CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Only Unity Will Set Us Free

VENEZUELA, April 16, 2009. The document approved in the Venezuelan city of Cumana during the 7th ALBA Presidential Summit, on the eve of the Summit of the Americas that was to open a few hours later in Trinidad and Tobago, is doubtless a pivotal event in the history of our continent. The document is a brief but thorough study of the causes behind the difficult situation humanity, and the region in particular, faces today.

It is also a well-argued criticism of attempts at overcoming the grave problems surrounding the current global economic crisis through old, discredited schemes and institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, and of the intention of doing something similar in the face of other serious threats, such as climate change, which menaces the planet.

Education, healthcare and other basic services must be treated as human rights and guaranteed by States, the document emphasizes, while repudiating acts of intervention and meddling in the affairs of countries and demanding respect towards each people’s right to self-determination.

Its 12th point, which was met with the applause of those in attendance, condemns the illegal blockade which the United States keeps against Cuba and ratifies the declarations approved by all countries in the continent in this connection. Similarly, it declares Cuba’s exclusion from the Summits of the Americas mechanism as inadmissible.

Lastly, the document condemns attempts by rich nations to impose conditions on the aid for development they offer, and to use the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

After reading the document, Chavez passed the floor to the other leaders in attendance. President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya spoke on behalf of workers, students and the people of Latin America and the Caribbean to ratify the important ideas summarized by the document.

This was but another expression of the unending show of affection and solidarity towards Cuba which Raul and the Cuban people have experienced during this session, an atmosphere which also characterized each and every hour of these brief but intense gatherings in Venezuela.

A report on the ten approved ALBA projects for food production and other spheres was also read at the closing session. As part of these projects, Haiti will be aided in rice cultivation and the Cuban literacy program "Yes I Can" will be implemented in the country. Nicaragua will receive 50 million dollars in response to the withdrawal of the "aid" offered by the United States and other wealthy countries, a move Chavez called an attempt to "break an unbreakable people".

Following this, the Venezuelan

President read the Resolution approved at the session held during the previous evening, which ratifies support for Bolivia’s democratic process and its leaders and condemns attempts at preventing this sister South American nation from moving forward through terrorism and destabilizing actions.

THE ALBA CULTURAL FUND AWARDS

Cuba’s Minister of Culture Abel Prieto Jimenez introduced the two intellectuals who received awards at the gathering: Roberto Fernandez Retamar (literature) and Jorge Sanjines (visual arts).

He stressed the fundamental difference between these awards, which acknowledge the work of artists who are truly committed to enriching the cultural heritage and values of our peoples, and other awards tainted by commercial interests, which lack any real value for true artists.

Chavez pointed out how promising the advance of ALBA and of culture is, as the revolution is also a cultural phenomenon. To make his words more deeply felt, he read, as everyone lent an attentive ear, an inspired and beautiful fragment from the novel Sucre en su cabalgadura (Sucre on horseback).
The Venezuelan president thanked the other leaders for attending this historical 7th ALBA Presidential Summit. He concluded by saying that only unity would set the people free and called on those present to recall independence hero Jose de San Martin’s categorical remark: "Let us be free, nothing else matters".(Cubaminrex- Granma)

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