Caracas, April 24, 2024.- The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, emphasized on Wednesday that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became a member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary this year, because “it is an extension of the constitutional precepts of our country”.

During his speech at the 23rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the regional integration bloc, held in Caracas, the Caribbean leader explained that ALBA-TCP is an organization of faith and reason, it is based on the freedoms and dignities of men and women, and also defends economic justice and equity for workers, peasants and producers of wealth; all of which corresponds to the contents of the preamble of the Constitution of his nation.

He reminded that the founders of the Alliance, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, insisted on solidarity, complementarity and reciprocity as values of the mechanism, for which he thanked the governments of these two countries for having been key and examples of these founding principles.

Gonsalves began his speech by thanking Venezuela for the invitation and expressing that it would remain engraved “in the hearts and minds of our peoples for the praiseworthy work that Venezuela, its people, the Bolivarian Revolution, have done for the benefit of our Caribbean and Our America, and for humanity as a whole”.

The Prime Minister expressed his solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which are suffering aggressions, blockades and unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States, reiterating to the rest of the authorities present that “our duty is to defend the governments and revolutionary processes in each of these three countries”, because they are processes that undoubtedly aim to improve the lives of their peoples, defend their independence and sovereignty, and have better opportunities for the development and progress of their peoples.

The leader referred to the millionaire resources approved by the United States to continue fueling conflicts in the world, stating that monopoly capitalism cannot exist without wars, “the war economy is essential for its survival”.

In his participation, he also mentioned the need to create a shipping company to transport goods among the ALBA-TCP countries, which could include non-member nations of the bloc.