ALBA Member Countries Seek Common Trade Area
HAVANA TIMES — Following a meeting held in Guayaquil, participants to the 12th Presidential Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) have advanced a proposal to create a common trade area aimed at “a form of joint development that will protect the social rights of peoples”, DPA reported.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared that the Summit will approach MERCOSUR with a proposal “to create a common trade area for joint development. We are asking Petrocaribe, CARICOM, to come together and create a powerful trade area.”
“I am convinced that this gathering of presidents has served to resume the work of defending our peoples and natural resources, which will allow us to establish policies based on mutual aid and solidarity. Such policies are what unite us,” Bolivarian leader Evo Morales commented.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa stated that the gathering served to “reinvigorate and give impetus” to the Alliance and that the ideological agreement among its members will help ALBA work “with more conviction and greater efficacy.”
At the Summit, the ALBA movement took in the Caribbean island nation of Santa Lucia as a new member and agreed to gather in Caracas, Venezuela again on September 11.
Participants also agreed to create a high-level technical commission to undertake a study of the joint trade area, the establishment of a permanent consultation body to address concerns arising from socio-economic issues and the creation of a legal team to assess the possibility of pressing charges against the United States for its acts of global espionage.
Following the conclusion of the Summit, the presidents met with participants to the Summit of Latin American Social Movements, who had taken part in the drafting of the resolutions.
There, Bolivian President Evo Morales declared, attendees identified the threats to the region which have prompted Latin American governments to organize themselves, “to combat capitalism and imperialism.”
Presidents Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua), Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and the prime ministers and foreign ministers of other member countries attended the Summit.r
These guys are idiots. Unless and until they develop concrete trade agreements which do away with the inherent trade advantages that larger and more prosperous nations have with relation to smaller and poorer countries, “joint trade” agreements are worthless. Their effort to create a common currency (SUCRE) fell flat due to mistrust among member nations. How can one speak of real trade neutrality between, for example, Cuba and Venezuela, when it is still impossible to directly convert Cuban pesos into Venezuelan Bolivars? Still, if getting together a few times a year to chew the fat and jointly talk crap about US imperialism makes them feel better, then it is probably worth the effort.