Margarita Island, September 17 (RHC)-- The 17th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is taking place Saturday and Sunday on Margarita island, presided over by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has assumed the bloc's rotating presidency from his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.

The summit, with the participation of Heads of state and representatives of the group's 120 member nations, focuses on the promotion and defense of world peace, one of the fundamental principles of the movement.

In his opening remarks at the NAM Summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that interference in the internal affairs of other countries, occupation, and extremism posed unprecedented threats to global peace, stability, and development.

The Summit on Margarita Island marks the fourth time that Latin America hosts the multi-national meeting and Venezuela is the third regional country to assume the bloc's rotating presidency, since Cuba chaired it twice in 1979 and 2006, and Colombia, assumed NAM's rotating presidency in 1995.