Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro receives the leaders participating in the 24th ALBA-TCP Summit. teleSUR
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00:00We go now live to Caracas as President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, is receiving all
00:07the different heads of state of governments that have gathered here in that city in Caracas
00:12for the 24th Summit of ALBA-TCP Heads of States and Governments.
00:17We're seeing live images as President Nicolás Maduro welcomes all the different high-level
00:24authorities and heads of states and governments that have gathered here in Caracas on the
00:30occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of America.
00:37We continue to see images in Caracas as President Nicolás Maduro, as we were saying, continues
00:58to welcome different authorities that have come here, that have come there to the venue
01:05in Caracas where the 24th Summit of ALBA-TCP Heads of States and Governments is going to
01:10start very shortly, in just a couple, in just a few minutes, they will, the heads of states
01:16will have first a private meeting among themselves.
01:20They will discuss different topics, especially also the issues that are going to be proposed
01:25by, that are going to be proposed, that were proposed yesterday, Friday, that the social
01:32movements of the alliance also hold their own council meeting, and this is how it works.
01:37The people are a strong part of the whole process, it's not a group that is only the
01:46ruling class, the ones that have disabled have a deep touch with the social movements
01:51which are a centerpiece of the ALBA-TCP and they can bring their concerns, their propositions
01:58and what's going on directly to the authorities, then they can have a rich exchange in order
02:06to together find the alternative and the proposals to be able to overcome all different obstacles
02:14and challenges.
02:17So we are having live images in Caracas as the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro
02:24continues to receive all the different authorities that have gathered here for this 24th ALBA-TCP
02:31Summit on a special occasion today as is the 20th anniversary, 20 years ago, December 14,
02:382004, is when the then President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, one of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez,
02:45in a historical hug as has been described in many occasions, gave way to this paramount
02:52integrationist mechanism that has the main objective of bringing prosperity for the whole
02:58region to ensure the true development of the peoples of the region, of its member states,
03:04in taking into account the key sector that is the people, the social movement, the core,
03:09the grassroots of the citizens of the different nations to hear what they need, to see what
03:16the problems are and to find ways that together they can move forward.
03:20This we must remember that it came in contrast, it came in contrast to face the free trade
03:28agreements that were being promoted back in the days by the United States to the region,
03:35Hugo Chavez pretty much denied this because he refused to sign these agreements because
03:40he saw in them that it was not in the best interest for the region, it was very detrimental
03:47for the development of the nations of the region and that's when this idea of a new
03:52dawn, how he called it back in the days, because alba in Spanish means dawn, and this idea
04:09came.
04:20So we continue watching live images in Caracas as the president of Venezuela continues to
04:26receive all the different authorities that have joined here for as we were saying this
04:32important summit, the free trade area of the Americas is a project that Alba came in response
04:38to as it was seen as a failure and that it would not help the nations of the region to
04:44be able to develop and prosper especially in equal conditions for the self-determination
04:50sovereignty of the people.
04:53Now over these two decades the alliance so far over these two decades of life it has
04:59promoted regional integration and strengthened ties of friendship and cooperation among its
05:04member states and with this meeting, with this upcoming summit what the alliance seeks
05:12is to continue consolidating its role as a reference point in Latin America and Caribbean
05:18integration.
05:19It's also a way, a path to continue reaffirming the commitments to the sustainable developments
05:28and solidarity amongst its members.
05:36We were saying the progressive social movements, they gathered yesterday, Friday, to see what
05:45could be done as they were marking the 20th anniversary of the Bolivarian alliance of
05:51the peoples of America, People's Trade Treaty, during this session the Council of Social
05:55Movement discussed actions, discussed actions to broaden international solidarity with the
06:05peoples of Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti.
06:23Now in this alliance this is a space where solidarity prevails over profit as has been
06:28one of the core tenets of the alliance that the idea is not to make the most profit, the
06:34most money but the idea is to be able to develop hand in hand together all the member states
06:40of the region taking advantage of the strength and facing the weakness of the other states
06:48so in a way they can come and join in complementarity so that one is not left behind.
06:56So through solidarity the Bolivarian alliance for the peoples of our America has solidified
07:02cooperation projects in key areas such as education, health and the economy while strengthening
07:10commitments to regional integration and multilateralism as a path forward towards the future and as
07:17the only real possible way for the region to be truly independent.
07:25As was said recently during the meeting of the Council of Social Movement, the executive
07:31secretary of Alva de Cepillo, Ariasa, that the true independence of the countries of
07:37the region is when in the near future hopefully he said the great homeland of Latin American
07:45and Caribbean is finally created.
