On Saturday, December 14, the XXIV Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) was held in Caracas with heads of state and government of the ten states of Latin America and the Caribbean that make up the bloc present. The summit issued a Declaration and a Special Declaration that we have published in full.
The Heads of State and Government of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, have met today in Caracas, to commemorate a very special anniversary of the birth of ALBA.
Thirty years ago, two great visionaries of our continent gave each other that sincere hug, full of admiration and mutual respect that set the course of this story of brotherhood and solidarity that, today, celebrates twenty years.
It has been twenty years walking together, raising our flag of unity, going through moments of difficulties and moments of victories, with our similarities and differences, but always together, supporting each other and strengthening ourselves as allies and today, we want to reaffirm before our Peoples the commitment that we cherish with those historical and indelible ties of brotherhood.
Every time challenges have arisen testing our Alliance, we have become stronger and more united, and it is in this way that we have grown, together.
We have learned that solidarity is not just a will, but a decision that is made every day, to be there for each other, to support each other through good times and bad times, never giving up.
Looking back, we remember with admiration the day of the creation of ALBA, when the founding leaders committed themselves to the world to build a better destiny for our people.
That simple declaration of intentions was by then an audacity that challenged the existing world order: the open occupation of Iraq began after the invasion of the previous year, the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat died after poisoning, the color revolutions started as a tactic to impose pro-Western governments, the kidnapping and overthrow of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by the U.S. army was carried out.
In contrast to this infernal panorama, ALBA became a breath of fresh air for the hope of the people, since it proposed a relation between countries, based on the essential principles of solidarity, cooperation, complementarity, social justice, and considering a strategic north: unity with respect for diversity.
This formula has literally saved lives in our region, has raised awareness of the need and convenience of cultivating peace, and, in some way, has taken care of bringing greater happiness to our people.
Under the Bolivarian principle of the Balance of the Universe, ALBA has paved the way for the emergence of other alternative and sovereign alliances, which today successfully challenge the established order in different areas.
As a consequence, our Alliance has also managed to make itself heard beyond its lands and today is recognized internationally as a firm and dignified voice that is respected.
We also reaffirm our will to safeguard the insurgent and libertarian legacy of Simón Bolívar, José Martí, Túpac Katari and Augusto Sandino; the bravery of Joseph Chatoyer, Maurice Bishop and Marcus Garvey and the audacity of Alexandre Pétion, Manuela Sáenz, Francisco Morazán, Antonio José de Sucre and Bartolina Sisa, among other heroes and heroines, who feed the sacred fire that forges us.
Twenty years after this giants’ step, we pay tribute to the founding leaders, Hugo Chávez Frías and Fidel Castro Ruz, who adopted on December 14, 2004, in Havana, Cuba, the vision of the future enshrined in the founding documents of ALBA, that have allowed us to walk united to the present, encouraged by the ancestral force that led our people to be free and that encourages us to continue integrated into this Alliance for Life.
Today, we want to ratify before our peoples the counterhegemonic, democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist nature of our Alliance and renew our commitment to help and protect each other, to continue building together a future of shared goals under the founding principles of complementarity, cooperation, social justice, the defense of our sovereignty and solidarity.
“Simón Bolívar has said it, we must be united as one, one single nation, one single people, with one single purpose, but it is necessary to be brave, determined, because the daily pressures are immense and we cannot yield to the pressures of those who refuse to see us united, and we, from the Caribbean, will not yield to the pressures of those who want to separate us.” - Hugo Chávez Frías, 9th ALBA Summit. Caracas, Venezuela. April 19, 2010
“20th anniversary of the founding of ALBA-TCP
“A hug that sets the course of our history”
We, the Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) gathered in Caracas, Venezuela, on December 14, 2024, within the framework of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of ALBA-TCP:
Reaffirming our firm commitment to the Cuba-Venezuela Joint Declaration and the Agreement for the implementation of ALBA, as well as the documents supporting the joining of the member countries, which constitute the birth certificate of this great Bolivarian Alliance that today celebrates twenty years of achievements, accomplishments and goals to be fulfilled,
Convinced that the only way to face and defeat the challenges imposed by the current unjust and discriminatory international order, particularly for developing nations, is through the integration, solidarity and union of our peoples,
1. Commemorate with a deep sense of Our American feeling the thirtieth anniversary of that hug between Commanders Hugo Chávez Frías and Fidel Castro Ruz, which set the course of the contemporary history of Latin America and the Caribbean. We remember that young military man full of ideas, goals and desires, who fulfilled his dream of meeting a fundamental figure of dignity and resistance for the entire Latin American and Caribbean continent, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz.
2. Celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the founding of our great Alliance for Latin American and Caribbean integration and union, historic and unprecedented, focused on the social dimension, which from its conception took the human being as the foundation and epicenter of integration, and committed itself to build relations based on solidarity, complementarity, justice and cooperation.
3. Endorse our unwavering commitment and responsibility to meet the needs and defend the interests of our peoples, to whom we owe our duty, always in compliance with the domestic legal order and respect for the norms of International Law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
4. Reaffirm our solid commitment to the defense of democratic principles, respect for the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box and the promotion of inclusive political systems that guarantee the active participation of all sectors of society. We strongly condemn the use of hatred speeches, disinformation and polarization strategies that seek to destabilize our democracies, erode peaceful coexistence among our peoples and orchestrate coups d'état.
5. Highlight the importance of reinforcing and deepening the founding principles and values of ALBA-TCP, in a challenging world in which fascism and neo-fascism threaten the right of peoples to enjoy peace.
6. Reaffirm the importance and our commitment to defend the “Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace” which, 10 years after its approval at the Second CELAC Summit in Havana, Cuba, in January 2014, remains in full force and effect.
7. Reaffirm our conviction to build foreign policies to prioritize depatriarchalization, climate justice and decolonization as fundamental principles for the transformation of our societies. We call for the eradication of all forms of oppression and discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or culture, promoting systems of justice and coexistence that respect the dignity and rights of all people, in harmony with our Mother Earth and the indigenous peoples.
8. Strongly reject the arbitrary, illegal and criminal unilateral coercive measures imposed by the government of the United States against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. These actions seriously affect the well-being and prosperity of our peoples and represent a systematic aggression aimed at imposing an agenda aligned with its geopolitical interests. They also represent a flagrant violation of the International Law and the United Nations Charter.
9. Reiterate our strong condemnation of the genocidal and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States of America against Cuba and highlight the historic support of the Member States of the Alliance to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.
10. Demand the exclusion of Cuba from the spurious and arbitrary unilateral list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism issued by the U.S. Department of State, which has a negative impact on all areas of Cuban society and on the well-being of its people, by intensifying the criminal economic war and increasing the difficulties to join international trade, carry out financial operations and procure basic supplies.
11. Reaffirm the just claim to claim reparations and compensation for colonialism, the horrors of slavery, transatlantic human trafficking and the genocide perpetrated against native populations.
12. Repudiate the demands on access to financing for the development of the peoples of the South, with the imposition of a vision that does not take into account the vulnerabilities to the negative impacts of climate change, especially for small island developing States.
13. Agree to coordinate a joint strategy to defend the inalienable right of the Haitian people to the enjoyment of peace and the authentic exercise of their sovereignty and independence in multilateral spaces such as CELAC.
14. Express our strongest support for the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and full independence as a Latin American and Caribbean nation. We accompany the people of Puerto Rico in their struggle for independence and national sovereignty.
15. Express our strongest repudiation and condemnation of the terrorist actions perpetrated by the State of Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and its accountability for perpetuating a spiral of violence and destabilization in the region. These actions have resulted in the death of citizens of different nationalities and the brutal murder of thousand innocent civilians, including children, the elderly and women, unleashing one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of our era. In this regard, we adopt the Special Communiqué on Palestine annexed to this Declaration.
16. Renew our aspirations for the fall of imperialism and the emergence of a new multipolar order, based on respectful relations and cooperation for the economic, political and social development of the peoples of the entire world. We applaud the fundamental role of the BRICS and the entry of some countries of our Alliance to this bloc of countries, as a positive step on the way towards the prosperity of our continent.
17. Accompany with pleasure the preparations for the Bicentennial of Bolivia today Plurinational State of Bolivia, which in 2025, will commemorate 200 years of Independence, resistance and struggle. We celebrate its history, strengthening its identity through generations together with the 36 Indigenous, Native and Peasant Nations, as a democratic, free and sovereign country.
200 years after the Liberator Simón Bolívar convened the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama and the glorious victory of the Battle of Ayacucho, we raise our flags of freedom, independence and sovereignty to continue striving for the union of the interests and relations of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, guided by the libertarian spirit of Simón Bolívar, José Martí, José de San Martín, Antonio José de Sucre, Bernardo O'Higgins, Alexandre Pétion, Francisco Morazán, Augusto Calderón Sandino, Maurice Bishop, Marcus Garvey, Túpac Katari, Bartolina Sisa, Joseph Chatoyer and other heroes, with our Bolivarian, Martí and Sandinista doctrines, in resounding rejection of the premises of the Monroe Doctrine.
Caracas, December 14, 2024
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