By Global News Service
The 23rd Summit of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—Trade Agreement for the People (ALBA-TCP) was held in Caracas, Venezuela on April 24. The summit was the first since Venezuelan revolutionary leader Jorge Arreaza took over as executive secretary of the platform in February 2024.
ALBA-TCP was founded in 2004 by Commanders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez as a cornerstone of their vision to revive and strengthen strategic unity and integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, and serve as a counter proposal to U.S. imperialism’s efforts to dominate the region. The platform works for “the consolidation and strengthening of development, peace, social justice, complementarity, equality, inclusion, solidarity and integration of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples.” Current member states include Venezuela, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Bolivia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The gathering saw participation from heads of state and ministers from the 10 member states of the body as well as a representative from Honduras who attended as a special invitee.
The closing declaration from the summit states, “We reaffirm our firm commitment to strengthening the ALBA-TCP, as a mechanism for unity, dialogue and political coordination, based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, cooperation, and economic complementarity, which allows us to face in better conditions the dangers and challenges that arise from the complex world scenario, characterized by the deepening of disrespect and the constant threat to peace, security, sovereignty, and self-determination of nations.”
from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service