Comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, our brother Maduro; Dear Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America; Dear Heads of Delegations and Guests: Building unity is the most important task facing any real revolution. The member countries of ALBA-TCP consider solidarity integration as an essential condition for progress towards development ... Venezuela has made a great contribution to regional integration with its solidarity and generosity. I would dare say that we are at a crucial stage in our history, in which a regional regression would have very negative impacts on our peoples. Fidel taught us to always resort to history, to be bold and at the same time realistic, and what seems impossible can be achieved if we propose it firmly and act accordingly.
The member countries of ALBA-TCP consider solidarity integration as an essential condition for progress towards development, in the face of the growing formation of large blocks dominating the world economy. We are committed to the political will to open greater opportunities for trade, investment and intra-regional cooperation, without which our progress will remain insufficient. We have also shown a capacity for concerted action. The ALBA would not have been possible at the time when the Cuban Revolution triumphed. The civic-military revolt of February 4, 1992 and the triumph of the Bolivarian Revolution led by the unforgettable Commander Hugo Chávez Frías had to occur, so that an initiative like this could break through.
It was important that in the Sao Paulo Forum the ideas of Fidel and Lula converged to receive and support Chavez. The link between ALBA and the Sao Paulo Forum and the relationship between revolutionary and progressive governments with political forces, popular movements, trade unions, peasants, students, academics and the intelligentsia of our peoples continue to be decisive today.
Chavez has always explained the complexity of launching the revolution in an oil country, dependent on a single market, with a corrupt financial oligarchy, a population that imposed unsustainable consumer habits and a neoliberal rentier economy, which led the country to bankruptcy. In order to undertake the transformations, Chavez understood that his main task was the construction of a broad civic-military unit, which is now headed by President Nicolas Maduro with the backing of the Bolivarian and Chavista people.
Building unity is the most important task facing any real revolution. We revolutionaries have many ideas and visions of what the road may be and how to successfully navigate it. But in order to consolidate unity, we have to leave aside, with modesty, everything that divides and separates us. Thanks to unity, the Bolivarian Revolution has survived the siege and harassment of its enemies.
For that unity, the revolution has survived the baseness of the OAS, the irritating and unjust American sanctions, the recent accusations against its executive vice president, comrade Tareck El Aissami, who only seek to divert attention from real problems and discredit To those who are engaged in saving, developing and defending the country.
The new agenda of the United States government threatens to unleash an extreme and selfish trade protectionism that will impact the competitiveness of our foreign trade; Will violate environmental agreements to favor the revenues of transnational corporations; Will pursue and deport migrants generated by the unequal distribution of wealth and the growth of poverty caused by the imposed international order.
The wall that is intended to be built on the northern border of Mexico is an expression of this irrationality, not only against this brother country, but against our entire region. We express the solidarity of Cuba with the Mexican people and government. Poverty, catastrophes and migrants are not contained with walls (Applause), but with cooperation, understanding and peace.
Venezuela has made a great contribution to regional integration with its solidarity and generosity, especially towards the peoples of Latin America, and in particular the Caribbean, while calling on us to join Petrocaribe, UNASUR and CELAC. They are not alone. I reaffirm the commitment made in our Declaration to accompany the defense of Venezuela and the dignified, courageous and constructive position of President Nicolás Maduro
Comrades:
In Venezuela the decisive battle for the sovereignty, the emancipation, the integration and the development of Our America is fought today.
It is an aspiration that we enshrine in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, adopted by CELAC at its Summit in Havana in January 2014. A strict adherence to this declaration is required, in which we commit ourselves to Fulfill our "obligation not to intervene directly or indirectly in the internal affairs of any other State and to observe the principles of national sovereignty, equal rights and self-determination of peoples"; To resolve disputes in a peaceful manner and to respect "the principles and norms of international law and the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations"; And to respect "the inalienable right of every State to choose its political, economic, social and cultural system as an essential condition for ensuring peaceful coexistence among nations."
This historic document urges "all member states of the international community to fully respect this declaration in their relations with the member states of CELAC." No just cause of the Great Homeland is alien. We will never fail the caring brothers of the Caribbean.
We ratify our support for your legitimate claim to compensation for the horrors of slavery and the slave trade; To their demand to receive cooperation according to their needs and not on the basis of indicators that classify them as middle income countries; Special and differential treatment in access to trade and investment, as well as financing to adapt to the effects of climate change and address natural disasters, such as small, vulnerable island states; And our rejection of the unjust persecution of which they are object by the centers of the financial capital.
We reiterate our solidarity with Dilma Rousseff, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, recognized leaders of Our America. We will not give up supporting Correa and his partner Lenin Moreno in Ecuador. We will never leave Evo alone, true leader of Bolivia and all the original peoples. We will continue to accompany Daniel and the Sandinista people of Nicaragua.
Thank you very much (Applause).