Caracas, February 19 (RHC)-- The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) announced on Monday the appointment of Venezuelan diplomat Jorge Arreaza as the new executive secretary of the integration body.

Jorge Arreaza is a former vice-president and foreign minister of Venezuela. They also clarify that the new executive secretary "has been entrusted with carrying out an ambitious work plan, the ALBA-TCP Strategic Agenda 2030".

According to the note, this agenda is 'aimed at giving an extraordinary impulse to the process of integral consolidation of the Alliance in the years to come'.

The communication clarifies that the "new executive secretary has been mandated to coordinate actions to revitalise the architecture of cooperation in the region, through the promotion of trade and development of the logistics chain; the expansion of air and maritime connectivity; the universalisation of social inclusion programmes; the expansion of the Bank of ALBA, in terms of membership, assets and credit capacity; the revitalisation of Petrocaribe and the promotion of its convergence with other regional cooperation mechanisms for development; among others".

Finally, the note explains that "the Heads of State and Government of ALBA-TCP thank Ambassador Félix Plasencia for his excellent work at the head of the Executive Secretariat over the last year".

ALBA_TCP was created as the "Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America" in December 2004 by the then presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, respectively.

Over the course of almost 20 years, other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region have joined.