Caracas, September 12 (RHC)-- Venezuela is set to host the 17th Non-Aligned Movement Summit which will take place on the island of Margarita beginning tomorrow, Tuesday and running until next Sunday, September 18.

With 120 member states, the NAM is the second largest international body after the United Nations. It has 53 members from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organizations.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez have said that Venezuela is also honored to assume the organization's rotating presidency for the next three years after taking over from Iran during the summit.

Caracas has presented a strategic plan to strengthen the international body and turn it into "spearhead" to transform the United Nations system, which is often dominated by the United States.

By assuming the group's chairmanship, Venezuela strengthens its diplomatic hand as the socialist government will have the sympathetic ears of the 120 member nations when faced with international and local right-wing attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government -- an ongoing threat to the country since shortly after the election of former President Hugo Chavez in 1998.

The Non-Aligned Movement has been dedicated since its creation in 1961 to defend the liberation struggles of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing nations that have been described in the past as part of the "Third World."

Member states have a common set of principles: preserve national independence, do not join any imperial power bloc, reject the establishment of foreign military bases, defend the right of peoples to self-determination, and fight for general and complete disarmament.