4th ASC SUMMIT
More information
-Petrocaribe
and Miracle Mission Highlighted in ACS Summit
-Statement by the Cuban Vice-President
Carlos Lage Dávila Panama City, 29 July 2005
-ACS Approves Special Counter-Terrorism Statement
-Declaration of Panama Shaped for 4th ACS Summit
-Caribbean States to Strengthen Ties in Panama Summit
-Preparations for 4th Summit of the Americas Continue
Panama, Jul 31 (Prensa Latina) Cuba’s Vice President Carlos Lage affirmed that the Petrocaribe and Miracle Mission initiatives were very well received by the IV Summit of Caribbean States Association (ACS) dignitaries that met in Panama City.
This type of ACS conference is essential to discuss the present world political situation and the fight against poverty, injustice and the pernicious effects of colonialism, Lage told Prensa Latina and a group of special Cuban envoys.
Commenting on the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez´ unprecedented offer of help to less developed countries through Petrocaribe, Lage noted that no other petroleum nation as ever taken such a position, particularly in light of high oil prices, and said Cuba is participating in the Caribbean and Central American accord with Venezuela.
The also executive secretary of the Cuban Ministerial Council said Petrocaribe will have a major effect on the small Caribbean islands due to the decrease of natural resources, which in the past were considered inexhaustible leading to irrational consumption by capitalist countries.
To meet the energy challenge, humanity must consciously transform the international economic order and confront the present US administration’s imperialist domination, the vice president explained.
The ACS summit leaders were also impressed by Miracle Mission, which was announced by Cuban President Fidel Castro to restore vision to 100,000 Venezuelans and 100,000 Latin Americans who, for reasons of poverty and inequality, will receive surgery in Cuba; an expression of the excellent spirit of human solidarity and respect that characterizes Cuban-Caribbean relations, he noted.
Lage also commented on the results of the ACS Summit which, while making little substantive progress on tourism, transportation and trade accords, did clearly acknowledge the right of each country to choose its political system and supported both independence and sovereignty; opposing interference in internal affairs and condemning the US blockade of Cuba.
The ACS final declaration also approved the Cuban proposal to reject terrorism in all its forms and characteristics, as well as those who promote and finance it, he said.
Vice President Lage recalled that the Cuba-CARICOM convention will be
held in Barbados this December.
The Cuban vice president informed of numerous bilateral meetings during the Summit, particularly mentioning his two-hour meeting with Panamanian President Martín Torrijo, and the historically friendly ties with the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).
"It was a prior administration that pardoned the terrorists of Cuban origin. It insulted the Cuban people and caused the break-off of diplomatic relations," he recalled, and said he discussed this with President Torrijos in light of the Panamanian Supreme Court´s pending process against those who participated in this maneuver.
Panama City, 29 July 2005
Excellencies:
Our peoples are faced today with colossal challenges, old and new.
September 11th completely changed the face of the world.
Those innocent lives, cut short by terrorism, unleashed an unjustifiable, illegal and absolutely reproachable response. The US Government rose above the legitimate grief of its citizens to spearhead a worldwide crusade against terror, which is in fact a war of prey seeking the expansion of its interests and the attainment of important natural resources.
Two nations have already been brutally invaded, occupied and massacred.
The Bush Administration was not driven by patriotic interests but by imperial designs of domination.
They were not inspired by justice but by greed.
They did not go out to mourn their dead but to steal for a handful of their living.
The old formula of the Law of Talion seems to govern the foreign policy of the mighty. However, the most recent terrorist acts in Madrid and London show that it is not through terror that terrorism can be vanquished.
Amid wars and the threats of more wars, the world is increasingly more unequal and billions of people are doomed to unemployment, poverty, famine and disease. A new category, that of human redundancy, has been generated by neoliberalism.
The access to international markets is, for many countries, nearly impossible and we fall prey to an international trading system riddled with tariff and non-tariff barriers, quota systems, subsidies and burdensome conditions. Our brothers and sisters in CARICOM endure very close to home the selfish decisions by the European Union and the United States, pummeling their banana and sugar exports, and they are forced to deal with the high-handed impositions of the transnational corporations in tourism, aviation and other sectors.
Industrialized and rich countries refuse to accept the granting of a special and differentiated treatment to those in need of it. They forget their historical debt to our development, they fail to keep their promises, they collect the same debt time and again while talking deceptively about the freedom of markets.
