Address by President Comandante Daniel at the XXI ALBA-TCP Summit
"Unity and Integration in Our America”
May 27th 2022
Thank you, beloved Comrade, beloved Brother, Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of the Sister Republic of Cuba. And thus we greet the Heroic People of Cuba, the People of Martí, the People of Fidel, the People of Raúl. A warm Embrace, Raul, as Always!
All our affection for the Fraternal Bolivarian People, represented by their legitimate President, Comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros, who today continues to wield the Sword of Bolívar, which the Eternal Comandante wielded also, who knew how to raise it, and who together with Fidel installed ALBA.
Comandante Chávez, Comandante Fidel, installed ALBA and opened up new Paths in Our America. Those Paths that Sandino tried to open from the mountains of Nicaragua in 1928 and from where he addressed the Latin American Presidents so that we could install a Community of Latin American States.
In other words, Sandino was proposing, addressing the Latin American Presidents so that we could make Bolívar's Dream come true: The Latin American Nation, with a Latin American Nationality, as Sandino said. From the Chipotón, in the mountains of Nicaragua where he was fighting US troops, it was in March 1929, and Sandino sent Letters to the Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and of course Mexico.
And in that Project Sandino proposed that: "The Conference of Representatives of the 21 member States of the Latin American Nationality declares the Monroe Doctrine abolished and, consequently, annuls the vigor that Doctrine lays claims to in order to interfere in the internal and external politics of the Latin American States.” Take note that was in 1929.
As our beloved Brother, the President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Luis Arce, took us through a review of all the attacks that the United States has launched against our Peoples, from invasions, blockades, wars, to the overthrow of Governments, coups d'etats, sanctions like those I mentioned, attacks of all kinds.
That is to say, they have not stopped practicing the Monroe Doctrine, they have not renounced the Monroe Doctrine. In the name of Democracy, what they are doing is imposing a tyrannical, imperialist, terrorist international policy, because a Power like the United States attacking, invading, small States like Grenada, which led to the murder of President Bishop, a Brother Revolutionary; the invasions of Panama and the Dominican Republic; and so on, as the President of Bolivia took us through that review, up to the infamous, cowardly, terrorist blockade, the blockade of more than 60 years against the people of Cuba which is a crime against humanity.
A terrorist State has violated the Human Rights of an entire People, an entire Nation, and repeated those blockades against the Sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and then going even further, attempted to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro; or they tried out new coups d'etats like the one against our Brother Hugo Chavez, that the People overturned with all their strength.
So, Imperialism has not changed, the essence of Imperialism is still there, a totally criminal essence. There are no barriers for them! And now they think the time has come to impose the total hegemony of Yankee imperialism on the Planet. It is no longer just about applying the Monroe Doctrine on what they have called their backyard or their front yard, rather now it is about turning the entire planet into the patio of United States Power. And they want to turn the Asian Peoples into their patio as well. They want to subdue the Russian Federation. and they want to subdue the People's Republic of China.
I would argue that they are living a moment of schizophrenia, imagining the time has come for them to dominate the entire Planet, and they do not realize this is no longer possible. In Our America, after profound changes, ALBA emerged along with PETROCARIBE, the most Solidarity oriented and Noble Project that has been established in all our Region's history. A Project that was born for the benefit of the most impoverished Nations, to bring well-being to the most impoverished Nations. Not to attack any country or any nation.
ALBA did not consider attacking any state in North America, on the contrary, it also reached out to them, through Venezuela and the generosity of the Bolivarian Revolution and President Chávez, it also brought solidarity to the impoverished people of the United States of America. I mean to say, that is the most noble project.
And under the impulse of ALBA, what was a Dream for Bolívar, what was a Dream for Sandino, what was a Dream for our Peoples was made a reality: The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC. And so the Summit of the Americas is not necessary.
That is a Summit of the Empire, when the Empire thinks there is still room for that kind of Summit, whereby the Empire convenes the countries of its backyard, subjected to the Monroe Doctrine. It has summoned them, what for? To dictate to them, and exclude those countries that have decided to build their own way. And who was the excluded nation? Cuba. An extraordinary event took place when, at the insistence of Latin American Countries, Cuba was finally invited to the Summit in Panama, but then everything was reversed, everything regressed.
The world really is another world now. What is happening in Eastern Europe, the war which the United States imposed leading NATO against the Russian Federation, trying to take over Russia that Napoleon tried to dominate and which brought Napoleon down, Russia that the Nazis tried to dominate, Hitler who had been encouraged and nurtured by US Companies, who also built the weapons used by Hitler to start invading Europe.
Hitler was no more than a result of the decomposition of Capitalism and what they call its “Democratic Model”. But Hitler too, Nazism, was buried there in Russia by the Soviet Union, which meant millions of Human Beings from that People giving their Lives to defend Humanity.
And in their dementia we see the President of the United States, and the leaders of Europe who have turned into “Rambos”, offering munitions here and there, weapons here and there, imposing Sanctions here and there. A handful of mad people destroying their own countries, destroying their own economies, making the lives of their own populations more expensive, and attacking all of humanity.
But also it is not just enough for them to seek to take over Russia, they also want to take over the People's Republic of China, and they challenge the People's Republic of China, denying and tearing to pieces Agreements reached at the United Nations that the People's Republic of China is a single Entity, a single Nation.
We see US thinkers who have been promoters of machiavellian initiatives but also constructive initiatives that established relations between the United States and China, like Kissinger, questioning United States policy, NATO policy, questioning the war going nowhere except to collapse the Global Economy, in which new Paths were being opened, new Roads, new Poles, and consolidating these new Poles that have been developing since the end of the Cold War.
