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LATIN AMERICA |
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Seventh
ALBA Summit in Bolivia
COCHABAMBA - Faithful to traditions of
hospitality, the people of Cochabamba, in
Bolivia, welcome proudly Friday the Seventh
Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the
Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
The fifth anniversary of that regional
integration mechanism and the participation
for a first time of social movements in a
meeting attended by leaders from 40
countries gives the forum a special nuance.
The meeting will approve a single currency:
Regional Single Compensation System (SUCRE),
for trade exchange.
Delegations from Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and
Antigua and Barbuda will also create an
arbitration court, to substitute the
International Center for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID), of the World
Bank.
They will also debate just trade to foster
the Peoples' Trade Agreements and Free Trade
Agreements.
Delegations of Paraguay, Uruguay, Dominican
Republic, Haiti and Russia will attend the
meeting as observers.
ALBA statesmen will also discuss a draft
declaration, with the initiative of Bolivia,
about policies and procedures to protect
Mother Land.
The First Meeting of Productive
Complementarity and a Negotiation Round with
the participation of ALBA business people
was also among the Seventh Summit's
collateral activities.
Among the first presidents arriving in the
central Bolivian city is that of Ecuador,
Rafael Correa, accompanied by officials,
indigenous and social movements leaders, who
visited on Thursday a mining zone in Huanuni,
Oruro.
Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' Ralph
Gonsalves, and Antigua and Barbuda's Winston
Baldwin Spencer, also arrived in this city
to attend the forum.
Apart from Ecuador and the three Caribbean
islands, ALBA is comprised of Bolivia,
Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
According to the Summit's agenda, the first
statesmen and representatives of those
countries will analyze the issue of the
expansion of US military bases in Colombia,
and issue a statement on the political
crisis unleashed in Honduras.
The ALBA was created by Venezuela and Cuba
in 2004, as an alternative proposal to the
US-boosted free trade agreement in the
region, and strengthens alliance among
similar nations. |
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