07:52So two decades after its creation Alva de Cepillo has achieved numerous milestones stemming
07:57from solidarity among nations going beyond mere commercial ties, the alliance remains
08:04today a transformative project for Latin American and Caribbean and has set short, medium and
08:13long term goals for the complete development of its member states and the sustainability
08:21in the development of all the nations of the region.
08:26Among its most notable initiatives is the declaration of Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua
08:33as territories free of illiteracy, a goal achieved through educational programs like
08:39the Yes I Can method which transformed the lives of millions of people by enabling them
08:45access to written information.
08:48Similarly the Miracle Mission, a humanitarian project that was born following the idea of
08:56commander of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro whose humanitarian project aimed at providing
09:02free surgeries for individuals with various eye conditions.
09:07So far today over 5 million patients have recovered their sight, all these operations
09:15being done free of charge, prioritizing of course those from low income backgrounds who
09:21lack access to eye doctors.
09:26We continue to see live the images in Caracas as President Nicolás Maduro continues to
09:31welcome the heads of states of government, in this case Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister
09:36of San Vincente and the Grenadines.
09:38As people continue to arrive here at this venue where they will have the meeting.
09:45First they will have a closed door meeting among themselves, later on they will walk
09:49the grounds, they will see an exposition about the 20th anniversary, the achievements that
09:54have been achieved during these 20 years of ALBA-TCP and then they will have the photo
09:59up for the event and a few moments later is when they will gather and each of these
10:05authorities that are gathered here, all the heads of states of government and representatives
10:09of different nations, including Haiti and Palestine, that even though they are non-member
10:14states of the ALBA-TCP, they are long-standing invited guests to this kind of meeting because
10:23also ALBA seeks to find solidarity with these nations, with these peoples in order to be
10:28able to confront them and Haiti and Palestine are also going to be key on the agenda, a
10:34way to face the crisis, the security crisis that Haiti is experiencing and of course the
10:39condemnation of the Israeli genocide that is happening today as we speak in Gaza and
10:46in the West Bank, but mainly in Gaza.
10:48Now we are seeing live images again in this venue where the ALBA-TCP summit is going to
10:53be held as President Nicolás Ortega of Nicaragua just arrived and is being welcomed by President
11:02Nicolás Maduro as all the heads of states and government of member nations and in some
11:10cases representatives, high-level delegations have come here to take part in these discussions
11:16and continue on the growth of the alliance and strengthening its pillars since its foundation,
11:25the core basis on what they function to continue ensuring and fighting for the self-determination
11:31of the peoples of the region.
11:46So those are the live images we are getting from Caracas, President Nicolás Maduro is
11:52welcoming all the different heads of states of government.
11:55We've seen Raul González, Ortega, different Prime Ministers also from Caribbean Islands,
12:01Dominica, St. Louis have all gathered here.
12:04All the member states have come here and shortly in just a matter of hours the meeting is going
12:10to be held.
12:11We will have of course the statements of the different heads of states and government live
12:16here in Telesurs.
12:17So stay tuned with that first.
12:18They will have a closed-door meeting that will last for over an hour and then they will
12:23walk the grounds, they will see the exposition about the 20 years anniversary showing all
12:30the achievements that have been gained during these two decades of history of ALBA-TCP and
12:38later on they will have the photo op and of course the intervention, the speeches of each
12:42of the heads of states and government that are present here and their representatives
12:47not only of the ALBA member states but also of Haiti and Palestine as special guests to
12:53this summit.
12:54We are going back to Caracas as President Luis Arce of the Pure National State of Bolivia
13:02is also arriving, entering the venue and is about to be received.
13:08We will have very shortly the images of President Nicolás Maduro welcoming the President of
13:16the Pure National State.
13:23Luis Arce is being welcomed by President Nicolás Maduro.
13:38As we were talking ALBA-TCP in these 20 years of history have many achievements, we are
13:43talking about the literacy campaigns that free the regions of Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela
13:48of illiteracy and we were lastly talking about the miracle mission which has returned the
13:55sight of over 5 million people in the region completely for free.
14:02In social inclusion, another important achievement that ALBA-TCP strives for, the psychosocial
14:09genetic clinical study of people with disabilities has identified and assisted over 1 million
14:15vulnerable individuals actively integrating them into society, training of community doctors,
14:21the Latin American School of Medicine with campuses in Cuba and Venezuela which reinforces
14:28a humanistic and solidarity driven approach to health care which these are all key aspects
14:35of ALBA-TCP, the tenants, the key axis of how it works, always taking into account the
14:43people from the ground up, that's also why the people have a very important participation
14:50in all these events.
14:52As we were saying before getting to this day, this Saturday, that the heads of states and
14:57governments are going to meet.
