Venezuela, ALBA-TCP celebrates its 20th anniversary

teleSUR English

*ALBA-TCP leaders meet for 24th Summit *Latin America and Caribbean Heads of State attend 24th ALBA-TCP Summit

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00:00And this Saturday, the ALBA-TCP 24th Summit of the Heads of States and Governments will

00:15take place in Caracas.

00:16For more information, we are going live with our collaborator Garfield Burford for all

00:21the details from the ground.

00:28Thank you so much, Luis.

00:29Really appreciate it as we welcome you to Caracas, in Venezuela, for this landmark summit.

00:34Twenty years of ALBA.

00:36Of course, this is the ALBA-TCP 24th Summit here in Caracas, in Venezuela.

00:41Of course, it is not just the 24th Summit, but of course, as I said, marking 20 years

00:46to the day when that famous hug between then-president of Cuba, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, and then-president

00:53of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias, that extraordinary embrace which brought together Venezuela and

00:59Cuba, two, of course, leaders of the Latin American left, coming together to create

01:04the ALBA movement.

01:06Twenty years later, ten member states are part of this grouping of Latin American and

01:10Caribbean states that gather here in Caracas for an extraordinary summit, an extraordinary

01:16celebration of the 20th anniversary of that event of, as I said, 20 years ago to the day

01:22today.

01:23Of course, in addition, there has been a significant move, a significant development in relation

01:28to geopolitics in the world that they will be addressing here today, the leaders, and

01:32they've already, of course, started to arrive here in Caracas for that event.

01:35Of course, the red carpet already laid out.

01:38The final preparation is being made for the event.

01:40Social movements from across the Caribbean and beyond are here, Luis, for this event.

01:45In fact, we can speak with a representative now from one of those social movements.

01:48We can now join Candice Sebre, who is the research and education officer for the Oil

01:53Field Workers Trade Union in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:56Candice will join us right here live on TELUS or English.

02:00Candice, if you could assert a little bit this way, how is it for you being here as

02:05part of this 24th summit of ALBA-TCP?

02:08This is a very, very important moment, not only for ALBA-TCP, which would have set the

02:14stage for the movement which I'm a part of, ALBA Movimientos, because the Oil Field Workers

02:20has been mobilizing throughout the Caribbean, and through that we would have created the

02:26Assembly of Caribbean People that we have had for the past over 25 years.

02:32And we're also part of ALBA Movimientos since its inception.

02:35And this is also an anniversary for ALBA Movimientos, and it's been quite symbolic because there's

02:40a rejoining and a rekindling of the agenda between ALBA Movimientos and ALBA-TCP.

02:47And this is very important because if you look at the geopolitical context right now,

02:51there's so much happening within the Caribbean, all of the things that we still need to defend

02:56that Fidel would have spoken about Cuba.

02:58We have the reality that's happening in Haiti.

03:01We even have the breakdown and the shift and the attacks on the trade union movement that

03:07we obviously are personally affected by that is happening.

03:11And we have all of these movements that are coming together here in Venezuela, which is

03:15so very important.

03:16There are very important things happening within Venezuela to counter this geopolitical

03:20shift that's happening.

03:22And we look forward to see more things, more vanguard things coming out of here and more

03:27vanguard things that are happening, as Fidel would have done so many years ago, as Chavez

03:32would have continued to do.

03:33And it was very important for Chavez and Fidel to always include the English-speaking Caribbean.

03:38As you can see within ALBA-TCP, they do include these Caribbean islands.

03:43They've always placed us on the forefront and recognize the importance of the contributions

03:47that we would have made over the years.

03:49And so I'm very happy to be one of the many representatives.

03:52I happen to be the lucky one who got to be here, but I represent so many more persons

03:56that are really happy for this very important moment and who would have liked to be here

04:00today.

04:01Excellent.

04:02Candice, 20 years of ALBA, today marking 20 years to the day when ALBA was formed by,

04:09of course, with that famous hug between Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, how does it feel

04:15marking 20th anniversary of the movement?

04:19For me, it feels quite symbolic.

04:22Recently within ALBA Movimientos, there was a huge study, a large study about what it

04:26was like to be a revolutionary in the time of Fidel, what Che meant to all of us, if

04:31we could be like Fidel, if we could be like Che.

04:33And so this is a point of rekindling that history, of understanding the principles and

04:40all of the values that they would have stood for, and to try and bring that back and to

04:44re-gather our forces to counter that geopolitical context that is affecting us all very daily

04:50today.

04:51Candice, really appreciate it.

04:52Candice Sebrell there, who is a Research and Education Officer for the Oilfield Workers

04:57Trade Union in Trinidad and Tobago, thank you so much, really appreciate it, and join

05:00the summit, please.

05:01Candice there, speaking with us about the extraordinary summit that is taking place

05:04here today.

05:05Of course, in just a few hours now, the leaders will come into this building, they will walk

05:10on this red carpet, they will go through a tunnel of all the glitz of the occasion,

05:16all the majesty of the occasion, marking 20 years, and of course they will be taking a

05:20family photo, on an image not dissimilar to the one behind me here, Luis, as they gather

05:25for, of course, to mark 20 years.

05:27This is the 24th summit of ALBA.

05:28I was here in Venezuela earlier this year, in April, when of course the 23rd summit was

05:35held.

05:36Since then, so many things have happened, so many geopolitical developments that will

05:40take center stage here today.

05:41There are, of course, the unilateral coercive measures against, not just Venezuela and Cuba,

05:46but also Nicaragua as well.

05:48There are also the situation, there's also the situation in Gaza, which continues to

05:51dominate the attention of the world, ALBA taking that on as well.

05:55The state of Palestine will be represented here as well, CELAC will be represented, that's

05:58the community of Latin American and Caribbean states.

06:01All in all, it promises to be an extraordinary summit.

06:05The leaders are gathering here, and of course the anticipation is building for that.

06:08Back over to you in Havana, of course, for, of course, keep you across all the developments

06:14here on TELUS.

06:15Back to you, Luis.

06:16Thank you, Garfield.

06:17Of course, we'll stay tuned with you guys, with you and with Belén de los Santos as

06:22well, to everything that is happening in this paramount summit that is being held in Caracas

06:27of ALBA-TCP in its 20th anniversary, the 24th summit of Heads of States and Government.

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