Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel inaugurates 21st ALBA-TCP Summit

Havana, May 27 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel noted on Friday that regional unity is a historic necessity, at the inauguration of the 21st Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance of Our America-People's Trade Treaty (ALBA- TCP).

Speaking at Havana’s Palace of the Revolution, the president stressed that unity in its diversity of Latin America and the Caribbean is essential to achieve a firm and articulated voice for sustainable development and the defense of sovereignty.

He told the heads of State and Government and representatives of all ten member countries of the Alliance that the Covid-19 pandemic has strained the bloc’s economy and healthcare systems, but it also demonstrated the potential that exists.

In that regard, Diaz-Canel highlighted Cuba’s achievements in fighting the disease, with support from its healthcare personnel and scientists, who developed the country’s homegrown vaccines and medicines, which were put at the service of the ALBA-TCP countries.

The 21st Summit is taking place in Havana with the participation of representatives of all ten member States of the multilateral organization, days before the 9th Summit of the Americas, to be held in Los Angeles, the United States, from which the host government arbitrarily excluded several countries from the region.

The Cuban president recently said that given this situation he did not plan attending the meeting, and joined the position of leaders from other Latin American nations, including Mexico, Bolivia and several member states of the Caribbean community. The ALBA-TCP was founded by Latin American leaders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez on December 14, 2004, with a solidarity and humanist vocation, and in pursuit of an integration that goes beyond economic and commercial issues.