ALBA: Five Years of Real Integration
After five years of its creation, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) has strengthened as a mechanism of social and economic integration, but also as a regional referent for its political leadership.
Presidents, prime and foreign ministers, as well as experts from the member countries are attending in Havana the Eighth Summit of the ALBA as of Friday until December 14, coinciding with the first five years of its foundation.
"The ALBA is a space of meetings for the peoples and governments that understand that the Caribbean Latin America constitutes a great nation and our countries should be united to face current and future challenges," the constitutive declaration states.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro signed the Joint Declaration on December 14, 2004 in Havana for the creation of the ALBA and its accord of application.
Nine nations: Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Honduras, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda, have so far joined this mechanism.
The unity among so disparate economies has been possible because this alliance is not based on market law, but in principles of solidarity, mutual benefit, and complementarity among members.
Over 100 programs have been implemented by the ALBA in several countries in sectors like public health, education, culture, energy, agriculture, trade, food, telecommunication, mining industry and finances.
This mechanism also highlights the decision of creating a Unique System for Regional Equalization (SUCRE) on January 1, 2010. It will act in a first stage as a virtual currency and allow eluding the use of US dollar in trade operations among partners.
The ALBA has been also revealed as a forum of great dynamism and political influence in the region. It was one of the first in warning about the existence of a destabilizing process in Honduras two days before the coup d'etat.
The Bolivarian Alliance has also criticized in important international events the blockade the United States has been maintained on Cuba for almost five decades and unfair sanctions applied by the Organization of American States against the Caribbean island.
After five years of its creation, the ALBA strengthens as a project of real integration to defend sovereignty, eradicate poverty, correct inequalities, and guarantee a better quality of life for our peoples.
The aim is to reach the unity praised by independence fighter Simon Bolivar when said, "I desire more than anybody else to see the formation in America of the greatest nation in the world, not so much as to its extension and wealth as by its freedom and glory."
Presidents, prime and foreign ministers, as well as experts from the member countries are attending in Havana the Eighth Summit of the ALBA as of Friday until December 14, coinciding with the first five years of its foundation.
"The ALBA is a space of meetings for the peoples and governments that understand that the Caribbean Latin America constitutes a great nation and our countries should be united to face current and future challenges," the constitutive declaration states.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro signed the Joint Declaration on December 14, 2004 in Havana for the creation of the ALBA and its accord of application.
Nine nations: Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Honduras, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda, have so far joined this mechanism.
The unity among so disparate economies has been possible because this alliance is not based on market law, but in principles of solidarity, mutual benefit, and complementarity among members.
Over 100 programs have been implemented by the ALBA in several countries in sectors like public health, education, culture, energy, agriculture, trade, food, telecommunication, mining industry and finances.
This mechanism also highlights the decision of creating a Unique System for Regional Equalization (SUCRE) on January 1, 2010. It will act in a first stage as a virtual currency and allow eluding the use of US dollar in trade operations among partners.
The ALBA has been also revealed as a forum of great dynamism and political influence in the region. It was one of the first in warning about the existence of a destabilizing process in Honduras two days before the coup d'etat.
The Bolivarian Alliance has also criticized in important international events the blockade the United States has been maintained on Cuba for almost five decades and unfair sanctions applied by the Organization of American States against the Caribbean island.
After five years of its creation, the ALBA strengthens as a project of real integration to defend sovereignty, eradicate poverty, correct inequalities, and guarantee a better quality of life for our peoples.
The aim is to reach the unity praised by independence fighter Simon Bolivar when said, "I desire more than anybody else to see the formation in America of the greatest nation in the world, not so much as to its extension and wealth as by its freedom and glory."
Source:
Prensa Latina
Date:
11/12/2009