Caracas, March 17 (teleSUR-RHC) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that presidents from the ALBA group of nations will meet Tuesday in Caracas to outline a unified position with regards to U.S. aggression toward the South American country and its democratically-elected government.
“Presidents and prime ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in Caracas to define a unified position with regards to the Summit of the America, which will take place next April in Panama,” President Maduro said.
The Venezuelan president also stated, “We will speak with one united voice that Venezuela and the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean must be respected. Enough of these imperialist abuses.”
First launched by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1994, the Summit of the Americas will bring together the leaders of every government in the hemisphere including Cuba, which had been excluded from the previous six summits. The summits are sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS).
At the previous summit in Colombia in 2012, Latin American countries threatened to boycott the next summit if Cuba was excluded.
During his comments Sunday, President Maduro supported Cuba’s participation in the upcoming conference.
However, the Venezuelan president also said that his country will continue to defend the Cuban people in their struggle against the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed for over 50 years.
Recently, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez issued similar sentiments stating that the Caribbean nation will always support Venezuela, reiterating the island’s strong rejection of Obama’s recent executive order against Venezuela.