Latin America and the Caribbean endure the planet’s most unequal income distribution; the HIV-AIDS pandemic affects 2.4 million people and has become a serious problem for some countries in our region; the brain drain decimates our most valuable resource: man.
Some 1.2 million Latin American and Caribbean professionals work as immigrants in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada; their training cost us the skyrocketing amount of US$ 36 billion. The North takes away our best specialists and returns the criminals, who did their “PhDs in delinquency” in its cities and prisons.
Every year, our region pays US$ 150 billion in foreign debt service, an amount that is 3 times higher than the foreign investments aimed, as known, at expropriating our resources and not at development. The debt service is also 25 times higher than the official development assistance received under increasing conditionalities and subordinated to the interests of the donors.
Latin America and the Caribbean transfer tens of billions of dollars every year towards the rich countries as a result of the disciplined enforcement of neoliberal practices.
Deceitful and occasional growth in statistics will not transform this reality.
What will the poor, non-oil producing countries do if the price of a barrel hits US$ 100?
The current world economic order, unjust and unequal as it is, must be changed – and as part of that unavoidable battle it is essential to consolidate the regional integration and cooperation mechanisms and methods, based on new principles of solidarity and humanism.
We commend the generous and historic decision by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to establish PETROCARIBE. Venezuela has set for the world, particularly for the developed and rich countries, an example of brotherhood and solidarity.
Projects like PETROCARIBE can be the embryo of real integration aimed at settling the enormous social debt to our peoples, overcoming the selfish designs of the market and vested national or corporate interests. On the basis of those principles, Venezuela and Cuba have already taken the first steps towards the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), an initiative open free of charge to all countries in the region.
Inserted in this context of new integration is Mission Miracle, by means of which, in the course of a year, some 100,000 Venezuelans will recover or discover their eyesight, and the same offer has been made for another 100,000 Latin Americans requiring this specialized eye service, out of the over 4 million patients in need of it on account of poverty. Our country is in a position to provide assistance in this unprecedented cooperation. In the course of this year, some 27,910 Venezuelans have already undergone operations, and our country is hosting the first 538 Caribbean patients, of whom 201 have been operated on and even some of them have returned to their country with recovered vision only 30 days after our meeting with de Community of Caribbean countries in Anzoátegui.
Political will is decisive. Cuba, blockaded and slandered, can vouch for it. Our universities are currently hosting 16,364 scholarship students from 104 countries in the Third World.
The mighty superpower that longs to annex our small country to them can launch a war or engage in a nuclear strike, but it cannot, as does Cuba, send 37,000 cooperators – 24,000 of them in the health sector – to work in 105 countries, on many occasions in remote places and under very harsh conditions.
Our greatest asset, the human capital, will always be at the service of the most noble causes and in favor of integration.
There are many perils faced by us all. Besides, Cuba ranks high on Bush’s list of over 60 countries, “dark corners of the world,” that can be pre-emptively invaded, but we are certain that we will know how to defeat those dangers or topple the invaders.
If we come together, if we do not allow ourselves to be deceived, if we turn down all impositions, if we defend the dignity of our nations, if we become integrated, our peoples will not be dominated.
Thank you very much.
Panama, Jul 26 (Prensa Latina) The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) approved a special statement to fight terrorism based on a proposal made by Cuba.
Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Rafael Daussa, who is leading the Cuban delegation to the 4th ACS Summit, told Prensa Latina the statement was excellent.
"It is positive; it condemns terrorism in all forms and calls to punish not only terrorists but also those financing it," asserted Daussa on the document ratifying the bloc’s commitment not to help or shelter authors, promoters or people engaged in terrorist actions.
The text called on world states to collaborate in the anti-terrorism fight, chiefly the countries or citizens affected by terrorism, to expose, deny refuge to, and bring to justice or extradite all those involved.
It also urged nations that have not signed international conventions and agreements on counter-terrorism to immediately sign them.
Rafael Daussa said that Mexico proposed for inclusion that the 25 ACS members and three associate members resolve all pending matters to sign a future anti-terrorism agreement.
He noted that participants held very enriching debates and were willing to move towards a far-reaching document representing the interests of all nations.
The summit, held at the Caesar Park Hotel’s Chagres Hall, is also reviewing the Venezuelan proposal to sign a collaboration accord with the ACS and the UN, as well as issues such as toxic waste in the Caribbean, and the impact of AIDS.
Transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters are included on the agenda of the preparatory meeting of the ACS Council of Ministers´ Summit to be held July 28.
The Panama Declaration will be issued in the Summit of Chiefs of States on July 29.
Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic and Saint Kitts and Nevis make up the ACS, together with Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
The associate members are Aruba, Netherland Antilles and France representing Martinique, French Guyana and Guadeloupe.
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Spain, Finland, India, Italy, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the Netherlands are observers.
Panama, Jul 26 (Prensa Latina) The 4th Summit of the Association of Caribbean States to be held Friday in this capital will approve the Declaration of Panama, condemning terrorism, coercive economic measures, and the use of force.
The text of the document, to which Prensa Latina had access, was under discussion Tuesday in the first day of the meeting between high officials of the 25 member countries of ACS, three associate nations and 17 observers.
Substantial changes are not expected, one day before Foreign Ministers of the 25 member countries will give their approval.
The project reaffirms the full commitment to and support of ACS, and the strength and objectives agreed to in the Agreement of Cartagena de Indias on July 24, 1994.
The document is against any form of terrorism, and in favour of sovereignty, judicial equality of all nations, human rights, non-intervention, and prohibition of threats or use of force.
It is also committed to preserving the rich cultural identity of the Caribbean, and supports the fight against poverty and social exclusion.
The document expresses its concern for the serious threat AIDS poses to the human race, and to the social and economic development of the region.
It promotes international cooperation and capacity development to address natural disasters.
The Declaration of Panama also reasserts total opposition to the transportation of radioactive and nuclear materials and toxic wastes, and fosters concrete agreements on these topics, as well as supporting negotiations within the framework of the World Trade Organization to promote growth and regional integration.
The Declaration also emphasizes proposals to consolidate the agreement to establish a Caribbean Zone of Sustainable Tourism, which would be the first in the world.
Panama City, Jul 26 (Prensa Latina) The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) is now trying to promote new multilateral agreements that would help the dreams leading to the establishment of the group ten years ago come true.
Top officials from the organization’s 25 member states, plus three Associate members and 17 observers are beginning Tuesday a two-day meeting in Panama City.
Representatives from the Latin American Economic System and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are also attending the sessions at the luxurious Caesar Park Hotel.
The ministerial meeting will be held on July 28th, while the Heads of State Summit is slated for July 29th at the same venue.
Cooperation, transport, tourism, poverty and development will be the main topics on the agenda.
Cuba has put great hopes in the 4th ACS Summit because we have seen the organization’s great potentials and the achievement attained over the years, Cuban official Aramis Fuentes told Prensa Latina.
Presidents Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Alvaro Uribe (Colombia), Vicente Fox (Mexico), Ricardo Maduro (Honduras), Leonel Fernandez (Dominican Republic), among others, are expected to attend the Summit.
ACS members are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.
Aruba , France (on behalf of French Guiana , Guadeloupe and Martinique ) and the Netherlands Antilles are Associate members, while the observers are
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, India, Italy, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Korea, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Buenos Aires, Jul 26 (Prensa Latina) The theme proposed by Argentina for the 4th Summit of the Americas is a positive contribution to the need of the Western Hemisphere to fight poverty and develop democracy, Argentinean Foreign Vice Minister Jorge Taiana said Tuesday.
At a press conference with foreign correspondents about the preparations for the 4th Summit of the Americas, slated for Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November 2005, Taiana denied rumours of disagreement over how to "create jobs to fight poverty, and strengthen democracy".
Taiana recognized there are difference nuances because of the diversity of processes in each country, but believes they can be overcome within the framework of political dialogue and diplomacy.
He pointed out that the draft for the Presidential Declaration is under consideration, and the Plan of Action, the other central document to be adopted by the 34 presidents of the member countries, will be revised by experts in September.
Both documents are centred on the motto for the 4th Summit, and the Plan of Action should contain concrete measures for implementation.
Among the proposals is reform of the international financial architecture as a pre-condition to achieve what the motto states.
Questioned about the topic of free trade, Taiana stated it is paralyzed, and there may be room to discuss it in the 4th Summit, but the most significant step is the debate at the Round of Doha, in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Regarding terrorism, Taiana said that agreement on continental security of Monterrey, Mexico, will be reviewed here.