Declaration of the Extraordinary Summit of the Chiefs of State and of Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Trade Agreement of the Peoples (ALBA-TCP for its initials in Spanish)
March 17, 2015
Translated by Charles McKelvey
Note: The Extraordinary Summit of March 17, 2015 was called in response to the Executive Order of Barack Obama, in which Venezuela was declared as a threat to the national security of the United States.
Note: The Extraordinary Summit of March 17, 2015 was called in response to the Executive Order of Barack Obama, in which Venezuela was declared as a threat to the national security of the United States.
We, the Chiefs of State and of Government, representatives of the member countries of ALBA, meeting on March 17, 2015 in Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, declare:
1. Our rejection of the Executive Order emitted on March 9, 2015 by the government of the United States of America, inasmuch as the Executive Order is unjustified and unjust, and it constitutes a threat of interference against the principles of sovereignty and the principles of non-intervention in the affairs of the States;
2. Our commitment to the application of international law, the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and the principles of non-intervention that call upon governments to act within the framework of universal principles and the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the need for governments to abstain from the use of unilateral coercive measures that violate international law.
3. Our sovereign and sincere solicitude to the government of the United States to have recourse to dialogue with the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as an alternative to conflict and confrontation, based in constant respect for the sovereignty and the self-determination of the peoples and the independent nation-states.
4. Our proposal to form a Group of Facilitators of our hemisphere and its institutions (CELAC, UNASUR, ALBA-TECP y CARICOM) in order to facilitate commitment to diplomacy between the governments of the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to alleviate tension and to ensure friendly resolution.
Accordingly, we have decided:
1. To ratify our commitment and unrestricted support to the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the search for mechanisms of dialogue with the government of the United States, in order that the aggressions of this government against Venezuela cease.
2. To reaffirm that Latin America and the Caribbean is a Zone of Peace, where the nations promote a process of integration and relations of friendship, with the goal of continuing to ensure the greatest amount of happiness for our peoples.
3. To emphasize that the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a threat to no nation, for it is a supportive nation that has demonstrated its will to cooperate with the peoples and governments of the region, and it has become a guarantor of social peace and stability in our continent.
4. To demand that the government of the United States immediately cease harassment and aggression against the Venezuelan government and people, inasmuch as said policy feeds destabilization and the use of violence by Venezuelan opposition sectors.
5. To emphasize that the Executive Order approved by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, flagrantly violates the “Declaration of Solidarity and Backing of Democratic Structures, Dialogue and Peace in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” approved by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) on March 7, 2014.
6. To denounce the ferocious international media campaign against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its government, aimed at discrediting the Bolivarian Revolution, intending to create conditions for an intervention on a greater scale that would be far from a peaceful solution of differences.
7. To reiterate our most firm backing of the democratically-elected and legitimate government of the president of the sister Federal Republic of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, which is contributing to the strengthening and consolidation of democratic values and principles, freedom, and solidarity in Our America.
8. To express the most profound words of solidarity and support for the President of the Republic of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and other functionaries of her government, who are being submitted to a campaign that seeks to discredit persons and institutions, carried out by sectors of the political right and the media of their country; and who at the same time are being attacked by vulture funds and international finance capital.
9. To welcome the constructive dialogue sustained during the XX Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States, held in Antigua, Guatemala, on March 10, 2015, concerning the disproportionate Executive Order signed by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
10. To instruct ambassadors of the member countries of ALBA-TCP throughout the world to develop a campaign of information and diffusion concerning the truth of what is occurring in Venezuela and the threats closing in on her and the region.
11. To exhort the social movements, workers, students, farmers, indigenous peoples, and women to mobilize permanently and to maintain vigilance, in order to inform the world and the peoples of our America that Venezuela and the legitimate government of the constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, are not alone, and that the peoples of the world categorically reject this new imperial intervention in la Patria grande, the consequences of which could be disastrous for the peace and stability of the region.
12. To reaffirm that ALBA-TCP will continue promoting unity, integration, solidarity, and peaceful living together as an expression of the ideal and of Latin American and Caribbean commitment to the construction of a region and world of peace, as the fundamental base for the consolidation of relations among peoples.
In addition, we declare and reiterate, in the contest of an effective commitment to non-confrontation, our backing of the “Letter to the People of the United States of America: Venezuela is not a threat,” particularly with respect to its following aspects:
a) The commitment of Venezuela to liberty, independence and multilateralism.
b) The fundamental belief of Venezuela in peace, national sovereignty, and international law.
c) The reality of Venezuela as an open and democratic society, in accordance with its Constitution and the aspirations of its people.
d) The long-standing friendship of Venezuela with the people of the United States.
e) The false and unjust act, unilateral and disproportionate in its terms, of the Executive Order of the government of the United States of America, by which of which Venezuela is declared a threat to the national security of the United States of America.
f) The declaration by Venezuela of the sacred character of its sovereignty.
Therefore, we, the leaders of ALBA-TCP, express our solidarity with Venezuela. We know our fundamental liberties, and we assert our rights. We support unequivocally Venezuela in her defense of her sovereignty and independence, and the fact that she does it standing and not kneeling.
