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LATIN AMERICA |
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Castro and
Chavez Criticize US At Alternative Trade
Summit In Cuba
HAVANA - Cuba’s President Raul Castro and
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez have
criticised the US during a key alternative
trade summit in Havana. Castro accused the
US of treating Latin America as its
“backyard” and denounced a deal giving US
armed forces access to Colombian military
bases.
Meanwhile Chavez said US criticism about
Latin America's relationship with Iran was
an "imperial offensive".
Both were speaking at the opening of the
left-wing Alba summit in Havana.
A regional political and economic bloc, the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
America (Alba), was founded five years ago
as a radical alternative to America's free
trade policies in the region.
The BBC's correspondent in Havana Michael
Voss says Castro's harsh rhetoric was
reminiscent of the Cold War. It could be a
signal that ties between Cuba and the US
might be taking a turn for the worse.
Castro said: "On the one side, there's an
exploitative model of dependence
subordinated to the interests of the empire,
on the other, the advance of revolutionary
and progressive forces, representing the
disposed."
Castro said President Obama had carried out
a hegemonic offensive with the Colombia
deal. He also criticised Washington for
presiding over what he described as "an
electoral farce" in Honduras.
He said the country's people "have been
deprived of their constitutional rights and
there has been imposed, with the support of
the US administration and a coup-led
government (in Honduras), an electoral
farce".
Shortly afterwards Chavez openly rejected a
warning made by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on Friday that Latin
American countries needed to "think twice"
about fostering a relationship with Iran.
A day earlier Castro and Chavez are signed
economic co-operation deals worth 3.2
billion US dollars. The documents cover 285
accords in areas including energy, sport and
technology.
The new deals will give Venezuela a greater
involvement in oil exploration off the Cuban
coast. Cuba also agrees to buy more than 400
million USD worth of Venezuelan goods,
including food, tyres and clothes.
The island has suffered a sharp decline its
revenues from tourism as well as mineral and
tobacco exports. Last year trade between the
two countries was at around 5.26 billion USD
last year, the Reuters news agency reported.
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