The member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) committed on Friday to redouble their efforts to strengthen regional integration, according to the final declaration of the XVI Summit of the block unveiled by the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez.
Here is the full text of the Declaration:
Havana, December 14, 2018
In Defense of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace
The Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Treaty of Trade of the Peoples (ALBA-TCP) meeting in Havana, on the occasion of the XVI Summit of the ALBA-TCP:
Inspired by the fraternal meeting of Commanders Fidel and Chávez, during his first visit to Cuba on December 14, 1994, which sowed the seeds of our cooperation:
1. We reiterate our willingness to continue promoting the construction of a new international order, democratic, fair, inclusive and equitable, in which sovereign equality 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.
2. We reaffirm our commitment to political coordination, cooperation and integration, aware that only the unity among our peoples will give the Latin American and Caribbean nations greater capacity to face the interference and political and economic domination historically imposed by the global hegemonic powers.
3. We reaffirm 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 the threat of the use of force, respect for self-determination, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in the internal affairs of each country.
4. We recognize the activism of El Salvador in order to favor the development and strengthening of CELAC, as well as reaffirm to Bolivia our support in its exercise of the Pro Tempore Presidency of CELAC in 2019.
5. We insist that unilateral coercive measures are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations 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 United States. against which they apply.
6. We emphasize the need for international organizations, in particular the World Trade Organization (WTO), to adopt the measures required to address violations of international trade rules that miss unilateral coercive measures, and that States and their groups adopt actions to prevent the effects of extraterritoriality that accompany them.
7. 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.
8. We express our concern for the aggressions and actions against regional peace and security, especially the threats of use of force against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which goes against the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed by the Heads of State and / or Government at the II Summit of CELAC, held in Havana on January 28 and 29, 2014.
9. We emphasize the resistance of the Venezuelan Government and people to external interference, unilateral coercive measures and the constant media manipulation against their country.
10. We reiterate our support and recognition of the elected government of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, to whom we predict success in his leadership of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as of the inauguration of January 10, 2019.
11. We reject the interventionist action of the United States Government, which once again uses the OAS in its interventionist policy against the sovereignty, self-determination and constitutional order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries.
12. We ratify our unconditional support to the government and people of Nicaragua in their decision to continue defending their sovereignty, peace, the remarkable social, economic, security and national unity achieved.
3. We reiterate the international community’s demand that the economic, commercial and financial embargo 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 whose character extraterritorial affects all 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.
14. We reiterate our solidarity with compañero Lula Da Silva, emblematic leader of Nuestra América, political prisoner in Brazil.
15. We regret the modifications announced to the More Doctors Program for Brazil that impose unacceptable conditions and fail to comply with the guarantees agreed upon for the participation of Cuban doctors in the Program. We reject the questioning of the dignity, professionalism and altruism of the Cuban collaborators.
16. We 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 exchanges, within the framework of the ruling of the International Court of Justice, with the purpose of resolving the maritime confinement of Bolivia.
17. We strongly reject the measures adopted against our Caribbean countries, considering them non-cooperative jurisdictions, at the same time that we exhort to review the graduation criteria as “middle-income countries”, which hinders their access to credit and international cooperation.
18. 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 trafficking.
19. We reaffirm our commitment to face climate change, aware that the causes of this phenomenon lie in the irrational models of production and consumption imposed by the capitalist system. The aggressions to our Mother Earth show negative impacts more and more evident, which imposes haste in the actions of the international community in this regard.
20. We emphasize the considerable vulnerability of our countries to the adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters. The 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 for sustainable development in harmony with nature.
21. We reaffirm our commitment to the preservation and strengthening of the institutions that have arisen within the ALBA-TCP and that benefit our peoples through cooperation, economic complementarity and consensus-building.
22. We express our willingness to study the possibility of implementing new initiatives within the ALBA-TCP, which promote the equitable and complementary benefit of the economies of the member countries.
23. 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 between the social organizations of the region, aware that the unity of our peoples constitutes the bulwark of the sovereignty of the Latin American and Caribbean States.
24. 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 dictatorship of Batista.
25. We ratify the full validity of the words of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, on October 18, 1995 at the Eleventh Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement 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 is intended to impose on our peoples.”
Translation by Internationalist 360°