The hard work done to collect the population’s opinions was recognized and congratulations extended to those who participated in organization of the consultation process, including the duos who guided the more than 133,000 assemblies held across the country; those responsible for compiling the opinions; and in particular, the commission charged by the National Assembly with drafting the proposed Constitution.

Raúlstated that the report on opinions expressed by all sectors of society serves as a valuable working document, which should be preserved and further utilized, adding that the population’s approach to the assemblies was impressive, arriving well prepared and offering ideas to enrich the debate.

Homero Acosta Álvarez, Council of State secretary, presented a detailed report on fundamental aspects of the popular consultation and the latest version of the draft Constitution.

He commented that, throughout the process, the democratic nature of the consultation was praised, and satisfaction expressed that importance was given to the population’s opinions. He emphasized the people’s active participation, reiterating that the consultation had been a veritable constituent process.

More than 8.9 million persons attended the meetings, during which 1.7 million commentaries were made. He reported that all of the opinions expressed had been carefully analyzed and had a significant impact on the new draft.

Members of the Councils of State and Ministers participated as guests in the meeting, as well.

(Granma)

According to a statement, the meeting checked the French government’s willingness to give continuity to the progress made in the bilateral relationship, following President Francois Hollande’s visit to Havana in May 2015 and Cuban head of State Raúl Castro’s stay in Paris in February 2016.

Medina highlighted the historical relationship between the two nations, which extends to several sectors, and assessed as positive the presence in Cuba of the French Development Agency (AFD), as well as important French companies.

He also stressed the interest that France strengthens itself as a priority partner in the medium and long-term development plans of the Caribbean country.

The communiqué stated that both parties discussed relevant issues on the bilateral agenda and exchanged views on different current international issues, particularly on the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.

The Cuban foreign minister thanked France’s traditional support to the Cuban Resolution calling for the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States.

(Prensa Latina)

The encounter, which took place in Caracas, Venezuela, March 5, was held at a time when the Bolivarian nation is facing increasing attacks from abroad, spearheaded by the United States, intent on destroying progressive movements across the entire region.

The message from the Summit was clear: Our America has waited 200 years for its true integration and independence and if this is to be achieved we must continue to advance along the path traveled over recent decades.

Meanwhile, President Nicolás Maduro made the most of the Summit to call for the revival of key regional organizations created in recent years, such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The United States plans to destroy our countries and undermine the unity achieved in recent decades which put an end to years of regional fragmentation that opened the way for foreign intervention.

“These platforms express the dreams of the liberators, to unite and integrate as a single region,” stated Maduro.

DEFENDING VENEZUELA MEANS DEFENDING OUR AMERICA

Bolivian President Evo Morales called for unity among the peoples and governments of Latin America in the struggle against U.S. interventionist and neoliberal policies.

In this sense, he highlighted the words of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz during his remarks at the Summit, who noted that the defense of Venezuela is the strategic and urgent task of ALBA.

Evo went on to explain that the United States wants Latin American governments to be submissive. “But we are dignified. Here we are with the people, with dignity, and with sovereignty,” he noted, adding that the current generation draws hope and inspiration from the example of the historic leaders of Our America who fought against colonial rule.

“We are countries seeking equality for humanity,” stated the regional leader and Bolivia’s first Indigenous President.

“As President,” he noted “I must continue struggling for integration. Our governments cannot be accomplices to intervention in Venezuela.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Suriname, Yldiz Pollack-Beighle, stated that “Dialogue, diplomacy and bilateral commitments are the key to advancing in any field. We reiterate that our region must remain a zone of peace under any circumstance,” before noting that the Venezuelan people, with Chávez’s legacy as their guide, can resolve their own problems with no need for foreign agents.

ALBA: THE CREATION OF TWO GIANTS

The Summit also coincided with the fifth anniversary of the death of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Comandante Hugo Chávez, who together with Fidel, came up with the idea for ALBA.

“We are sure that the seed planted by Fidel and Chávez has already borne fruit and will continue to multiply,” stated Nicaraguan President Comandante Daniel Ortega, during his remarks at the 15th ALBA Summit.

