President of Cuba inaugurates 20th ALBA-TCP Summit

Havana, December 14 (RHC)-- The 20th ALBA-TCP Summit opened Tuesday in Havana after Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel welcomed the leaders in attendance.

From the Palace of the Revolution, the venue of the meeting, the Cuban head of state inaugurated the conference, which takes place on the 17th anniversary of this solidarity and integration mechanism, founded by the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

It is stimulating to resume the face-to-face meetings, said the President about the sanitary crisis caused by the Covid-19 caused by the new coronavirus.

He also expressed his welcome to Saint Lucia, which returned to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty.

In his speech, Díaz-Canel congratulated the results of the recent elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua, which, he said, together defy the interference policies of the United States.

He reiterated the commitment with Bolivia in the face of the coup attempts, and Cuba's support to the Caribbean nations in the conditions imposed by the pandemic, natural disasters, and the unjust international economic order.

He said that the epidemic did not prevent the adoption of new neoliberal and other protectionist measures that impede access to medical supplies and medicines to the neediest nations.

The Cuban President stressed that the United States reinforced plans of domination and hegemony. But also, he pointed out, the popular movements responded more articulately.

The 20th Summit will study the creation of joint strategies to face the post-pandemic stage, will define actions to guarantee peace and stability in the area, and will redouble political coordination to confront U.S. interference and hostile policies.

ALBA-TCP is made up of 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries: Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and Grenada.

The presidents of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, Nicolás Maduro, Daniel Ortega, and Luis Arce, respectively, are participating in the Summit. The  Prime Ministers of Grenada, Keith Mitchell and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves., are also in attendance.