ALBA Member Countries to Hold Summit in Havana, Cuba

The regional integration bloc includes Cuba, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our Americas and the People’s Trade Treaty regional integration organization, known by its acronyms ALBA-TCP will hold a summit in Havana on Sunday, December 14 to mark the 10th anniversary of the bloc and the 20th anniversary of the meeting of its founders Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

The arrival at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport by the delegations to the forum, which begins on Saturday and important segments of the meeting will be aired live by Cuban national and international TV and radio services, Juventud Rebelde announced on Friday.

The regional integration bloc includes Cuba, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The alliance is now proud to show concrete results in terms of social inclusion and human wellbeing, said Cuban permanent representative at the United Nations Oscar Leon in statements to PL news agency.

Leon referred to over 3 million 500 thousand people benefitted by the free-eye-surgery program known as Operation Miracle, which has returned or improved the sight free of charge to Latin American and Caribbean citizens, who cannot afford the current cost of such surgeries in their countries.

Also part of the noticeable results of the integration bloc is the implementation of the Cuban literacy methodology Yes, I Can, which has helped millions of people in our region how to read and write, and develop their intellectual skills.

Since its beginning, the ALBA-TCP bloc boosted other regional integration mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which groups 33 independent countries of this part of the world. The alliance also maintains close relations to the Union of South American Nations, the South Common Market and the Caribbean Community.

The alliance´s role at the United Nations has also been crucial particularly in the negotiation of a frame agreement on climate change. It actively participated in the process that led to the Rio plus 20 Conference for Sustainable Development, held in 2012 in Brazil.