14:59Yesterday Friday the social movements held their own council meeting in Caracas and it's
15:05a way that many of our guests that were here from the south in different spaces of news
15:11multi-platform, they were referring, they were saying how it's something that in some
15:16cases for the people that were newcomers, it's something that they had not seen in other
15:20places the way that this works, that the people have a direct impact in the decision making
15:28of the authorities, they have a direct contact with their authorities and it's not as in
15:32the case of one person, one of our guests from India was referring that when you see
15:37all these other summits of other international groups, they only listen to the people when
15:42there are protests.
15:43In this case there's no need to protest because the space is open for the people to have their
15:48own, have their opinion, have their direct contact to bring what their concerns and their
15:52proposals to find a way together for solutions to the numerous obstacles that the region
15:58and the world as a whole faces in a context today that is very complicated as we are
16:03living different crises, not only in the Middle East and in different also aspects, the climate
16:10crisis, the financial crisis, different things happening coming from, especially the recovery
16:18of the economy coming from the pandemic, coming from the COVID-19 pandemic which pretty much
16:24harmed very seriously the different economies of the region as well as developing countries,
16:33of island countries, most of the Caribbean island countries are also here present in
16:40this summit.
16:41We continue to see President Nicolás Maduro welcoming heads of states arriving here for
16:50the summit, ahead of the summit.
17:04So we are seeing images as the President of Venezuela welcomes Gaston Brown, the Prime
17:09Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and they're coming here.
17:14So as we were saying, the alliance, the Bolivar alliance is a space where solidarity is always
17:20going to be prevailed because it's at the basement, at the grassroots of what was created
17:25from the beginning by the commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, and the then
17:32President of Venezuela, Rules Chavez, Rafael Fría.
17:36Now through solidarity, they continue to work and to express the things that we're going
17:43to start working together.
17:44We were saying here, we were talking about the different achievements that have been
17:49gained during the process.
17:51We were talking about the medical mission, we were talking about the end of illiteracy
17:54in numerous countries, we were talking about a different approach to healthcare through
17:59the training of doctors in the different international Latin American schools with campuses in Venezuela
18:05and Cuba, and these doctors would then go to feed people in low-income neighborhoods
18:12and places where they never had access to a doctor before, but all that is happening
18:17today thanks to the humanistic work of ALBA-TCP, the way it was envisioned by Fidel Castro,
18:25Rafael Chavez, Fría.
18:28As we were saying, today is not only just a regular meeting because today ALBA-TCP celebrates
18:33two decades as a pillar of Latin American social movements.
18:38Two decades after its creation, ALBA-TCP has achieved numerous milestones stemming
18:43from solidarity among nations and going beyond mere commercial ties.
18:49Today the alliance remains for the region, a transformative project for Latin America
18:54and the Caribbean, and it has in place short, medium, and long-term goals, and long-term
19:01goals for the sustainable development and for the equality of its people and for the
19:08coming on, the strengthening of a united Latin America, as Jorge Arreaza said during his
19:15speech in the meeting of the Council of Social Movements that was held on Friday, the meeting
19:23where he said that the multilateral integration of Latin America is the true way of a true
19:28independence that is the creation of the great homeland as is also said in the Charter
19:35of Jamaica, which is kind of like the backbone from which this ALBA-TCP was later created
19:42following the ideas of the great leaders of the region as Simon Bolivar, José Martí
19:48Sucre, all these ideals of creating the great homeland of a united Latin American and Caribbean.
19:59So ALBA-TCP is also taking care of the economy, not only as we were saying just in a moment
20:13health and all these other aspects, but also the economy is a way to tackle the inequalities
20:21of the different peoples of the region as with the creation of the ALBA Bank, El Banco
20:27del ALBA in order to fund projects for the development and for the proposals of new
20:34development areas in different regions so that continue to create wealth and continue
20:39to create prosperity in the different countries of the member states, but also always taking
20:44into account the social aspect of the people in order not to leave anyone behind.
20:58Now, in the field, as we were saying, of international economics, ALBA-TCP has promoted the creation
21:09of a space of sovereignty and solidarity among the peoples. Based on the foundation of this
21:15institution which promotes a post-liberal and anti-imperialist approach aimed at strengthening
21:21the national sovereignty of its member. The initial alliance between Venezuela and Cuba
21:27was later joined by Bolivia in 2006, Nicaragua in 2007, Dominica in 2008, Antigua and Barbuda
21:33in 2008, San Vicente and the Grenadines in 2009, San Vicente and the Sanquists and Navies
21:38in 2014, and Grenada in 2014, and San Luis in 2021. These are the ten member nations
21:44that are here gathered today to discuss everything that they're going to be facing in the coming
21:50years alongside two special guests, Haiti and Palestine, which we'll also have a moment
21:55to take the floor and address the meeting.