Statement by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, president of the Republic of Cuba, at the twenty third Alba-TCP Summit.

Brother Nicolás Maduro Moros, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and host of this timely ALBA-TCP Summit:

Dear brothers and sisters;

Commander Daniel Ortega and President Luis Alberto Arce;

Esteemed brothers Prime Ministers Skerritt, Gaston, Ralph and Phillips;

Representatives of the family of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty;

Esteemed Arreaza; Executive Secretary of ALBA-TCP;

I would like, first of all, to express my appreciation for convening us at “the hour of the furnaces”. Martí defined the hour of the furnaces as the revolutionary time of staying united, and I quote his words:  “In the work of foresight and order, of broad judgment and cordial action, all those who have a chest to attack, and a mind to see from afar, and hands to execute. And without misgivings and without exclusions. And without forgetfulness of the true and the just.  And without tenacious antipathies. It is the hour of the furnaces in which nothing but light should be seen”, and ALBA is precisely shedding light.

 I invoke Martí in this land of liberators, because no one made us feel more and better acquainted with Bolivar and his ideas about integration, which finally transcended from a dream to the reality of Our America, when two e strong advocates of the ideas of Bolívar and Martí, like Commanders Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez Frías, founded this alternative to the neoliberals’ trade, this alliance of dreams that did so much in such a short period of time in favor of our nations.

Fidel, who was so accurate and fair in his words, described Chávez as “the best friend the Cuban people had ever had throughout their history”. Both of them, trough their efforts and actions in the interest of the emancipation and development of Our America,  proved to be close friends and brothers of all Latin American and Caribbean peoples, since they planted the seed of ALBA-TCP, the first realization of a brotherhood that still has a promising path ahead.

This is the Alliance of Solidarity and cooperation, which has overcome the selfish pragmatism that is only committed to profits and the market.

This is the Alliance of the Miracle that made true the projects that seemed to be impossible; and worked social feats that have benefitted millions of citizens in this region.

This is the Alliance where many found for the first time an answer to the demands that had for centuries been neglected by development models for which human beings always come second.

This is the Alliance of unity, which allows us to face challenges and threats together;

Cuba will always be present in ALBA-TCP, because despite all the blockades and difficulties which are decreed by the empires and are mercilessly enforces by the current international order, which is deeply unjust and exclusionary, our Alliance has demonstrated how and how much can be done from the South if this fraternal integration prevails.

Dear brothers and sisters;

This meeting could not be postponed. The regional and international juncture is a source of concern and summons us to action.

Somehow, and more than once, we have all warned about the dangers that lie in the impunity with which Israel has been acting, thanks to the complicity and support of the government of the United States, despite the grave dangers of regionalization of the Middle East conflict, which is a serious threat to international peace and security.

Only an imperialist mindset and an interventionist purpose can deny that peace and stability in that region depends, first and foremost, on a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, which would include the creation of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital; and guarantees the right of return of refugees to their home country.

From this tribune of free, independent and sovereign peoples, we call for the immediate incorporation of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations Organization.

We cannot remain indifferent to the daily crime that has been committed against the brotherly people of Palestine for 75 years now. 

No one can justify the brutal Zionist escalation of the last six months; the serious violations of International Humanitarian Law; the war crimes and crimes against humanity that have turned a slim strip of inhabited land into a training camp for a bloodthirsty army.

The United Nations Security Council must carry out its mandate and put an end to the impunity of Israel, the Occupying Power, before the questionable credibility of its resolutions, besieged by the imperial veto, ends up by disappearing under the rubble of Gaza.

 In 2014 in the light of events as serious as the ones that outrage us today, one of our founding leaders, the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, wrote the following, and I quote: “The genocide of the Nazis against the Jews reaped the hatred of all peoples on Earth. Why does the government of that country believe that the world will be insensitive to this macabre genocide that today is being committed against the Palestinian people? Would it expect the world to ignore how much complicity there is on the part of the American empire in this shameless massacre”?

These words seem to be written for today. That is why I insist that all the peoples of the world should make the Palestinian cause their own.

Brothers and sisters of ALBA-TCP;

Two centuries after being enunciated, the Monroe Doctrine continues to put in jeopardy the destiny of Our America.

The imperialism persists in its plan to dominate our lands. It finances and promotes violence, destabilization and hate speeches. It attacks leftist and progressive forces and seeks to erase the history of struggle and resistance of the peoples.

In the face of these imperialist attempts, we reaffirm our all-out commitment to unity, the defense of our sovereignty and peace.

We reaffirm our unwavering will to continue strengthening CELAC.

Once again, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the storming by the Ecuadorian police into Mexico’s diplomatic mission in Quito on April 5 last.  This violation of International Law, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the right to asylum and the sovereignty of our beloved Mexico is unjustifiable.

We call for the reinstatement of ex Vice-president Jorge Glass to the position he held prior to the assault on the Mexican embassy and the resumption of his legal process in accordance with International Law.

Ten years after the adoption in Havana of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, we call for respect and strict abidance by its postulates.  The fact that the region continues to be internationally recognized for its commitment to regional peace and stability is a matter of utmost importance for the present and the future of our peoples.

