FIFTH EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT OF THE ALBA

FINAL DECLARATION

Declaration endorsed by the member countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), during the Fifth Summit of the Americas

Cumana, 17th April 2009

The Heads of State and Government of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, members of the ALBA, consider that the agreement produced at the Fifth Summit of the Americas is insufficient and unacceptable for the following reasons:

1. It does not provide any answers to the global financial crisis, although the crisis constitutes the biggest challenge faced by mankind in decades, as well as a serious threat to the well being of our peoples.
2. It unjustifiably excludes Cuba, disregarding the general consensus that exists in the region; consensus which condemns the criminal embargo and the incessant attempts of isolation the citizens and the government of Cuba have been subject to.

Due to the above, the member countries of the ALBA consider that there is not enough consensus to approve the proposed declaration, and, in accordance with the issues stated, they propose an in-depth debate to tackle the following issues:

1. Capitalism is exhausting mankind and the planet. The crisis we are experiencing is a global, systemic and structural crisis which cannot be considered just one more cyclic crisis. Those who believe that a fiscal injection and regulatory measures alone will resolve the crisis are mistaken. The financial system is in crisis because it quotes the value of mere paper as six times higher than the real value of the goods and services produced in the world. This is not a “regulatory fault of the system”, but a constituent part of the capitalist system that speculates with goods and values in its quest for maximum profit. So far, the financial crisis has caused an additional 100 million people to hungry, and 50 million to become unemployed. The numbers continue to rise.                      
2. Capitalism has caused an ecological crisis, by subordinating the conditions necessary to support life in the planet to the demands of markets and profitability. Every year we consume a third more of what the planet is able to generate. At the current pace, we will  need a second planet Earth by year 2030.
3. The global crisis affecting the economic, climatic, alimentary and energy sectors are product of the decadence inherent to capitalism, which now threaten with the extinction of life and the planet. To avoid this disaster, it is necessary to create an alternative model to the capitalist system. It is necessary to create a system based on:

1. Solidarity and complementarity, as opposed to competition
2. A system in harmony with our mother earth, as opposed to the looting of natural resources
3. A system of cultural diversity, as opposed to the devastation of cultures and the imposition of cultural values and life styles that are alien to the realities of our nations
4. A peaceful system based on social justice, as opposed to imperialist policies and wars
5. In sum, a system that restores the human condition of our societies and peoples, without reducing them to mere consumers or goods.

