ALBA-TCP Summit to reaffirm commitment to unity and integration

Havana, Dec 10.- The 20th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP, in Spanish) will reaffirm the commitment to unity and integration among member States, a diplomatic source noted.

According to Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal, the event will be favorable to sharing opinions and points of view on the development of the member countries in the current situation.

The meeting, scheduled for December 14 in Havana, will consider the design of joint strategies to face the post-pandemic stage, she added in an interview published on the Cuban Presidency’s website.

“It will be a good opportunity to jointly evaluate the regional scenario, the actions to guarantee peace and stability, as well as political agreements to prevent interference in our internal affairs,” she stressed.

Another topic on the agenda will be the impact of Covid-19 and the analysis of the 2022 Work Plan for debate and approval.

Vidal insisted on the organization’s work during the pandemic to guarantee mass access to vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and other medicines.

“From the moment the health emergency was declared, it became a priority for the Alliance to counteract the impact of the pandemic in our countries, in all areas: economic, health and social,” she added.

In this sense, Vidal recalled the persistent external pressures and unilateral coercive measures that prevent access to medicines, as well as to purchase and financing them, medical supplies and the resources necessary to help relieve the effects of the virus.

However, the bloc created a mechanism that established an air bridge for the transfer of vaccines, medical personnel, treatments and supplies, among others, through the ALBA Bank.

In addition, a two-million-dollar fund was made available to Eastern Caribbean countries as a financial relief for the purchase of vaccines.

Cuban medical personnel have participated in patients’ care and vaccination in several brother countries, Vidal recalled.

“During the most critical moments of the pandemic in Cuba, our country received 3.5 tons of medical supplies, donated by Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia, and transferred by Venezuelan CONVIASA airline”, she added.

(Prensa Latina)