Esteemed friends;

Dear brothers and sisters of Our America;

On behalf of the Cuban people, the Party and their Government, I congratulate the Venezuelan people for the celebration of the new electoral process in an atmosphere of peace and based on its Constitution. They have succeeded in doing so despite the attempts by some sectors to resort to violence and apply again failed methods that caused, more than once, so much pain and grief to the noble Venezuelan families.

We are not talking about old plans. They are as recent as the attempt against the life of our brother Nicolás Maduro hardly a month ago.  We strongly support the timely denunciations made by our Venezuelan brothers and sisters of these plans, which are intended to prevent the electoral process from taking place in an ambiance of peace and security.

We reject, once again, foreign interference and impositions intended to influence the functioning of Venezuelan institutions.

We denounce the implementation of unilateral coercive measures by the United States in violation of International Law, and demand that they are totally, immediately, permanently and unconditionally lifted.

We express our recognition and full fraternal support to our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters who are resisting the siege of the media and the interventionist attempts by the imperialism and its allies intended to subvert their constitutional order.

We extend our support and solidarity to the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the defense of its sovereignty over its natural resources and against destabilizing attempts.

The sister Republic of Haiti is facing a new and very serious crisis.  The international community is highly indebted to its people, which were subject to despicable punishments by imperial powers and have been forced to unjustly pay a high price for carrying out the first social revolution in our continent.

Haiti needs true, sufficient and effective assistance and cooperation for development. There is an illegal traffic of arms and ammunitions from the United States to Haiti that must be stopped.

The Haitian people have the right to find a peaceful, sustainable and lasting solution to the challenges they face, based on the full respect for their self-determination, sovereignty and independence.

Cuba has offered fraternal and selfless cooperation to Haiti in areas of great impact for its people. Even under the present circumstances, we still maintain a Medical Brigade there that is offering its services to Haitians in need.

We have proposed, through CELAC, the creation of a Single International Solidarity Fund for the Recovery in Haiti, which would draw on the contributions of the international community and attend to the priorities of the Haitian people.  International banking institutions should contribute to channel those contributions to that fund. Haiti’s foreign debt should be cancelled.

We likewise endorse the just demands for reparations and compensations for the damages caused by the enslavement and colonization of our Caribbean brothers and sisters who need and deserve a just, special and differentiated treatment.

We support the right of the Puerto Rican people to independence and express our solidarity with the Argentinean people.

The Caribbean will always find in ALBA-TCP an ally in the defense of its interests and demands.

We appreciate the firm support of ALBA-TCP to our struggle to put an end to the genocidal and illegal blockade imposed by the government of the United States against the Cuban people, which has been strengthened to extreme levels in recent years.  We likewise appreciate the valuable support to the legitimate demand to remove Cuba from the arbitrary and unilateral list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

Our struggle shall continue, year after year, until the government of the United States ceases to implement that cruel, immoral and unjustifiable policy.  Our people deserve to live in peace, on an equal footing, and show how much we would be capable of advancing and building under socialism.

Dear brothers and sisters;

As the year 2024 progresses, the threats and challenges facing the Cuban Revolution are maintained and have even grown bigger, but 65 years of resistance and heroic creativity have not gone by in vain. We welcome every new day with the spirit of struggle and work that characterizes the revolutionaries and with the experience accumulated after more than 150 years of struggle together with the exemplary historical generation headed by the leader of the Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz. At the   commemoration of a new anniversary of the Triumph of 1959, he exalted, over and above the many virtues of the brave Cuban people, their sacred unity, which is at the core of every victory over the neighboring empire which also despises us.

Upon concluding his emotional remarks on that day, Raúl summarized the lessons learned during the revolutionary combat together with Fidel and referred to, and I quote: “…the decisive importance of unity and not to ever lose serenity and the confidence in victory, no matter how insurmountable the powerful obstacles put by the enemies or how big the dangers may seem; of learning and drawing strength from every setback until it is turned into a victory.”

Today I say before you, brothers and sisters of the Bolivarian Alliance, that 2024 will also be a year of victories and results; of unity and advances.   We will never renounce our dreams or betray the legacy of the heroes, whether living or dead, of Our America.

Soon we will be marking the twentieth anniversary of the foundation of this emancipating and unitary alliance that was successfully promoted by two great, unforgettable, eternal leaders of Our America: Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías and Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.

We will do it with a renewed commitment to continue working for its consolidation and the preservation of its humanitarian and social essence. We will do it inspired by the example set on a daily basis by Army General Raúl Castro.

We are an unswervingly committed to integration and unity, and from now on also to the 2030 Agenda.

We will continue to work tirelessly for an ALBA of victories; an ALBA of peace and unity; an ALBA of solidarity and cooperation.

You can always count on Cuba’s modest, but determined contribution.

Let’s make the dreams of the founding fathers of this Alliance come true!

Our strength lies and will always lie on this unity.

Ever onwards to victory!

Together we will be invincible!

Thank you, very much.