ALBA Will Speak Out at Summit of the Americas

The recent US attack against Venezuela, one of the 12 member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, ALBA, led this regional integration bloc to raise its voice at the 7th Summit of the Americas to be held April 10 and 11, in Panama.

Less than a week before the ALBA held a special meeting in Caracas, US president Barack Obama issued an executive order declaring national emergency after describing Venezuela an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security.

The pending danger was announced by the history of this continent and that of other nations of the region, including Panama, which were invaded by US troops following the announcement of unilateral sanctions like those contained in Obama´s executive order.

On this occasion, the stance of the regional bloc were included in the Declaration of Caracas, signed by all ALBA member states on March 17 and reaffirmed their commitment to peace in the face of the US interference-oriented action.

Heads of state and government, premiers and foreign ministers at the ALBA summit called for a peaceful solution to the conflict with full respect for the principle of non-intervention. They also stressed the need to act in accordance with the United Nations´ Charter and asked Obama to revert his executive order.

The ALBA nations also offered to set up a group of facilitators to implement peace diplomacy in order to ease tensions and guarantee a friendly solution to the conflict between the US and Venezuela.

The ALBA special summit was marked by an intense national campaign to collect signatures, which kicked off March 14 and will run till April 19 in order to have 10 million signatures ready to hand in to Barack Obama in Panama. This initiative found the support in other countries like Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, China, Russia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Denmark and Germany, where the people are also giving their signatures.

The voice of the ALBA countries will reach Panama amplified by organizations like the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Petrocaribe, the Group of 77 plus China, and the Non-Aligned Movement, whose pro-tempore presidency will be assumed by Venezuela in 2015.