ALBA pledges to continue strengthening solidarity and cooperation

On December 14, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) Summit took place in the capital Havana (Cuba) to strengthen solidarity and enhance close cooperation among member countries to deal with new challenges after 10 years of this organization's establishment.

The Bolivarian Alliance met to discuss the Ebola response on October 20 in Cuba. Source: AFP

According to a VNA correspondent in Cuba, speaking at the Conference, Cuban President Raul Castro called on member countries to soon complete the ALBA mechanism program and said that it is a practical choice in the face of the hegemonic model that is currently sinking deep into a dead-end crisis.

Mr. Raul affirmed that it is necessary to continue to create sustainability for socio-economic projects effectively for the benefit of the people of the bloc.

The Cuban leader assessed that after a decade of being founded on the initiative of leader Fidel Castro and late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, ALBA's achievements have allowed member countries to better face current and future challenges.

ALBA has always maintained the principles of solidarity, justice and cooperation, while affirming diversity within each country and within the bloc as a whole.

President Raul Castro said that ALBA has become an important regional association to provide a common voice on issues related to the sovereignty and independence of peoples, as well as other important political issues in the region and the world. In addition, ALBA continues to expand economic, trade and cooperation projects that bring mutual benefits to all member countries.

Within the framework of ALBA's widely implemented projects, more than 3 million people in 10 countries have been cured of eye diseases under the "Miracle Campaign" program, and more than 5 million people in 18 countries have been liberated after participating in the learning program called "I Can."

In addition, nearly 24,000 community health workers from Latin American and Caribbean countries have graduated after attending the program launched by ALBA.

The leaders of ALBA member countries agreed to continue promoting the establishment of the ALBA-Petrocaribe-Mercosur Complementary Economic Area, increasing the use of SUCRE in trade transactions between member countries and effectively putting into operation the ALBA Bank to build a new, more independent regional financial structure.

Within the framework of the conference, ALBA leaders also highly appreciated the achievements in the social field that this bloc has brought, and affirmed that ALBA will move towards a future of deeper economic and trade integration through mechanisms such as the Peoples' Trade Agreement (TCP), ALBA Bank and SUCRE.

At the end of the conference, ALBA issued a 43-point joint statement affirming solidarity and cooperation among member countries, pledging to continue the struggle for full independence and sovereignty of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as supporting Venezuela and Cuba against US destabilization plots.

Officially established by Cuba and Venezuela on December 14, 2004 through a treaty signed by leader Fidel Castro and the late President Hugo Chavez, ALBA is an integration mechanism based on the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance between Latin American countries including Bolivia, Ecuador, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Nicaragua, Santa Lucia, San Vicente and Granadinas, along with two countries that were officially recognized as full members at this conference, San Cristobal and Nieves, and Granada. In addition, ALBA also has a permanent guest, Haiti.

According to Vietnam+