Caracas, April 20, 2024.- As part of the Gathering for a World Social Alternative, held this Saturday in Caracas, the executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, held a meeting with representatives of the different social movements and journalists from the member countries of the Alliance.

In this regard, he stressed the need to convene “the social movements, the figures connected with the organized peoples and the platforms, because this is what the world situation demands,” and said that they should activate a policy with “institutional presence, a council” to strengthen the shared policies of ALBA-TCP and also to build a government agenda.

Arreaza also took the opportunity to review the 2030 Strategic Agenda, mentioning that it includes a “complementary economy, respecting differences, respecting realities, respecting the advantages (…) each country has its own potential”.

He also highlighted the need to speed up and facilitate certain procedures that would benefit all peoples, such as the sanitary registration of medicines or the validation of university degrees.

Mónica Pacheco, from the Bolivian Broadcasters Association (ATB in Spanish), stressed the importance of taking advantage of social networks to communicate the truth of the peoples.

She also emphasized the importance of Latin American unity and social organizations; “it is possible when we are united (…) it is important to know the reality of our countries because there is a lot of lies in the media. Let us always try to look for alternative media, there are other media that can reflect the reality of our countries”.

Additionally, the representative from Saint Lucia, Nicolai Lansiquot, reiterated his nation’s support for the constitutional government of President Nicolás Maduro and the policies implemented.

He also took the opportunity to reiterate his approval of the initiatives of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.

Jahim Etienne, also from St. Lucia, pointed out the damage done by the right-wing media regarding the situation of the peoples, in this sense, he considered Venezuela’s day-to-day situation as normal, contrary to what the U.S. media says.

Meanwhile, Luisa López, from the Correo del ALBA, defined Venezuela as a bastion of Bolivarianism; “it is the light shining on us since Commander Chávez appeared and he gave us a lot, he helped us to get out of where we were stuck, he made us believe that another world was possible, well, today many of his guidelines are being fulfilled, such as a multipolar world”.

Orlando Tardencilla, from Nicaragua, urged the participants to be united and politically clear, because “imperialism does not sleep and does not have one eye closed and the other open, it has both eyes open (…) we must keep our eyes open, strengthening the people’s power, listening with a self-critical ear, but above all, being aware of the opportunity to progress”.

Meanwhile, Oscar Figueredo, from Cuba Debate, stressed the need to effectively communicate the truth of the peoples, and the creation of strategies aimed at reaching the youth and raising awareness of the great contributions of the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutions.

Anisia Castro, from the Network in Defense of Humanity (Cuba), added that each of the countries “must not only display what is happening, but what we are doing from the left to counteract these things that are happening, using the tools we have, these are not moments of political hesitation”.

Finally, Loren Burford Garfield, from Antigua and Barbuda, said that it is necessary to understand and adapt to generational changes in order to reach out to young people and explain how ALBA-TCP has impacted their lives.