law student and as José Martí’s best disciple, always believed in the importance of Latin American and Caribbean unity to face that voracious imperialism.

Alongside the Cuban President were members of the Political Bureau, including Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz; Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization of the Party’s Central Committee; and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, together with other leaders from the State, Government, and the country’s mass organizations.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC