Author: Gabriela Blanco

Arreaza: Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy is our path to prevent wars and conflicts among nations

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Caracas, April 15, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, stated via his account on X, that the regional bloc embraces Bolivarian Diplomacy, promoted by Commander Hugo Chávez and President Nicolás Maduro Moros, as the method to achieve and foster world […]

Caracas, April 15, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, stated via his account on X, that the regional bloc embraces Bolivarian Diplomacy, promoted by Commander Hugo Chávez and President Nicolás Maduro Moros, as the method to achieve and foster world peace.

“Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy is our path and our proposal to prevent and tackle wars and conflicts among nations,” he said.

Arreaza recalled, “In 2018, under the Venezuelan Chairmanship, the Non-Aligned Movement proposed at the UN to establish April 24 as Multilateralism and Peace Diplomacy Day, an initiative approved by the UN General Assembly, accepting this concept as a contribution and method to ensure global stability and security”.

According to the Secretary, today more than ever, the international system must commit to dialogue, diplomacy and respect for international law and the rights of peoples, addressing the structural and original causes of potential or ongoing wars and conflicts without fear or pressure.

“As Mahatma Gandhi told us: there is no way to peace, peace is the way,” he closed.

In this regard, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace is celebrated in April. This was established by the United Nations in 2018, with the aim of promoting understanding and cessation of conflicts among nations.

In Venezuela, Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy has made significant progress. The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, highlighted in January 2024 that the South American nation achieved great victories through this method in 2023.

“We managed to consolidate the geopolitical vision of the Great Homeland and break the international isolation that imperialism had subjected Venezuela to, although they were never able to isolate us totally, they did a lot of damage”, the Head of State said on that occasion.

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda meets with ALBA Executive Secretary Jorge Arreaza

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Antigua and Barbuda, April 6, 2024.- The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, welcomed the Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, this Friday, April 5. During the meeting held at the Government House in St. John’s, Browne and Arreaza discussed the upcoming ALBA Summit, which gathers 10 countries: Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, […]

Antigua and Barbuda, April 6, 2024.- The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, welcomed the Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, this Friday, April 5.

During the meeting held at the Government House in St. John’s, Browne and Arreaza discussed the upcoming ALBA Summit, which gathers 10 countries: Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and St. Lucia.

This meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the purposes and strategies of the 2030 Agenda, which has five horizons as its main focus: economic, political, social, cultural and communicational.

The Executive Secretary said that ALBA’s Agenda 2030 is intended to give an extraordinary drive to the process of comprehensive consolidation of the bloc, with high-impact actions proposed within the short and medium term.

Besides, they addressed the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, to be held from May 27 to 30 in Antigua and Barbuda, in which Arreaza expressed ALBA-TCP’s full support. 

This important meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Trade of Antigua and Barbuda, Everly Chet Greene; and on behalf of Venezuela, the President of the Bank of ALBA and Vice Minister for the Caribbean, Raúl Li Causi.

Arreaza: ALBA-TCP must engage the rest of the integration mechanisms to build the definitive union

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Caracas, March 26, 2024.- In an interview with Unión Radio, in Caracas, on “Al instante”, the Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, highlighted that this mechanism embodies Bolivar’s spirit of unity beyond integration, which was adopted by Commanders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. He […]

Caracas, March 26, 2024.- In an interview with Unión Radio, in Caracas, on “Al instante”, the Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, highlighted that this mechanism embodies Bolivar’s spirit of unity beyond integration, which was adopted by Commanders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro.

He highlighted that ALBA must be the great unifying factor. “It is a people’s alliance”, so any social movement of the continent and beyond can join, any local government can join, “we must be the force being peoples, which is the driving force of any process of humanity”.

He also stressed that ALBA-TCP has the “responsibility of engaging the rest of the integration mechanisms to build the definitive union, to gradually develop the CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) called for by Simón Bolívar through the Congress of Panama in 1826, but in these times we must (…) Build the pole of our America within the framework of a multipolar world”.

Regarding the member countries under sanctions by imperialism, the Executive Secretary stated that Venezuela is emerging with 100% of its own effort. “Cuba with its historical lesson and Nicaragua, without a doubt, will succeed. Our continent has always been under dispute since the Europeans set foot here. This very century must be the century of the victory of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, the century of Our America, for which ALBA-TCP is essential and that is why empires are attacking it.

BRICS and Southern Command

When asked about Venezuela’s intention to become a regular member of BRICS, Arreaza said that the platform of emerging countries represents the positive pole of alliances facing the G7, the G20. “It represents a different alternative. I believe that Venezuela has a very high probability of joining BRICS soon and acting as a bridge, at first, and then as a window for other ALBA countries, with enough economic capacity and demographic weight, to join BRICS and its Bank”.

Likewise, the official was asked about his opinion on the intention expressed by the Head of the U.S. Southern Command, Laura Richardson, to control the natural resources of the region and he replied that “imperialism is very arrogant. This lady has followed the same strategy of trying to subjugate by force, in this case, countries that sovereignly decide their own path and, on top of that, to say it with such impudence. We have to protect those natural resources, oil, gas, lithium, minerals”.

The Executive Secretary added that the recent protest in Cuba due to power service failures caused by the U.S. blockade was magnified in the media, since “they tried to create the idea that a people had rebelled and that was not the case. The virtual scenario of the media must be analyzed very critically, because they are usually lying to us through these channels”.

He also referred to the recent communiqué of the ALBA-TCP countries in rejection of new sanctions against Nicaragua, affirming that Sandinismo has a strength and has the right to develop its internal process as they decide, “but this is not accepted in this hyper-imperialism”.

Venezuelan elections

The Venezuelan diplomat talked about the presidential elections in his country, scheduled for July 28 and that just concluded the process of registration of candidates. “We are in the first step of an electoral campaign that people have to assess very well, because we come from the greatest aggression of our republican history, we are still suffering it, the 930 sanctions are intact”.

He remarked that President Nicolás Maduro and his supporters have always been faithful to the constitutional calendar of elections and, once again, people have the chance to choose.

ALBA-TCP Executive Secretariat condemns terrorist attack in Russia

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The Executive Secretariat of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) categorically condemns the terrorist attack perpetrated against innocent civilians at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia. Likewise, this Executive Secretariat repudiates any act of violence that threatens the life and security of citizens, and expresses its […]

The Executive Secretariat of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) categorically condemns the terrorist attack perpetrated against innocent civilians at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia.

Likewise, this Executive Secretariat repudiates any act of violence that threatens the life and security of citizens, and expresses its solidarity and condolences to the Russian people and government.

The ALBA-TCP Executive Secretariat rejects this unfortunate situation and reaffirms its commitment to peace, tolerance and respect for human life.

Caracas, March 22, 2024


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Arreaza considers statements by Head of U.S. Southern Command against ALBA countries as cynical

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Caracas, March 20, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, rejected accusations made against countries of the bloc by the Head of the U.S. Southern Command, Laura J. Richardson, this Wednesday. After labeling Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua as nations that support […]

Caracas, March 20, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, rejected accusations made against countries of the bloc by the Head of the U.S. Southern Command, Laura J. Richardson, this Wednesday.

After labeling Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua as nations that support alleged “malign activities in the region”, Arreaza stated via the X social network that “As @ALBATCP Executive Secretary, I reject the cynicism, arrogance and insolence of this U.S. ‘Military Commander’. There is nothing that has contributed more to the destabilization of democratic processes in the region than Washington’s permanent and warlike interference”.

The Secretary of the Alliance added that for the Head of the Southern Command “it is not enough to confess that they intend to steal the natural resources of our countries, to now qualify and threaten the governments of the Bolivarian Alliance”.

Arreaza affirmed that Richardson, like all previous Commanders, will fail in their expansionist intentions to dominate the sovereign peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Richardson made these statements on March 19 from Washington during a meeting with “international experts”. In this context, she accused especially Nicaragua, a member of ALBA, of supporting “malign activities” in the region.

In a public appearance at the Atlantic Council, the U.S. military officer stated that she is also “concerned” about China’s close relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries. The relations between the Asian country and the region are considered by Richardson as a “challenging” action for the United States.

Moreover, the Head of the Southern Command also said that although her country has good relations with Argentina, they consider the Chinese space program being developed in that country as a danger and a threat.

ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary Jorge Arreaza meets with Cuban Government staff

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Havana, Cuba, March 19, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, had a meeting with members of the Government of the Republic of Cuba last Tuesday. The first meeting of the Executive Secretary of the Alliance was with the Cuban Vice-Minister […]

Havana, Cuba, March 19, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, had a meeting with members of the Government of the Republic of Cuba last Tuesday.

The first meeting of the Executive Secretary of the Alliance was with the Cuban Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal, to discuss the 2030 Agenda of the regional bloc.

Staff from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attended the meeting, where they discussed the goals and challenges of the Caribbean country and the Alliance.

Regarding this important meeting, Vice-Minister Vidal expressed her great satisfaction for the dialogue with the Executive Secretary. “I am very pleased to meet Jorge Arreaza, the new Executive Secretary of Alliance, which is privileged to count on his experience and commitment to promote its integral consolidation. Vidal said through her social networks: “Excellent exchange of ideas on the strategic agenda of the Alliance. All support from Cuba”

Health for ALBA: coordination and exchange

On Tuesday afternoon, Arreaza also met with the President of Biocubafarma, Mayda Mauri Pérez, and the Vice-President of this institution, Luis Alarcón, to define some strategies to provide health care to the ALBA-TCP member countries.

The president of Biocubafarma and the Executive Secretary of the regional bloc assessed the possibilities of coordination and exchange for the member countries of the Alliance: Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia.

In line with this cooperation and brotherhood focus, Pérez explained that Biocubafarma brings together 47 companies, 34 in the country and 13 abroad. They include research, development and production of medicines.

Mayda Mauri Pérez explained that this is an industry “where the purpose of research is to provide solutions to problems”.

She also expressed that “one of our founding principles is not to compete, but to complement each other”. Pérez highlighted that Biocubafarma works according to the national health system and, even though they are not part of the Ministry of Health, they work together in different programs.

This industry has been part of the Cuba-Venezuela Agreement from the very beginning, and it has played an essential role in Barrio Adentro 1 and Barrio Adentro 2 social programs, as well as in the different vaccination campaigns carried out in Venezuela, given that the production of vaccines is one of its strengths.

Promoting agriculture

Cuba’s Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Maury Hechavarría Bermúdez, and his office’s teams met with Jorge Arreaza to renew cooperation ties in this area, which has been affected in recent years by the U.S. government and the unilateral coercive measures imposed on some ALBA-TCP member countries.

Hechavarría stated that agriculture in Cuba has a great scientific potential that can contribute to the Alliance countries.

During the meeting, Arreaza added that “at such a time when imperialism is stumbling, we have to strengthen our union and our mechanisms, we have to strengthen the alliance and not only think about the impact it could have on Cuba and Venezuela, but on all the countries of the bloc”.

According to him, it is time to reactivate ALBA politically, socially and economically. “We have to study all the experiences in each country (…) to see what things we, as ALBA, can offer to the 10 members of the Alliance”.

The Executive Secretary recalled that the authorities of the member countries have made guaranteeing food sovereignty a priority.

He affirmed that ALBA-TCP is willing to receive technical assistance from Cuba as well as to develop complementary agricultural and livestock projects.

Furthermore, Jorge Arreaza stated that the Alliance is evaluating the Sucre currency “in the light of new technologies and the new financial world”.

Trade for integration

Likewise, the Secretary of the Alliance had the opportunity to meet with Oscar Pérez Oliva Fraga, First Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, to exchange views on the importance of connectivity through trade.

Both agreed that ALBA is an essential mechanism for cooperation and economic complementation.

“We are going to review those trade agreements, we are going to take a firm step towards viable projects, demonstrating that ALBA is alive, that ALBA exists and that ALBA is going to be a great response in this coming decade,” said Arreaza.

President Díaz-Canel meets with ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary Jorge Arreaza

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Havana, Cuba, March 18, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) Jorge Arreaza met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on Monday, to discuss the 2030 Agenda of the regional integration mechanism, in which Venezuela and Cuba are founding […]

Havana, Cuba, March 18, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) Jorge Arreaza met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on Monday, to discuss the 2030 Agenda of the regional integration mechanism, in which Venezuela and Cuba are founding members.

At the meeting, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, addressed the active role to be played by ALBA-TCP in the region, and also congratulated Arreaza for his appointment at the head of the “Our American” Alliance, founded by Commanders Hugo Chávez Frías and Fidel Castro Ruz in December 2004.

The President highlighted that no other bloc in the region has produced as many results in such a short period of time as the Alliance has, particularly in health cooperation, such as Misión Milagro (Eye surgery social program), literacy brigades, Petrocaribe and other programs promoted by its leaders, which have benefited millions of people.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary stated “We have to protect ALBA-TCP and reactivate it”.

Arreaza reiterated to the Cuban authorities the solidarity of the bloc against the latest destabilization attempts on the island, instigated by U.S. imperialism, through the use of fake content aimed at encouraging a social uprising.

“It is another destabilization attempt of the U.S. government to not only besiege Cuba with the blockade and new laws, but also, once under siege, to seek to destabilize using toxic social network platforms to trigger an unfounded social outbreak,” warned the ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary.

The presidency of the Cuban nation, through its X account @PresidenciaCuba, welcomed the support communiqué issued by the countries of the bloc, which are all “deeply friendly and in solidarity with Cuba”, so “they felt they had to issue a statement in less than 24 hours, show their solidarity with Cuba and alert the world that these actions are closely linked to imperialism”.

In the communiqué, the members of the Alliance strongly condemned the attempts aimed at undermining Cuba’s internal order, revealing that such actions seek to take advantage of the difficult economic situation faced by the Caribbean nation, worsened by the U.S. blockade.

During the meeting with Arreaza, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said: “we exchanged views on the future of the Alliance’s cooperation programs”.

The construction of the ALBA-TCP 2030 Agenda presents a series of actions in four horizons: economic, political, social and cultural, which seek to give an extraordinary drive to the process of comprehensive consolidation of the bloc by 2030, with high-impact actions proposed within the short and medium term.

A week ago, in order to discuss the 2030 Agenda of the bloc formed by 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries, Secretary Arreaza met with the President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and his Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa.

ALBA-TCP rejects U.S. government-induced destabilization against Cuba

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The member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) expressed their rejection of the new destabilization attempts against the Republic of Cuba, perpetrated through smear campaigns by the U.S. Government in recent days. In the communiqué, the members of the Alliance strongly condemned the attempts aimed at undermining […]

The member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) expressed their rejection of the new destabilization attempts against the Republic of Cuba, perpetrated through smear campaigns by the U.S. Government in recent days.

In the communiqué, the members of the Alliance strongly condemned the attempts aimed at undermining Cuba’s internal order, stressing that such actions seek to take advantage of the difficult economic situation faced by the Caribbean nation, worsened by the U.S. blockade.

“The government of the United States continues its attempts to provoke a social outbreak, tightening the economic siege, sabotaging the State’s capacity to respond to the requirements of the people”, according to the document.

The Alliance reiterated its rejection of the dissemination of these messages through “toxic platforms”, highlighting that this contravenes international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

It is important to emphasize that the hardships suffered by the Cuban people, such as the current power supply situation and the difficulties in food distribution, are direct consequences of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. government during more than 60 years on the brotherly country.

“Cuba is an example of resilience, work and resistance for all Latin America and the Caribbean and its authorities have had, have and will have all the willingness to face and improve the conditions that this worthy nation has been subjected to for years, as a result of the hatred and contempt of the enemies of the Cuban Revolution”, the text states.

This weekend, President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel called for calm and also denounced that unrest is being promoted from South Florida, United States.

Finally, the ALBA-TCP member countries reaffirmed their firm solidarity with the Cuban government and people, supporting their legitimate denunciation against enemy campaigns and recognizing their tireless efforts to overcome all difficulties.

ALBA-TCP presents in Bolivia the 2030 Agenda focused on cooperation and solidarity

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Santa Cruz, March 11, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, participated in the International Seminar “New Regional Financial Architecture. Challenges for a better integration in a changing world”, held this Monday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The panelists included the Vice […]

Santa Cruz, March 11, 2024.- The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, participated in the International Seminar “New Regional Financial Architecture. Challenges for a better integration in a changing world”, held this Monday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The panelists included the Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, who talked about “Unilateral Economic Sanctions”; the former President of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who addressed the topic “Coordination of a Multipolar World”; the former President of Colombia, Ernesto Samper, who referred to the “Challenges of Regional Integration, 15 years after UNASUR”; and the former President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, who spoke on “The New Regional Financial Architecture”.

During his speech, Jorge Arreaza highlighted that the regional bloc formed by Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia, is currently present and active for the other integration instruments.

“ALBA-TCP is not an integration mechanism, it is a union mechanism (…) the main goal is to listen to the peoples at the same hierarchical level of the foreign ministers, of the political and economic councils, we complement each other, we do not compete (…) the Alliance belongs to the peoples”, he said.

Jorge Arreaza reiterated that ALBA-TCP stands open to the region for the integration of our peoples, for the complementarity of economies, cooperation, solidarity and social improvement.

2030 Agenda | Economic Perspective

Despite imperial strategies, Arreaza stated that the regional bloc is working on the 2030 agenda, aimed at a new economic perspective, in which a dynamic, complementary and fair trade relation among the member countries of the Alliance is expected to be achieved.

“We have to meet again and discuss the tariff terms of our countries”, but not based on the same criteria, but according to the economies of each nation and taking into account the existing asymmetries, he added.

In the 2030 Agenda, the Alliance is working on several strategic areas involving the comprehensive development of communications and transportation, the promotion of Latin American capital investment, energy integration, respect for the environment, the defense of Latin American and Caribbean identity and culture, as well as the coordination of multilateral positions with countries and blocs in other regions.

Union achievements

Founded in December 2004 by the presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and Cuba, Fidel Castro, with a joint declaration signed in Havana, the current Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty made significant achievements strengthening the union of member nations.

The Executive Secretary of this regional mechanism highlighted the creation of Petrocaribe as one of the main achievements, a mechanism that “saved the Caribbean countries from a humanitarian crisis in 2008 and 2011 during the economic depression of that time”.

He said that ALBA-TCP saved the Caribbean countries from an unprecedented migratory situation, especially Haiti, despite not being a member country, but a guest country.

In his speech, Arreaza also stressed that the Alliance provided a humanitarian air bridge through the Venezuelan airline Conviasa, addressing situations of natural disasters in sister countries, as well as support with supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, among others.

He pointed out that more than five and a half million people have recovered their sight for free through Misión Milagro, a social program created by ALBA-TCP.

Likewise, the regional bloc successfully taught approximately five million people to read and write, a historic achievement for all the members of the bloc.

Over 1,600 surgeries were conducted through the Latin American Children’s Cardiology Hospital in Venezuela, all managed through ALBA.

In the energy sector, Venezuela, through ALBA-TCP, sold oil to the other member States and created the Bank of ALBA, but as a result of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government and its allies in Europe, these mechanisms are at a standstill, Arreaza denounced.

In addition, he stated that unilateral coercive measures greatly hindered literacy, economic exchange, education, health, among other programs promoted by ALBA-TCP. “That is the damage done by the United States to the ALBA countries”, he continued.

Venezuela and the new international system

The Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, attended the international seminar on behalf of Venezuela, a member of the regional bloc, addressing the topic: “Unilateral Economic Sanctions”.

In this regard, Rodriguez stated that a new international financial system is essential, especially amidst times of blockades and sanctions.

Rodriguez emphasized that it is necessary to consider that during the last five years one of the most terrible blockades ever known to mankind was hatched.

“Nowadays there are over 26,000 unilateral coercive measures in the world, and out of those 26,000, Venezuela has 930, but 96% of those measures are concentrated in 10 countries”, she added, noting that “the hegemon subdues and uses unilateral coercive measures – wrongly called sanctions – as a means of extortion against countries not aligned with them”.

Rodriguez called for saving in the local currencies of each country in the region. “We have to finance ourselves with our local currencies,” she stated.

She recalled that Venezuela had to look for its own ways to face sanctions. “Blocking Venezuela not only affected our country, but the region as a whole,” she noted.

Other alternative views

During the seminar “New regional financial architecture. Challenges for a better integration in a changing world”, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of Spain, stressed that Latin America has the challenge of contributing to a global debate in favor of multilateralism, which is a key factor of hope for 2024.

Zapatero also expressed his hope for the emergence of a new generation that will succeed in abolishing war. “The essential problem of this first quarter of the 21st century is violence and the weakness of the pacifist movements”.

He added: “The international political order must be changed and we must be open to these changes”.

He also said that trade and migratory relations continue to be very strong between Latin America and Europe, although he admitted that the European Union is currently experiencing an identity crisis.

“Latin America has only one answer for economic development: integration and reducing inequalities, which will be achieved with a new fiscal model, for example,” he stated.

Former Colombian President Ernesto Samper talked about the “Challenges of Regional Integration, 15 years after UNASUR”.

In this sense, he explained: “Integration has never been as important as it is at this moment”. In the case of Colombia, he pointed out that his country decided to join the “hegemonic integration” led by the U.S. empire.

He mentioned that the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR in Spanish) started with political integration: “We had recovered the concept of Homeland, we had territorial problems, but they were not solved with wars. The region aimed at democratic participation and human rights. UNASUR was our most complex and advanced integration experience”.

Samper emphasized that the region is an oasis of peace, while proposing to add value to the products of each Latin American nation, “we must strengthen our financial mechanisms. The world is dollarized and this is not globalization, but de-globalization”.

During the meeting in Bolivia, former Argentine President Alberto Fernández reflected on “The New Regional Financial Architecture”.

He reiterated that Latin America must work focused on fighting social inequality. “11 people have 40% of the world’s wealth (…) we live in a deeply unequal world,” he stressed.

11 years after Chávez’s sowing: leader of Latin American and Caribbean integration

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Caracas, March 5, 2024.- The Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution, passed into eternity on March 5, 2013. He passionately promoted with his charisma and leadership all the integration mechanisms established in Latin America and the Caribbean in this century, especially the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s […]

Caracas, March 5, 2024.- The Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution, passed into eternity on March 5, 2013. He passionately promoted with his charisma and leadership all the integration mechanisms established in Latin America and the Caribbean in this century, especially the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), which he created in December 2004 together with the Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, based on the dream of Simón Bolívar’s Great Homeland.

The political leader, who ruled Venezuela elected by popular vote from 1999 until his physical passing in 2013, was born in Sabaneta de Barinas on July 28, 1954, being the second of six siblings of the marriage sealed between Hugo de los Reyes Chávez and Elena Frías.

After leading a civic-military uprising on February 4, 1992, widely remembered for the famous “for now” phrase, Chavez won the presidential elections in December 1998 and took office on February 2, 1999, when he immediately called for the election of a Constituent Assembly that drafted a new and advanced Magna Carta, approved by the people in December that year.

Regarding internal affairs, the new President undertook together with the people the development of a socialist project through a democratic revolution, based on the inclusion in all areas of the sectors historically deprived by the previous governments.

Regarding foreign policy, his administration was focused on promoting a new multipolar and pluricentric world, opening Venezuela to cooperation with emerging countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Turkey and South Africa; leading Latin American and Caribbean integration and strengthening ties of brotherhood with the countries of Mother Africa.

Southern progressive leader

After creating ALBA along with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in December 2004, which would later be renamed ALBA-TCP (Peoples’ Trade Treaty) with the growing incorporation of other countries, Petrocaribe was launched in June 2005, the main energy integration mechanism in the history of the Caribbean States.

In November 2005, the ALBA-TCP bloc, in strategic coordination with the emerging progressive bloc of South America, worked with Lula da Silva of Brazil and Néstor Kirchner of Argentina to defeat the colonialist proposal of the United States, known as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas).

In the same spirit of unity and integration, the Venezuelan president promoted, together with his strategic allies, two equally relevant instruments: UNASUR, the Union of South American Nations, founded in 2008; and based on its development, CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, created in 2010. This last space is the first in history to bring together the 33 States of Latin America and the Caribbean. That is to say, all of the Americas, except for the United States and Canada.

In this journey, Chavez became aware of the importance of the ideological, cultural and communicational battle. For this reason, in 2005, he founded Telesur, a multi-state television channel, which proposed to fight the news direction of the empire’s media corporations and become the information source for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Chávez participated in all multilateral spaces to promote the re-foundation of a fairer international order and in that sense, he repeatedly urged for the reorganization of the United Nations system. He was a shining warning beacon against the consequences of capitalism in the world’s future, such as the impact of its predatory model in the growing climate crisis and poverty. He was also a tireless and committed advocate for peace and dialogue.