Venezuela, Latin American and Caribbean Heads of State attend 24th ALBA-TCP Summit

teleSUR English

Journalist Garfield Burford updates us on the main aspects of the 24th ALBA-TCP Summit to be held today in Venezuela. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00Hello, welcome to From the South, I'm Luis Alberto Matos from the Televisual Studios

00:10in Havana, Cuba.

00:12We begin with the news.

00:25As we have been reporting, the 24th Summit of ALBA-TCP of Heads of States at Common is

00:30currently underway in Caracas.

00:32For this we are going live with our collaborator Garfield from Antigua and Barbuda who is on

00:37the ground to have all the information regarding this paramount summit that is taking place

00:42today.

00:43Hello, Garfield, welcome to From the South.

00:52Hello, Luis, and thank you so much for, of course, joining us live here in Caracas.

00:57You have joined us as the leaders are holding their private meeting as we speak.

01:01This is a momentous development for the block, of course, a 10-member block called ALBA-TCP,

01:08the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America, People's Trade Treaty.

01:13The leaders, of course, meeting for the 24th Summit, but also celebrating today the anniversary,

01:18the 20th anniversary of the creation of that block called ALBA.

01:22It is a momentous development, of course, for this block.

01:25So what's happening now is that the leaders are meeting privately.

01:29They will then emerge for the family photo, and as well they will also have a public meeting

01:35as well, which will be, of course, carrying live for you on Telesur, of course, giving

01:40you full coverage, comprehensive coverage of what's taking place here as well.

01:44All right, so there's quite a bit of anticipation now building for that.

01:48Of course, photographers, there is a gaggle of media individuals who are waiting there

01:53patiently for the leaders to emerge from their private talks, of course, for that iconic

01:59photo, iconic family photo, which, of course, will be remembered long into the future.

02:05It will be for posterity.

02:06The leaders will remember that 20 years of the 20th anniversary of this block coming

02:12into being.

02:13They gathered here in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to, of course, hold crucial discussions

02:18on geopolitics, the challenges that they're facing as a block, and the opportunities that

02:23can emerge as well.

02:24The world is facing several geopolitical uncertainties, what with what's taking place in the Middle

02:31East, with the challenges facing Gaza, what's also taking place, the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

02:37Of course, President Trump will emerge for his second term as president next month as

02:42well.

02:43He has promised already that there may be tariffs, new tariffs, which will be imposed

02:48on goods coming in from Mexico and Canada, as well as additional tariffs on goods from

02:56China as well, so quite a bit of geopolitical uncertainty, but there are opportunities as

03:00well for this block to further cement its partnership.

03:05What has been tried here in relation to ALBA-TCP is what has never been tried before in Latin

03:11America and the Caribbean in terms of an integration movement.

03:15This integration movement is based on the people at the center, not so much the issues

03:20of commerce and trade, but it is about a people-centered approach to integration and development.

03:27It is a social element, and that has differentiated and demarcated this grouping, this movement,

03:35this integration movement, from others that we have seen in Latin America and the Caribbean.

03:39It is about a people-centered approach, and that's what the leaders are discussing now.

03:43It's about social cohesion.

03:45It's about solidarity.

03:47It's about inclusiveness.

03:48It's about complementarity, taking into account the specific areas of interest and the peculiarities

03:55facing each of those countries, because bear in mind, we're talking about Venezuela and

04:00Cuba, of course, which are founding members of ALBA, but there have been others in Latin

04:04America and the Caribbean, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and, of course, six countries in the Eastern

04:10Caribbean, Antigua, Barbuda, as well as Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent

04:15and the Grenadines, as well as St. Lucia, and Dominica, so clearly there are asymmetries

04:21in relation to the size of the countries.

04:24The Eastern Caribbean countries, perhaps over 100,000 on average for their populations,

04:30much bigger populations in Latin America, of course, with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua,

04:35and Bolivia, but they're bearing in mind that despite these asymmetries, they can work together,

04:41they can be social cohesion, they can have a people at the center of this development.

04:46What has happened so far, Luis, is that President Nicolas Maduro, who is, of course, hosting

04:51the summit, has met with the leaders, he's welcomed them personally, he's greeted them

04:56warmly, and, of course, members of the prime ministers and presidents were very, very warmly

05:02greeted as they entered here on the red carpet just behind me, and, of course, he met them

05:07there and greeted them warmly as well.

05:10President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, there was a long discussion between himself and

05:18President Nicolas Maduro as they looked, I'm pretty sure, at the potentialities, the possibilities

05:23for further collaboration, further cooperation in this grouping.

05:27There's also a crucial element that will unfold here as well, and that is that the state of

05:31Palestine is being represented at this summit.

