Caracas, Dec 15 - The determination of the Heads of State and Government of ALBA-TCP to advance and overcome threats and adversities was evident at the recently concluded 25th Summit of the Latin American and Caribbean integration bloc.
This meeting, held virtually with its nine member countries, was inspired by the example of revolutionary dignity and unwavering defense of sovereignty set by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, in the context of the centenary of his birth to be celebrated next year.
It was also held on the eve of the Bicentennial of the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama and amid increasing threats to peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The 13-point final declaration of the 25th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) reaffirmed the unwavering commitment to continue deepening the Bolivarian doctrine, thought, and action.
It considered it “incompatible with any form of hegemony, domination, or imperial tutelage,” the fundamental pillar that inspired Fidel and Chávez to found the Bolivarian Alliance.
It strongly condemned the declared purpose of the newly published United States National Security Strategy, aimed at reaffirming the “obsolete and historically defeated Monroe Doctrine.”
Likewise, it censured the act of piracy committed by that government by assaulting and seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, an event considered a violation of international law and an attack on the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic.
It congratulated the Venezuelan people for demonstrating, once again, profound resilience in the face of adversity and for courageously and consciously defending their dignity and right to their own destiny.
The ALBA-TCP declaration demanded the exclusion of Cuba from the “arbitrary and spurious list of countries supposedly sponsoring terrorism” and highlighted the achievements of the Government of National Reconciliation of Nicaragua in building a sovereign economy, a country that is increasingly Christian and socialist.
It also demanded the immediate cessation of all military threats against any country in Our America and reiterated the full validity of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, approved in January 2014 in Havana, Cuba.
It reaffirmed the commitment to defend the rights of migrants and demanded the implementation of protocols for safe, orderly, and dignified repatriation.
Similarly, he acknowledged the progress of the AgroAlba and AlbaAzul programs, aimed at increasing levels of food and productive sovereignty; he celebrated the start of operations of the Alba Ship and approved the 2026 Action Plan, which is oriented toward the objectives set out in the 2030 Strategic Agenda.
One of the most significant events was the announcement to create an International Mission of Energy and Electricity, composed of the ALBA-TCP States and other countries, with "the intention of supporting the sister Republic of Cuba in the complete restoration of electrical energy in the country."
President Nicolás Maduro commented that he gave instructions to “increase everything we are doing two or three times over” and assured, “we will emerge better, stronger, more aware, and more victorious than ever.”
He asserted that 2025 has been a good year for ALBA-TCP, marked by close coordination, joint work, planning, and action.
Maduro highlighted that trade began to gain momentum through the Alba Ship, “the first one that goes and returns,” which has already transported more than 20,000 tons of various commercial and solidarity support components to date, including aid to the Cuban people following the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October.
He declared that, 21 years after the emergence of the Bolivarian Alliance, it continues to be the great project of union, emancipation, and multidimensional liberation of our peoples in times of wonderful challenges.
For his part, the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, assured that the Latin American and Caribbean integration bloc will continue to be an essential space “of solidarity, dignity, and resistance” in the face of destabilizing campaigns, pressure measures, and various forms of aggression.
He emphasized that “we will continue fighting for a common goal, which is the unity, peace, and sovereignty of the peoples,” always faithful to the ideas of Bolívar, Martí, Fidel, and Chávez.
From Nicaragua, co-president Daniel Ortega called the recent seizure of an oil tanker and its crew by the United States a robbery, which Venezuelan authorities considered the "inauguration of a new era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean Sea."
Meanwhile, Dwight Fitzgerald, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment, and Diaspora Affairs of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, expressed that ALBA-TCP demonstrated to the world that it has much to offer in terms of environmental respect, racial and ethnic harmony, economic cooperation, and tolerance.
This 25th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance announced the activation of new permanent mechanisms for social, political, and cultural cooperation to strengthen the bloc’s cohesion. These included the creation of a communal training circuit for the exchange of knowledge and leadership, and the formalization of a task force for coordinated disaster response, among others.
