ALBA-TCP meeting in New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @ALBATCP

United Nations, September 23 (RHC)-- On Friday, the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) analyzed the most pressing issues that Latin America and the world face.  The 22nd Meeting of the Political Council of ALBA-TCP was held in New York in the framework of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

During the meeting, they analyzed “the regional political situation and its perspectives.  Prior to the meeting, ALBA-TCP Secretary Sacha Llorenti held videoconferences with officials from the member countries to define a common position and a six-monthly work strategy in relation to economic, political, cultural and sports matters.

In a recent statement, UN expert Alena Douhan explained that U.S. sanctions have blocked Venezuela from importing spare parts to repair electron microscopes, vital for detecting diseases.

The ALBA-TCP political council, which is made up of the countries' foreign affairs ministers, has among its functions the advice to the Presidential Council.  The political council's last meeting was held virtually in March 2021.

In its final declaration, the ALBA-TCP countries ratified their adherence to the principles of Latin American integration, rejected the U.S. arbitrary sanctions against member countries, and ratified their desire to keep Latin America and the Caribbean as a "zone of peace."

Currently, the ALBA-TCP is made up of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Antigua & Barbuda, Granada, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Cuba and Venezuela.