05:34Palestine, as we would have reported yesterday, one of the issues that emerged from the working

05:39meeting was that from Jorge Arias, who is the executive secretary of ALBA-TCP, as well

05:45as Venezuela's foreign minister, Ivan Gil, they both spoke about the importance of embracing

05:51the cause of Gaza, because they're saying that there are other areas of injustice in

05:56the world, but Gaza is almost the epicenter of injustice, and they figure that it's important

06:02to embrace the cause of Gaza, because every time they say a bomb falls on Gaza, it doesn't

06:08only fall on the people of Palestine, but it also falls on the people of the world,

06:13humanity, the collective humanity is injured by those bombs which are falling in Gaza.

06:19So that will be a crucial element of the discussions here, how to ensure that there

06:22is solidarity with the Palestinian people who are facing ongoing crises and ongoing

06:28humanitarian tragedy over there in Gaza, and of course, other particular challenges which

06:34are seen to be caused by imperialism, caused by the hegemony of the West.

06:41The leaders here will rail against that and will solidify their position as well.

06:45The leaders here as well will also again call for an end to the sanctions, to the unilateral

06:53coercive measures taken against Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua in particular.

06:59They will indicate that this is an injustice that has to be stopped, and it is important

07:04that the world pay attention to this as well.

07:06One thing is crucial, as I go back over to you, Lewis, is a point that was made by Ivan

07:11Gil, the foreign minister for Venezuela.

07:14He said yesterday that ALBA-TCP must be positioned as a force, a powerful multilateral and geopolitical

07:22actor in this new age.

07:24It's a new dispensation where there are so many uncertainties, and he says ALBA-TCP must

07:29let its voice be heard, must position itself as that powerful geopolitical actor.

07:35We expect that that will emerge as the declaration coming out of this 24th summit, which is of

07:40course marking 20 years of ALBA-TCP.

07:44Back over to you, Lewis.

07:45Garfield, before letting you go, I have a quick question.

07:48As you were saying, ALBA, one of the key aspects is that it's people-centered.

07:53Yesterday the Social Movement Council were debating and bringing everything up to speed

07:57ahead of this important summit that is taking place today among the heads of state and government.

08:02How do you describe everything, how it has worked so far coming up to this point, and

08:06what can we expect coming after the summit in that final declaration?

08:14Indeed, yes, you're absolutely right.

08:17So there were some social movements which have been meeting ahead of, of course, the

08:21summit taking place today, and social gatherings, social movements from across the Caribbean

08:26and beyond as well who have been having those discussions, and they are looking towards

08:31unifying their positions, solidifying the areas of commonality, the areas of common

08:36interest among them.

08:38Of course, we heard earlier from one of those social movements, which is the trade union

08:42movement from Trinidad and Tobago.

08:43We heard from the oil field workers trade union in the Trinidad Republic of Trinidad

08:49and Tobago.

08:50So there is that coalescing, that coming together of the social movements across the region

08:55and across the world as well, and they see this as an important opportunity, an important

09:00point, an important inflection point to let their voices be heard and to, of course, channel

09:06their positions through the leaders here of the ALBA-TCP movement.

09:11So far, those discussions took place yesterday.

09:14There was also, of course, the working meeting that I mentioned, attended by Ivan Gil, the

09:19foreign minister for Venezuela, and also Jorge Arias, who is, of course, the executive secretary

09:24of ALBA-TCP.

09:25They engage in crucial discussions.

09:26CELAC also represented here as a community of Latin American and Caribbean states.

09:31They will hold crucial discussions alongside the leaders of ALBA-TCP as well.

09:36So there is that coming together, that common interest that has been expressed by so many

09:42of the, not only the leaders of ALBA-TCP, Luis, but also the social movements and the

09:47blocs like CELAC, which is also celebrating an anniversary this year as well, coming together

09:52of their positions, indicating that it is important as an inflection point to let their

09:57voices be heard in this new geopolitical order.

10:00So far, things have gone very, very smoothly.

10:02Things have gone very, very well here in Caracas, Venezuela, and it's expected that

10:06the summit, the open part of the summit, the public session of the summit, which will be

10:10carried live here on Telesur, will be just as smooth, just as seamless, and of course

10:15we'll be hearing from the leaders of the 10 members who comprise ALBA-TCP.

10:21In addition, we expect to hear, as we said, a significant focus on the Palestinian cause.

10:27As I said yesterday by Ivan Gil, that has to be given priority, because it is the one

10:33challenge, the one ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world that demands the world's attention,

10:38that is seen as a blot, a blight on humanity, because it has not been able to address this

10:43issue up until now.

10:44Back over to you, Luis.

10:45Thank you, Guy, for the information.

10:48Of course, we'll stay tuned for everything that is going to happen in the next couple

10:51of minutes.

10:52In the next minutes, we will have all those statements from the heads of states of government

10:56live here on our signal.

10:58Thank you for the moment, Garfield.

11:00Well, ladies, we have come to the end of this news brief.

11:04You can find these and many other stories on our website, telesurenglish.net, so join

11:08us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok.

11:12For Telesur English, I'm Luis Alberto Matos, thank you for watching.

11:26Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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