DECLARATION OF THE XVI ALBA-TCP POLITICAL COUNCIL The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Heads of Delegations of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America Peoples Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), meeting in Havana on the occasion of their XVI Political Council: We are gratified by the thirteenth anniversary of ALBA-TCP, the historic creation inspired by the legacy of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution and the Venezuelan Bolivarian Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz and Hugo Chávez Frías respectively, whose thinking and work confirm the full validity of the struggle for the emancipation of the peoples. We call for the strict observance of the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter and International Law, peaceful settlement of disputes, prohibition of the use and threat of the use of force, respect for self-determination, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-intervention in theinternalaffairs of every country. We reaffirm the need to strengthen the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)which pursues unity in the diversity of our region, through political coordination and integration, as well as the defense of our sovereignty and selfdetermination and the development of our peoples basedon the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the
Caribbean as a Zone of Peace signed by the Heads of State and Government of the region at the Second CELAC Summit in Havana. We call for compliance with the Final Peace Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People s Army (FARC-EP), which led to the definitive and bilateral ceasefire and the laying down of arms, under a strict monitoring and verification mechanism, and we emphasizethat only compliance with this Agreement and the successful culmination of the ongoing peace dialogue between the ELN and the government of Colombia being held in Ecuador, can ensure the future of the peace thatcolombia deserves, and positively contribute to the stability of Latin America and the Caribbean. We rejectthe backward steps imposed by the government of President Donald Trump in United States relations with Cuba and we reiterate the claim of the region and the international community to unconditionally lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, which affects all States because of its extra-territorial nature. We also condemn the new measures to tighten the blockade and the recent unilateral, unfounded, arbitrary and politically motivated decisions of the Government of the United States which affect the Cuban people, American citizens and relations with Cuba in their entirety. We renewour firm support for the Bolivarian Revolution, its civic-military union and its government, led by the constitutional president NicolásMaduroMoros. We strongly welcomethe
victories of democracy in Venezuela based on the results of the recently held regional and municipal elections, and the creation of the National Constitutional Assembly, by means of which their votes have defeated the imperial strategy of coup-related violence aimed at plunging Venezuela into chaos and defeating the Bolivarian Revolution. We rejectthe economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada and the European Union, for political aims, against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which affect the life and development of the noble Venezuelan people and prevent them from enjoying their rights. We also rejectthe interventionist actions of the OAS and groups of countries for their continued aggression against the sovereignty, self-determination and constitutional order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and other countries where their people have decided to govern themselves by themselves, with no guidance, which would bring, as a consequence, the destabilization of the region. We deplore the intervention of the OAS Secretary General in the democratic decisions adopted by the state institutions of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, in the aim of defending the interests of forces alien to the region.
We are very pleasedthatdialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition is being held in the Dominican Republic. We urge the international community to support this process and we reject any type of interference, conditioning or external pressureupon this initiative. We ratify the universal nature of the Paris Agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and we reiterate the call for its full implementation, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. We welcome the successful outcome of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, on 6-17 November 2017, and call on the international community to take into consideration the special circumstances of SIDS and the crucial need for the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We reiterate our constant support for our Caribbean sister countries, victims of devastating natural phenomena and climate change, whereby we actively contribute to the efforts to overcome the destruction caused. We call on just and differentiated treatment for the Caribbean States. Likewise, we reaffirmour solidarity in facing the unfair classification of Caribbean nations as middle income countries, and the actions of extra-regional countries against several countries of the Caribbean, declaring them non-cooperative jurisdictions, and
we join the call for reparatory justice for the horrors of slavery and the slave trade. We express our grave concerns about and rejection of the unilateral declaration of the President of the United States of America, last 6 of December 2017, regarding the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which will have grave consequences for stability and security in the Middle East, and constitute a serious and flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, international law and of the relevant United Nations resolutions. We also reaffirm our longstanding support and solidarity with the legitimate cause of the Palestinian people, and reiterate our commitment to continue supporting the just, lasting and peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on a two-state solution, that allows Palestine the exercise of the right of self-determination as an independent and sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on pre-1967 borders. We are very pleased with the sovereign security policies and practices undertaken by Nicaragua which have been successful in containing drug trafficking and organized crime and which contribute to the security of the region. We reaffirmcontinuity for our struggle, together with the leftwing political forces and popular movements of the region, for a united Latin America and the Caribbean, with solidarity, social justice and truly integrated.
We also manifestour commitment to continue consolidating our coordination and unity of action, based on the solid heritage of our peoples, included in the Consensus of Our America political program, and in the Our America on Guard Declaration, adopted at the Twenty-third Encounter of the Sao Paulo Forum held in Managua Nicaragua in July of 2017. We are convincedthat Cuba will offer the broadestof calls along with a warm welcome in solidarity with the social movements and progressive forces of the region on the occasion of the Twenty-fourth Annual Encounter of the Sao Paulo Forum to be held in 2018. We are very pleased with the results of the different electoral processes in Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia in 2017, an example of the traditional citizen participation of our countries. We condemnthe situation created in Honduras. Wefirmly reject repression against the people s protests, we lament the loss of human lives, we express our condolences to the families of the victims and we call forrespect for the will of the people. We manifest our conviction that unity and solidarity among our peoples and governments constitutes the path to victory. Havana, 14 December 2017