And it was possible to set up, as we have noted, this Pole also here in our Region: CELAC. We should be proud that we have Latin American and Caribbean Unity, in the midst of diversity, and that we respect our differences, and that by respecting our differences, when we convene a meeting, we all attend. There are no exclusions!
The fact is that the Summit of the Americas has already ceased to be a useful weapon for the Monroe Doctrine. It has ceased to be so, because the Monroe Doctrine no longer has any place. CELAC buried the Monroe Doctrine. Now Latin America and the Caribbean are not for the United States but for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
And via CELAC we are in dialogue with world powers, with Powers such as the Russian Federation, with Powers such as the People's Republic of China, with India, with other Powers that we have in the World. In other words, those Poles that have been forming now have a counterpart in Our America, which is CELAC. And CELAC is not exclusive, I am sure that there will come a moment, when conditions prevail in which CELAC invites the United States to a Meeting, that is if the United States wants to agree to talk with CELAC as other Nations and other countries do.
This situation that we are living through in these times which threatens Peace in the World, I am sure really, I am convinced that this is going to come to an end and it's going to end with a profound change, where Imperialism will have to stop being Imperialism, where NATO will have to stop being a NATO trying to take over the World, and where they will have to understand, once and for all, so that we can live on this Planet, which is our Common Home, that there is no other way, no alternative except to acknowledge one another in a Spirit of Respect and follow the Principles of Multilateralism, that on this Planet there is no room room for Imperialism, for Colonialism, for Hegemony... There's no place for them anymore!
And how glad we are to learn about this Letter, a Letter addressed to President Biden by 15 American Congress People led by Gregory W. Meeks, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, in which the Congress People tell President Biden:
"Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
President
The White House
Dear President:
We are writing to express our concern that the omission of the Governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Ninth Summit of the Americas to be held next month in Los Angeles could undermine the position of the United States in the Region.
This year's Summit, hosted by the United States for the first time since the inaugural Summit in 1994, comes at a critical time for Latin America and the Caribbean, as the Region continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine...”
The war in Ukraine, because that war and all the sanctions it has led to are damaging the Global Economy, the US Economy itself, it
"...is affecting US Families, it is affecting Latin American and Caribbean families, it is affecting the World, and too the current impact of Climate Change.
As firm believers in the important diplomatic role Multilateral Summits can play in addressing these common crises, we firmly believe that the exclusion of countries could jeopardize future relations throughout the Region, and put at risk some of the proposed policy ambitions that your Administration launched under the Build Back Better World."
(the Construction of a Better World is the translation).
"The leaders of Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras and others have threatened not to attend the Summit unless all countries are invited.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) have urged the US government not to exclude any country at next month's Summit.
If we are truly committed to addressing the complex regional challenges we face together as a Hemisphere, the Summit must be inclusive in many ways, including that we approach in good faith to negotiate with countries that do not share our views.”
Look closely at this "good faith negotiators". We have been receiving messages there in Washington, our Ambassador has been receiving these messages, today he sent us the last message which he received yesterday, where they tell our Ambassador to inform us that either we do what they say, or Nicaragua. will face tougher sanctions. And what are we to tell them? We cannot converse under those conditions, because we are not the kind of people to sell out, or surrender, ever! Never!
And the Congressmen say, as I was explaining to you...
"we want to approach as negotiators in good faith with countries that do not share our points of view. A fractured Summit, therefore, will negatively impact our bilateral relations with allies in the region who have maintained good relations with both the United States and uninvited countries.
While we may not support many of the actions taken by the Governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, we believe that a policy of rapprochement will produce more fruitful results than a permanent policy of isolation. We were pleased to see that your Administration took that same stance earlier this year when it held high-level migration dialogues with the Cuban government and when it sent a High-ranking Delegation to Venezuela to meet with Nicolás Maduro and ensure the successful release of two imprisoned Americans.
The Americas Summit is a special opportunity to come together as a Region and provide a platform for open debate. An invitation to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to participate in this year's Summit is not an endorsement of the visions or ideologies of these countries. It is an invitation to regional rapprochement that should be extended to all the countries of the Americas.
We hope that you will reconsider the omission of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from this year's Summit of the Americas. We also look forward to working with your Administration to develop strategies for meaningful engagement with these Countries both multilaterally and bilaterally.
Thank you for your attention to this issue. We are waiting for your response.
Sincerely,”
And the signatories are :
Gregory W. Meeks
James P. McGovern
Barbara Lee
Adriano Espaillat
Bobby L. Rush
Raúl M. Grijalva
Andy Levin
Jan Schakowsky
Sara Jacobs
Jesús G. “Chuy” García
Juan Vargas
Mark Pocan
Betty McCollum
Peter A. Defazio
Grace Meng
So, it is clear that in the United States, as well as these Congress people, there are many sensible, intelligent, decent, reasonable Americans, who do not go around like Rambo hurling sanctions and bombs, and causing mayhem everywhere.
And therefore, beloved Sisters and Brothers as we gather today on this Anniversary of the Bolivarian Alliance for Our Peoples in these complex conditions, difficult, with the pandemic past, we feel full of new Energy, full of Strength, fully Assured that reason will triumph over the force, reason will indeed triumph over Force, and we will continue to develop and strengthen ALBA and by strengthening ALBA also consolidate and develop this Pole that is installed in Our America, Latin America and the Caribbean, namely the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
Long live ALBA!