ALBA-TCP

20 years of ALBA-TCP

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Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Heads of State Summit of ALBA-TCP in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo: ALBA-TCP

ALBA-TCP was founded in 2004 in an attempt to counter the US proposal of creating a “free trade zone of the Americas

December 14 marked the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s-Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP). ALBA-TCP was created in 2004 as a geopolitical alternative to the devastating advance of neoliberalism in the region.

The project was founded on December 14, 2004, in Havana by Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Currently, the organization has 10 member countries and four countries considered “special guests.” In 2006, Bolivia signed its membership; in 2007, Nicaragua; in 2008, Dominica; in 2009, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines; in 2014, St. Kitts and Nevis and Grenada; and in 2021, St. Lucia. The special invited countries are Syria, Haiti, Suriname, and now Palestine.

To commemorate the 20 years, social movements, political parties, and heads of state gathered in Caracas, Venezuela for the 24th Heads of State Summit as well as parallel meetings. The event was attended by the host, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; Bolivian President Luis Arce; Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel; Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega; Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves; Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit; and the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne.

Independence and solidarity among countries

In their addresses during the Summit on December 14, the heads of state and invited countries stressed the importance of solidarity among countries seeking alternative ways of development and the need for unrestricted solidarity among people struggling against imperialist attacks. They also demonstrated their support for Nicolás Maduro and his victory in the last presidential elections.

Miguel Díaz-Canel said “We reiterate the strongest support for the Bolivarian revolution, led by President Nicolás Maduro…We also call for the elimination of the blockade against Cuba …We cry out for a free Puerto Rico and declare our solidarity with Haiti, our Cuban doctors are there…We reiterate our demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemn the attacks perpetrated by Israel against Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.”

The Bolivian President, Luis Arce, highlighted the historical importance of ALBA in its fight against economic projects promoted by the United States such as the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas): “The embrace of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro not only marked history but also manifested the defeat of the hegemonic project of the FTAA. ALBA was born, ALBA placed the human being at the center, promoting that a better world is possible. Bolivia reaffirms, once again, its commitment to ALBA-TCP, because it is a resistance that raises its voice against the unjust and criminal blockade against Cuba…ALBA is also a firm voice against the arbitrary and unilateral measures imposed against Venezuela and Nicaragua, which affect the welfare of our peoples.”

Nicolás Maduro said, “We must win the battle of life and truth in the streets, networks, media, and walls, as well as in the conscience and spirituality of the people.” He also added the importance of the struggle of the people to be masters of their destiny without imperial impositions or impositions of any kind. In the same line of discourse, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said “From Nicaragua we reaffirm our commitment to ALBA. We will continue to fight the battle.”

The Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit stated “We congratulate the electoral triumph of President Nicolas Maduro on July 28. We wish him all the best…We also want to reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Cuba, a brave people for whom we have our greatest respect and love; we will never cease to lend our voice against the United States to eliminate the blockade against Cuba.”

Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, harshly criticized US interference in the development of the past Venezuelan elections “Perhaps [the US government] thinks it is superior,” he said in this regard. He also stressed that the creation of ALBA-TCP was a fundamental invention for the emancipation of the American people, “ALBA is the product of the geniuses of our peoples.”

Inclusion of Palestine to ALBA-TCP

At the current summit, it was announced that Palestine had been included as a “brotherly country” and was included as a “permanent guest”. According to the resolution of the Heads of State, ALBA-TCP condemns the attacks against the Palestinian population and the “illegally occupied territories” and rejects “the merciless and inhuman genocide committed by the State of Israel, the occupying power, as well as its plan of spoliation, invasion, and domination.” Likewise, they denounced the support of several governments currently collaborating with the actions of the Israeli army and called for an “immediate ceasefire…From the heart of the peoples and governments of this alliance, we declare Palestine a brother country of the ALBA-TCP, and reaffirm our commitment to the defense of the Palestinian cause, which is the defense of humanity,” reads the resolution.

Riyad al-Malki addressing ALBA-TCP Summit. Photo: ALBA-TCP

In this regard, Riyad al-Malki, advisor to the President of State for International Affairs of Palestine said “History will remember those who stood on the side of justice, ALBA’s lasting solidarity with Palestine is a testimony of freedom and collective resistance.” Furthermore, Malki added “This Alliance is a living testimony of collective integration to challenge imperialism and ensure a just world. These values resonate with the Palestinian struggle, an end to the illegal occupation.”

A call for counter-hegemonic struggle

The joint document signed by all the countries highlights the historical importance of ALBA-TCP in the struggle for a more equitable world: “Twenty years after this giant step, we pay homage to the founding leaders, Hugo Chávez Frías and Fidel Castro Ruz, who adopted that December 14, 2004, in Havana, Cuba, the vision of the future embodied in the founding documents of ALBA, which have allowed us to walk united until the present, animated by the ancestral force that led our peoples to be free and that encourages us to continue integrated in this Alliance for Life.”

Similarly, it was stressed that the existence of this multilateral organization operates as a possibility to create a region that resists the impositions of the most developed countries: “Today, we want to ratify before our peoples, the counter-hegemonic, democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist nature of our Alliance and renew our commitment to help and protect each other, to continue building together a future of shared goals under the founding principles of complementarity, cooperation, social justice, defense of our sovereignty and solidarity.”