Although some predicted that ALBA would not last, added Ortega, we can state that the work that they built continues to stand firm. “Here, we are all reaffirming the principles of peace,” he said.

“Together we were able to build the solid bloc that is ALBA and which also led to the creation of CELAC,” noted the Nicaraguan leader. “The creation of CELAC, would not have been possible if it weren’t for ALBA-TPC.”

In this same vein, Ortega explained that with Cuba’s participation in the Summit of the Americas held in Panama in 2015, Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrated great maturity and that the principles enshrined in the United Nations were beginning to be respected.

“How far we have come,” he stated, before criticizing recent attempts by certain governments to take away Venezuela’s right to attend regional events like the upcoming Summit of the Americas, scheduled to take place mid-April in Lima, Peru.

Ortega criticized that, in doing so, these governments are interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela. “It is simply an irrational attitude,” he stated.

Here we are fighting against policies that are the essence of imperialism and have been the essence of colonialism throughout history: first they occupy us to then plunder us, he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan President went on to recall that Fidel and Chávez practiced and promoted a policy of justice, generosity, and of helping people all over the world.

What is more, Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit highlighted the legacy of Chávez in his efforts to integrate the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, noting that this had always been the aspiration of Caribbean leaders, and an endeavor which Chávez had worked hard to achieve, emphasizing the role of ALBA and Petrocaribe in promoting greater unity among nations of the region.

Regarding the decision to rescind President Nicolás Maduro’s invitation to the 8th Summit of the Americas, the Caribbean leader noted that by failing to condemn such actions, countries of the region would be undermining the legacy and leadership of Hugo Chávez.

In his remarks, Camilo Gonsalves, heading the delegation from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, referred to the situation created by the Lima group, noting that all nations must be included as expressed in the principles that led to the creation of such bodies.

Meanwhile, the opportunities to continue strengthening economic integration among the bloc were another key issue addressed during the Summit.

In this sense, President Nicolás Maduro announced that another meeting will be held in coming weeks to draw up a joint ALBA plan toward enhancing the economies of member states.

Also in attendance at the Summit was special guest and Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, a symbol of Latin American and Caribbean resistance who spent over 30 years unjustly incarcerated in U.S. prisons.

(Granma)

The moving first public activity of the gathering brought together heads of state and delegations on a terrace of the Venezuelan government headquarters to witness together the ceremony held daily, at 4:25 p.m. – the time at which Chávez passed away – to honor the Latin American leader with the firing of a cannon salute from the Cuartel de la Montaña.

This was followed by the official Summit photo and a greeting to the Venezuelan people who for a few hours had been gathering on Avenida Urdaneta, located close to the government institution. I bring you a loving, committed and revolutionary greeting from ALBA to Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro Moros said amid applause, accompanied by Presidents Raúl Castro Ruz, Daniel Ortega Saavedra and Evo Morales Ayma, as well as the Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, and other heads of delegations and guests.

Amid cheers from the people, the fifth anniversary of Chávez’s death was commemorated. We remember him with a smile of commitment to the future, not tears, Maduro stressed. Chávez is energy, he is a challenge, he became millions and we must be proud of having accompanied him in life, he added, before thanking Venezuelans for the warm welcome extended to those attending the Summit of the regional mechanism founded in December 2004 by Comandantes Fidel and Chávez.

Once in the Ayacucho Hall, where the meeting was held, the Venezuelan leader welcomed the heads of delegations and offered a summary of the issues discussed in the private meeting of the Summit, including the need to increase exchanges between ALBA countries and boost work with other integration organizations such as UNASUR and CELAC. In addition, the participation of ALBA-TCP member nations in the upcoming Summit of the Americas to be held in Peru was discussed. In this regard, Maduro expressed gratitude for the solidarity expressed in the face of the attacks to which his country is victim on the part of the so-called Lima Group.

The Cuban President, who was the first to speak following his Venezuelan host, referred to this unconditional support, defining “the joint defense of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” as a strategic and urgent task of ALBA.

