On Monday, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) held its XII Extraordinary Summit where the regional entity proposed effective coordination mechanisms to demand respect and human rights for migrants.
Hosted in Caracas, Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro opened the meeting via videoconference by emphasizing that: “Firstly, we must address the issue of migration, the human rights of migrant peoples (…) we must guarantee their human rights, guarantee their dignified return to our countries.” The president was accompanied by the bloc’s executive secretary, Jorge Arreaza; and president of the ALBA Bank and vice minister for the Caribbean region, Raúl Li Causi.
President Maduro emphasized the need for the Alliance to coordinate efforts to ensure the protection of human rights and the dignity of migrant communities.
“We must pay attention to an issue that has been put on the table in recent weeks and will be from now on. This includes coordination to demand respect for migrants from our countries, their human rights, their labor rights and also to guarantee, in such cases, their dignified return to become integrated and productive citizens in each of our countries.”
Maduro also pointed out the need to eliminate human trafficking organizations, especially the predatory ‘coyotes’ who illegally transport people from one country to another.
Participating virtually, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel deemed “unacceptable” the violent and indiscriminate deportation of migrants in the United States, arbitrary detentions and other human rights violations—measures that are also used as weapons of political pressure and blackmail against the peoples of Our America.
Diaz-Canel called the establishment of a migrant detention center at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, which is intended to imprison tens of thousands of people, a “barbaric act”. He stressed that the existence of the naval base, along with Washington’s move to incarcerate expelled migrants, presents a threat to the national security of Cuba and the subregion. Guantanamo Bay is a military enclave that occupies a portion of Cuban territory against the will of the Cuban people and houses a detention and torture camp that has been condemned by the international community.
Finally, the Cuban president assured that the construction of a migration perspective of peace, understanding and collaboration, without politicization, is a matter that requires collective and joint effort. He emphasized that the deportations of migrants must be carried out within the framework of bilateral or multilateral agreements, which safeguard the sovereignty of each country and the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs.
The Nicaraguan representation proposed an agenda to defend migrants who are victims of imperialism. Led by president Daniel Ortega, the head of state asserted that solidarity must be expressed with the peoples who are being trampled on and accused without evidence or trials by the United States government to deport citizens of the region.
“They simply disqualify them. They play with the dignity of the people. Let those who are governing not forget, the United States had no idea that these lands existed. They left (Europe) as migrants and arrived at a territory that was not theirs. They simply occupied it by force and killed its true owners, the indigenous peoples,” Commander Ortega said.
AI and driving trade through Agroalba, ALBA Azul and maritime transport
ALBA-TCP member states decided on the creation of a research center on artificial intelligence (AI), a proposal that derived from the agreements made during the XXIV ALBA-TCP Summit, held in Caracas on December 14, 2024.
“Whoever lags behind in technology will be condemned to slavery, because dependence in this field will lead to slavery,” said Maduro. “We must strengthen our unity for action with concrete results. We must move forward unified to be able to produce technology, science, food, knowledge and, therefore, continue to make the transcendental values of the Latin American and Caribbean identity prevail.”
The bloc also decided to promote trade exchanges through the development of Agroalba, ALBA Azul and maritime transport. Resources furnished by the ALBA Bank will be used for the purchase of airplanes and ships that facilitate the transport of goods and products between member countries of the regional bloc. All of these measures are placed within the “framework of strengthening integration in matters of transport,” said Maduro. “We are already acquiring the first food transport ship with refrigeration capacity and a commercial cargo plane for the transport of agricultural food.”
