ALBA Summit: Raul Castro Condemns US Aggressive Policy towards Venezuela

Raul Castro noted that the United States should understand once and for all that it is impossible to seduce or buy Cuba or to intimidate Venezuela. Cuban President Raul Castro said that the arbitrary, aggressive and groundless executive order issued by US President Barack Obama against the government of Venezuela, which declared the South American country a threat to US national security, reveals that the United States is capable of sacrificing peace and the course of hemispheric relations in the interest of domination and its domestic policy.

The Cuban President addressed the extraordinary summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas, a regional integration bloc known as ALBA, held in Caracas on Tuesday.

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Raul described as unsustainable the idea that a supportive country like Venezuela, which has never invaded or attacked any other nation and that substantially contributes with altruism to the energy security and economic stability of a considerable number of nations of this continent, may represent a threat to the security of the strongest power in history.

“We back the honorable, brave and constructive position of President Nicolas Maduro, who despite the serious threat, has extended his hand to the president of the United States to open a dialog based on international law and mutual respect that leads to the unconditional repeal of that executive order and to the normalization of relations,” Raul noted.

Venezuela is not alone and our region is not the same as 20 years ago, said the Cuban president who added that “we will not tolerate the violation of sovereignty or the damage of peace with impunity in the region.” He stressed that the threats against peace and stability in Venezuela represent a threat against regional stability and peace.

Raul Castro noted that the United States should understand once and for all that it is impossible to seduce or buy Cuba or to intimidate Venezuela. “Our unity is indestructible,” he pointed out.

He said that “we will not yield a bit in the defense of sovereignty and independence nor we tolerate any kind of interference, or conditioning in our internal affairs.”

The Cuban head of state also said “we will never leave our brothers in struggle on their own.”

Finally, Raul Castro said that the principles are not negotiable and in order to defend such conviction, Cuba will go to the 7th Summit of the Americas in April to expose its position with firmness, clarity and respect. In that meeting, we will strongly reject all attempts to isolate or threaten Venezuela and we will demand the definitive cease of the US blockade of Cuba.

“We must call on all nations and governments in our Americas to mobilization and be on the alert in defense of Venezuela,” Raul said and added that solidarity constitutes the foundations of unity and regional integration.