We accordingly solicit the government of the United States, and especially President Barack Obama, to rescind the Executive Order of March 9, 2015, inasmuch as it constitutes a threat to the sovereignty and an intervention in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Adopted in the city of Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, March 17, 2015.
1. Our rejection of the Executive Order emitted on March 9, 2015 by the government of the United States of America, inasmuch as the Executive Order is unjustified and unjust, and it constitutes a threat of interference against the principles of sovereignty and the principles of non-intervention in the affairs of the States;
2. Our commitment to the application of international law, the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and the principles of non-intervention that call upon governments to act within the framework of universal principles and the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the need for governments to abstain from the use of unilateral coercive measures that violate international law.
3. Our sovereign and sincere solicitude to the government of the United States to have recourse to dialogue with the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as an alternative to conflict and confrontation, based in constant respect for the sovereignty and the self-determination of the peoples and the independent nation-states.
4. Our proposal to form a Group of Facilitators of our hemisphere and its institutions (CELAC, UNASUR, ALBA-TECP y CARICOM) in order to facilitate commitment to diplomacy between the governments of the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to alleviate tension and to ensure friendly resolution.
Accordingly, we have decided:
1. To ratify our commitment and unrestricted support to the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the search for mechanisms of dialogue with the government of the United States, in order that the aggressions of this government against Venezuela cease.
2. To reaffirm that Latin America and the Caribbean is a Zone of Peace, where the nations promote a process of integration and relations of friendship, with the goal of continuing to ensure the greatest amount of happiness for our peoples.
3. To emphasize that the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a threat to no nation, for it is a supportive nation that has demonstrated its will to cooperate with the peoples and governments of the region, and it has become a guarantor of social peace and stability in our continent.
4. To demand that the government of the United States immediately cease harassment and aggression against the Venezuelan government and people, inasmuch as said policy feeds destabilization and the use of violence by Venezuelan opposition sectors.
5. To emphasize that the Executive Order approved by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, flagrantly violates the “Declaration of Solidarity and Backing of Democratic Structures, Dialogue and Peace in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” approved by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) on March 7, 2014.
6. To denounce the ferocious international media campaign against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its government, aimed at discrediting the Bolivarian Revolution, intending to create conditions for an intervention on a greater scale that would be far from a peaceful solution of differences.
7. To reiterate our most firm backing of the democratically-elected and legitimate government of the president of the sister Federal Republic of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, which is contributing to the strengthening and consolidation of democratic values and principles, freedom, and solidarity in Our America.
8. To express the most profound words of solidarity and support for the President of the Republic of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and other functionaries of her government, who are being submitted to a campaign that seeks to discredit persons and institutions, carried out by sectors of the political right and the media of their country; and who at the same time are being attacked by vulture funds and international finance capital.
9. To welcome the constructive dialogue sustained during the XX Meeting of the Association of Caribbean States, held in Antigua, Guatemala, on March 10, 2015, concerning the disproportionate Executive Order signed by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
10. To instruct ambassadors of the member countries of ALBA-TCP throughout the world to develop a campaign of information and diffusion concerning the truth of what is occurring in Venezuela and the threats closing in on her and the region.
11. To exhort the social movements, workers, students, farmers, indigenous peoples, and women to mobilize permanently and to maintain vigilance, in order to inform the world and the peoples of our America that Venezuela and the legitimate government of the constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, are not alone, and that the peoples of the world categorically reject this new imperial intervention in la Patria grande, the consequences of which could be disastrous for the peace and stability of the region.
12. To reaffirm that ALBA-TCP will continue promoting unity, integration, solidarity, and peaceful living together as an expression of the ideal and of Latin American and Caribbean commitment to the construction of a region and world of peace, as the fundamental base for the consolidation of relations among peoples.
In addition, we declare and reiterate, in the contest of an effective commitment to non-confrontation, our backing of the “Letter to the People of the United States of America: Venezuela is not a threat,” particularly with respect to its following aspects:
a) The commitment of Venezuela to liberty, independence and multilateralism.
b) The fundamental belief of Venezuela in peace, national sovereignty, and international law.
c) The reality of Venezuela as an open and democratic society, in accordance with its Constitution and the aspirations of its people.
d) The long-standing friendship of Venezuela with the people of the United States.
e) The false and unjust act, unilateral and disproportionate in its terms, of the Executive Order of the government of the United States of America, by which of which Venezuela is declared a threat to the national security of the United States of America.
f) The declaration by Venezuela of the sacred character of its sovereignty.
Therefore, we, the leaders of ALBA-TCP, express our solidarity with Venezuela. We know our fundamental liberties, and we assert our rights. We support unequivocally Venezuela in her defense of her sovereignty and independence, and the fact that she does it standing and not kneeling.
We accordingly solicit the government of the United States, and especially President Barack Obama, to rescind the Executive Order of March 9, 2015, inasmuch as it constitutes a threat to the sovereignty and an intervention in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Adopted in the city of Caracas, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, March 17, 2015.