ALBA-TCP countries called to work to reinvigorate the integration of the different regional organizations. Photo: Venezuelan Foreign Ministry
The threats to peace and stability in this country, Raúl reiterated, represent a threat to regional stability and peace. “We proclaim unwavering support for the Bolivarian Revolution and the civic-military union of its people, led by their President Nicolás Maduro,” he stressed.

In his energetic speech, the Army General condemned the coercive, unilateral measures and external interference against the Bolivarian and Chavista process, which threaten the dialogue among Venezuelans.

“We reject the exclusion of President Nicolás Maduro from the 8th Summit of the Americas. This illegal decision is unacceptable and interventionist, whilst it takes the hemisphere back to stages that appeared to have been overcome,” he noted.

“Nor do we recognize any moral authority of the discredited Organization of American States (OAS) to give lessons in democracy, governability or constitutionality.

“The only solution to the problems of Venezuelans is in the hands of Venezuelans themselves,” Raúl concluded.

This was precisely the spirit that prevailed in the gathering of Latin American and Caribbean brothers and sisters, which represented support for the Bolivarian Revolution and the legacy of Comandante Chávez, who five years after his death, lives on in the determination and desire to advance of the courageous Venezuelan people.

(Granma)

(Council of State transcript / GI translation)

Compañero Nicolás Maduro Moros, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Esteemed Heads of State and Government; Esteemed Heads of delegations and guests: This March 5, on which we commemorate the fifth anniversary of the passing of President Hugo Chávez Frías, founder together with Fidel of ALBA, my first words are dedicated to reaffirming our tribute to his work and his example and the unwavering loyalty to his legacy.

Today, ALBA has as its strategic and urgent task the joint defense of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The military threat, hostility and economic aggression of U.S. imperialism against Venezuela; the neoliberal onslaught to reverse the social gains; the interference against the sovereignty of progressive governments; the attempts to dismantle the progress in the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, destabilize the region and pose risks to regional peace and security. The United States, since 1999 when Comandante Hugo Chávez became President, and even more so when compañero Nicolás Maduro did so, has resorted to methods of unconventional warfare, with the aim of defeating this country, the owner of immense riches coveted by imperialism.

President Donald Trump has just renewed the executive order that declares Venezuela an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. The threats to peace and stability in Venezuela also represent a threat to regional peace and stability. Some appear to have forgotten the lessons of the past, the cruel years of the military dictatorships, the impact of neoliberalism; that they attempt to reinstate the disastrous consequences that the policies of extortion, humiliation and isolation had for our region that, as then, have the United States as their chief articulator.

They openly announce the full validity and relevance of the Monroe Doctrine which proclaims colonial subordination to the governments and corporations of Washington and that, as Bolívar warned, plagued Our America with sorrow and misery in the name of liberty. Once again, they underestimate our peoples. We proclaim unwavering support for the Bolivarian Revolution and the civic-military union of its people, led by their President, compañero Nicolás Maduro Moros.

We condemn the unilateral coercive measures and external interference against the Bolivarian and Chavista process that threaten the peace and dialogue between Venezuelans, with destabilizing purposes, and create hardships for its population. Cease the economic aggression against Venezuela so that its people can enjoy the rights conquered by their Revolution. We reject the exclusion of President Nicolás Maduro from the 8th Summit of the Americas.

This illegal decision is unacceptable and interventionist, whilst it takes the hemisphere back to stages that appeared to have been overcome. Exclusions do not contribute at all to peace, dialogue or hemispheric understanding. It is unacceptable that a group of countries, with no right or mandate, intend to speak for the region and serve as an instrument of aggression against a member of the Latin American and Caribbean family, using as a pretext an alleged rupture of the democratic order, precisely in a country that has undertaken more than twenty electoral processes and has now called presidential elections, as was previously demanded, even via violent methods.