In this sense, Luis Arce stressed that “In the face of the challenges of a world threatened by fascism and neo-fascism, ALBA is not an option, ALBA is a necessity that must continue with firm steps, reaffirming the founding principles of solidarity, justice, and cooperation…ALBA is not only an alliance, it is a promise for the future, a living resistance, an instrument for the most dispossessed, and a reminder that together, as peoples, we are invincible.”

Objectives and principles of ALBA-TCP

According to ALBA’s official website, the fundamental objective of the project is “to achieve integral development, ensure social equality and contribute to guaranteeing the quality of life, good living, independence, self-determination and identity of the peoples.” For this very reason, the principles of ALBA-TCP propose that political decisions be made horizontally and take into account the economic differences of its members without meaning that the importance of each of the members is underestimated.

The principles shared by the countries are “trade and investment should not be ends in themselves, but instruments to achieve sustainable development; special and differentiated treatment, according to the level of development of the various countries; economic complementarity and cooperation; cooperation and solidarity; the creation of the Social Emergency Fund; the integrative development of communications and transportation; the sustainability of development; energy integration; the promotion of investments of Latin American capital in the region; the defense of Latin American and Caribbean identity and culture; respect for intellectual property; and the agreement of multilateral positions and in negotiations with countries and blocs in other regions.”

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

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Power is gradually restored in Cuba, Hurricane Oscar downgraded to tropical storm

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Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Workers in Cuba have worked to gradually restore the power grid. Photo: Minister of Energy and Mines

After several false starts over the weekend, the efforts to recover Cuba’s electrical system began to make headway on October 21. Meanwhile, authorities have declared that Oscar has become a tropical storm.

Following a severe collapse of the national power grid on October 18, Cuba continues to make great efforts to restore electrical service to all homes and institutions on the island.

The Electric Company of the capital, Havana, reported that close to 90% of the clients in the capital have been reconnected and announced that “There will be no rest until the Electric System is fully restored.”

In this regard, President Miguel Dïaz-Canel said “We were at the National Load Dispatch since very early in the morning. The microsystems in the country are being strengthened and Havana is gradually receiving energy. It is a complex job, but we are taking sure steps. We said that we will not rest until the total reestablishment.”

In other parts of the country, reconnections continue while attempts are made to repair the damages suffered by the thermoelectric power plants, which, due to the difficulties of access to spare parts and technological elements that help to repower the system (caused fundamentally by the criminal economic blockade suffered by Cuba on the part of the US government), the repair tasks are very complicated.

Tropical Storm Oscar

Amid the critical situation with the collapse of the power grid, Hurricane Oscar made landfall on the Caribbean Island late on Sunday. Fortunately for the inhabitants of eastern Cuba, the storm downgraded its intensity and hit the island as a tropical storm, though still unleashing heavy rains and wind in the eastern region. The level of damage that Oscar can produce is still uncertain.

According to experts, the storm is now headed to the Bahamas, though authorities have called on the population to not lower their guard and to be alert to official communication channels.

The world stands with Cuba

Amid Cuba’s blackout, the member states of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP), expressed in a communiqué their support to the Cuban government and offered their help to overcome the difficult times the island is going through: “The complex situation that [Cuba] is experiencing today is a consequence of the economic war, financial persecution and [the refusal to sell] fuel supplies by the US administration, which seeks to asphyxiate Cuba in its commitment to the well-being of the Cuban people”.

Furthermore, the communiqué adds “The policy of maximum pressure through unilateral coercive measures and the blockade against the nation is cruel and inhuman and has been categorically rejected by the majority of the countries of the world, since […] it only seeks a change of regime, in open violation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the norms of International Law.”

In a press conference on October 21, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Lin Jian, also expressed support to Cuba as it faces unprecedented challenges, “[The] US blockade on Cuba has been catastrophic for Cuba’s socioeconomic development and people’s lives. China once again calls on the US to fully lift the blockade and sanctions on Cuba at once and remove Cuba from the list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism.’”

In a statement, the platform of social movements of Latin America and the Caribbean, ALBA Movimientos, categorized the current situation on the island as one of “anguish and tension, a product of the suffering induced by the criminal blockade.” ALBA Movimientos argues that the US-imposed blockade ultimately seeks to “undermine the role of the Cuban State in satisfying the basic needs of the population, while trying to privilege an incipient private sector, incapable by its condition of providing the levels and extent of social justice achieved by the Revolution.”

In the statement, the movements also warn that this latest episode of blockade-induced hardship on the island could be seized upon by reactionary, counter-revolutionary forces. “At this moment, all the psychological pressure apparatus is being used to induce a social outburst of unforeseeable consequences, using as a basis and pretext the legitimate expressions of social unrest resulting from the current situation, its accumulated and possible solutions,” it warns.

The only viable solution which would respect the sovereignty of Cuba and guarantee the possibility of dignified life, is the immediate and irreversible lifting of the blockade on Cuba, concludes ALBA.

Meanwhile, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre claimed in a press conference on October 21, that the US is “not to blame for the blackouts on the island or the overall energy situation in Cuba.”

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingPower is gradually restored in Cuba, Hurricane Oscar downgraded to tropical storm