Fidel, Chavez and the Intergration of ALBA

The combination of two great leaders, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez has allowed the creation of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), an integrated mechanism with enormous value for the poor and needy, according to Jose Luis Merino, who is a member of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN)'s Political Commission.

Merino who is also one of the founders of a left-wing party in El Salvador, made the comments in an interview with Prensa Latina.

He added that ALBA is a tool which has allowed countries to raise welfare and improve living standards in practically all Latin America.

He also mentioned that millions of people have recovered their sight thanks to Operation Miracle, a program that freely treats patients with eye afflictions.

Operation Miracle began in Cuba and then spread to Latin America, especially Venezuela. There is an eye center in El Salvador where a brigade of Cuban specialists is working. They have carried out about 10,000 operations on cataracts and pterigium in the past year.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty or ALBA-TCP emerged in 2004, with an emphasis on the fight against poverty and social exclusion.

It acts as a counterpart to the Free Trade Area of the Americas, promoted by the United States