Why don’t they denounce the covert coup d’états, the massacres, the forced disappearances suffered by the peoples of the region? Nor do we recognize any moral authority of the discredited Organization of American States (OAS) to give lessons in democracy, governability or constitutionality. They violate the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed by Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, during the 2nd CELAC Summit, in Havana, and evade strict compliance with the obligation not to interfere, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any other state, and observe the principles of national sovereignty, equality of rights and the self-determination of the peoples.

The only solution to the problems of Venezuelans is in the hands of Venezuelans themselves. Esteemed compañeros: I speak on behalf of our Revolution and our people, as will any other Cuban compatriot from this position in the future, who will always know, as Fidel believed, that “Our peoples have no future without unity, without integration.” Bolívar and Martí, Fidel and Chávez bequeathed us invaluable teachings, among them loyalty to principles. Their lessons show us the course to follow in this decisive hour of the Great Homeland, which calls for our unity to forge together our second and definitive independence. Thank you very much. (Applause).

The Bolivarian leader was accompanied by Heads of State and officials attending the 15th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), in an act recalling the legacy of Comandante Hugo Chávez.

Five years after the death of the former President of Venezuela, the Chavista people are “victorious and ready to continue advancing,” he stated.

Regarding the country’s upcoming elections scheduled for May 20, the Head of State called on citizens to vote for peace and national unity, no matter their political affiliation.

Meanwhile, a cannon salute was held at the Cuartel de la Montaña, as part of commemorative activities marking five years since the death of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.

The ceremony was also attended by members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB), as well as relatives of the socialist leader, including his daughters María Gabriela Chávez and Rosa Virginia Chávez.

(Granma)

The final declaration of the 15th ALBA-TCP Summit rejected the exclusion of this South American nation and its President Nicolás Maduro from the high-level meeting to be held in the Peruvian capital, reported PL.

The Secretary General of the integration bloc, David Choquehuanca, expressed during the reading of the conclusive text that ALBA-TCP intends to “apply diplomatic and political measures” to guarantee the participation of Venezuela in said event.

The organization expressed its disagreement “with the pronouncement by a group of countries of the continent, issued on February 13, 2018, in Lima, Peru, which constitutes interference in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

“We urge the international community to abstain from exercising coercion of any type against the political independence and territorial integrity of Venezuela, as a practice incompatible with International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, and contrary to the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace,” the text continued.

The declaration also denounces Washington’s attempts to return to the mechanism of regional domination represented by the Monroe Doctrine, as well as military threats and calls for a coup against the legitimate government of Venezuela.

Also echoed is the international demand for the definitive lifting of the U.S. blockade imposed for more than half a century against Cuba.

ALBA-TCP member countries repudiated the advance of political and economic corruption in the region, “manifested by the growing inequality in the distribution of wealth.”

They also reiterated the commitment to “Latin American and Caribbean unity,” and defended their “commitment to genuinely Latin American and Caribbean integration processes such as CELAC, UNASUR, Petrocaribe, CARICOM and ALBA-TCP, to guarantee the sovereignty, independence, equality and self-determination of our peoples.”

(Granma)

Teresa Amarelle Boué, Secretary General of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), told Granma that the Meeting will address issues such as the implementation of gender equality plans under the framework of the 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals.

The first Conference was held in 1977, and at that time the FMC was led by Vilma Espín. “Cuba had made progress in equal gender rights, opportunities and possibilities, so the country offered to host the inaugural conference,” Amarelle explained.

In this regard, she added that the Meeting will be dedicated to Vilma, the first president of the ECLAC Regional Conference on Women, and to the historic leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz, who always promoted the crucial role of Cuban women.

Amarelle explained that these meetings of presiding officers, including 19 member countries, and currently chaired by Uruguay, are held between each conference. The next ECLAC Regional Conference on Women will be held in Chile in 2019.

The FMC Secretary General also noted that Cuba is a reference in the regional context, due to the public policies promoted, with the active participation of the FMC, as a national mechanism for the advancement of women.

According to its website, “The Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women, which is one of ECLAC’s nine subsidiary bodies, is made up of Uruguay, which holds the presidency, as well as Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Suriname.”

(Granma)