JOINT
COMMUNIQUE
On the occasion of the
official visit to Cuba of presidents Hugo Chavéz Frías and Evo Morales Ayma on
April 28 and 29, 2006, there was a broad-ranging dialogue with the President of
the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, celebrating the first anniversary
of the agreements launching the implementation of ALBA, the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Peoples of Our America, which is bolstered by the proposed Peoples’ Trade Agreements (TCP, by its acronym
in Spanish). This dialogue included the analysis
of the current international situation and, particularly, the challenges facing
the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in the present political,
economic and social circumstances marked by an increase of the popular struggles
against the failed neo-liberal policy and the search for new ways and means toward
development with social justice in the framework of genuine fraternal Latin
American and Caribbean integration.
The subject of ALBA, the
Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America, was discussed by the
three leaders as it is the basis of the exchanges and collaboration between the
There was discussion of the
initiative proposed by President Evo Morales regarding the TCP (Peoples’ Trade
Agreements) which shall be an instrument for cooperative and complementary
exchanges between the nations whose goal it is to benefit their peoples, in
direct contrast to the Free Trade Agreements which continue to increase the
power and dominance of the trans-nationals.
The needs of the Bolivian
people’s development were analyzed as were the challenges faced by the 3-month
old government of President Evo Morales, after winning an impressive electoral
victory allowing, for the first time, the native communities and the indigenous
peoples to participate in the government of their nation. The three leaders share the conviction that strong
solidarity, mutual cooperation and aid between their peoples must prevail, free
from any interest in business or market profits. In the particular case of Bolivia, they shall
work on the complicated task of transforming the present reality of severe shortages
of basic social services such as education and healthcare, while making the
best possible use of natural resources such as gas, oil and others, for the
development of its agricultural potential and the training of skilled human
resources, so that the benefits may improve the lives of the poor, the
exploited and the discriminated.
The leaders agree that only a
new and genuine integration based on the principles of mutual aid, solidarity
and respect for self-determination can provide a suitable response to the level
of social justice, cultural diversity, equity and the right to development which
all peoples deserve and claim for. Such integration
is conceived as a political and economic relationship that is in stark contrast
with that which has been established by FTAA and the free trade treaties.
For all the preceding
reasons, the three leaders agreed that Bolivia, represented by her president,
Evo Morales Ayma, should become part of the process of constructing and
implementing the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America,
starting with the development of the TCP among the three countries and to reiterate
the Joint Declaration signed by the governments of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela and the Republic of Cuba on December 14,