1. Latin American and Caribbean countries have begun to construct our own institutional arrangements, which reflect the continent’s new reality. These arrangements are rooted in our common history, dating back to our Revolution for Independence. We have in our hands a tool that can strengthen the processes of social, economic and cultural transformation that will bring about full sovereignty for our nations. The ALBA, Petrocaribe or UNASUR are just a few of the recently created mechanisms of unifying solidarity that have been born out the existing transformations. These initiatives have been created with the objective of amplifying the effort made by our peoples to achieve liberation.                                                                                                                       The member countries of ALBA have taken innovative measures to confront the serious effects of the global economic crisis. We have proposed real alternatives to the inadequate financial order, and do not intend to strengthen their substandard institutions. Thus, we have put in place a Unique System for Regional Compensation, the SUCRE, which includes a Common Account Unit, a Chamber for Compensation of Payments, and a Unique System of Reserves.                                                   Additionally, we have stimulated the creation of transnational companies that can satisfy the basic needs of our peoples, through the use of mechanisms of fair and complementary trade, away from the absurd logic of frantic competition
2. We call into question the G20, for trebling the resources allocated to the International Monetary Fund. At this stage it is imperative to establish a new world economic order that reshapes institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, given that the neoliberal dictates of these organizations have been conducive to the global economic crisis.
3. During the 1st-3rd June 2009, 192 countries will participate in the United Nations Conference on the international financial crisis, where we will advocate for the creation of a new international order. Any proposal for the solution of the crisis and the re-definition of financial institutions will need to heed the resolutions adopted at that Conference.
4. Developed countries have an ecological debt with the world, as they are responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions thrown into the atmosphere since 1750.                          Developed countries, indebted as they are with mankind and the planet, must contribute with significant resources to a fund devoted to developing countries, so that they can embark into alternative models of growth that offset the disastrous effects of capitalist industrialization.
5. We need to design integral and interdependent solutions to the crisis that affects the alimentary, environmental and energy sectors. We cannot hope to solve a problem by creating another one in other areas indispensable to life. For example, to extend the use of biofuels can only have a negative effect on the price of foodstuffs, and on the management of essential resources such as water, land and woodlands.
6. We condemn the discrimination suffered by immigrants in all its expressions. Migration is a human right, not a crime. Therefore, we demand the urgent reform of the United States immigration policy, with the objective of putting an end to mass raids and deportations and facilitate the reunification of families. We require the destruction of the wall that separates and divides us.                                                                                    In this respect, we demand the abrogation of the Cuban Adjustment Act, and the elimination of the wet foot-dry foot policy, both of which are selective, discriminatory and result in the loss of human lives.                                                                                    The true culprits of the financial crisis are not migrant workers, but those bankers who appropriated the money and resources of our nations. We must put special emphasis on the issue of human rights, particularly on the rights affecting the most marginalised and unprotected sector of our society: undocumented immigrants.                               There can be no integration without the free circulation of people, and without the existence of human rights that do not discriminate according to migrant status.      Wealthy nations also take part in another form of plunder when they entice qualified workers to leave their countries.
7.  Basic services such as education, health, water, energy and telecommunications must be declared human rights, and cannot constitute an object of private business nor can they be commercialised by the WTO. These services are and must continue to be public services marked by universal access.
8.  We hope for a world where every nation, be it large or small, enjoys the same rights and where empires do not exist. We advocate for non-intervention. We advocate for the strengthening of mutually respectful relationships between nations, as the only legitimate channel for the discussion and analysis of the continent’s bilateral and multilateral agendas. These agendas must be based on the two fundamental principles of non-intervention and the inviolability of self-determination and sovereignty of all peoples.                                                                                                                          The new government of the United States has generated expectations in the region and in the world at large. We demand the new government that it ends the long and disastrous tradition of interventionism and aggression that has characterized the actions of previous US governments, especially that of George W. Bush.                           Likewise, we demand that the new government eliminates interventionist practices such as covert operations, parallel diplomatic corps, media wars intended to destabilize governments, and the financing of destabilising groups. It is essential to construct a world where different economic, political, social and cultural approaches are recognised and respected.
9.  With regards to the US embargo against Cuba, and the exclusion of this country from the Summit of the Americas, the member countries of the ALBA reiterate the declaration adopted on 16th December 2008, where all Latin American and Caribbean nations stressed the importance of ending the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the government of the United States against Cuba, including the Helms-Burton Act. The declaration stated:                                                                 CONSIDERING the resolutions approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, on the need to end the financial, economic and commercial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, as well as the expressions made upon this very subject in numerous international meetings,                                                                    WE AFFIRM that the application of coercive unilateral measures, that affect the well being of peoples and obstruct processes of integration, is unacceptable and should be considered so in the interest of free and transparent international commerce.                WE FERVENTLY REJECT the implementation of laws and measures that contradict International Law, such as the Helms-Burton Act, and we urge the government of the United States to end its enactment.                                                                                WE REQUEST that the government of the United States honors the 17 successive agreements reached at the United Nations General Assembly, and thus ends the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.                                           In addition, we consider that the attempts to isolate Cuba have failed, since the island forms part of the Latin American and Caribbean region, is part of the Rio Group and member of many other regional organizations. Cuba has developed an extensive network of cooperation and solidarity with the countries of the region, and promotes the full integration of Latin American and Caribbean peoples. We therefore consider that there is no reason to justify its exclusion from the Summit of the Americas.
10.  Developed countries have allocated not less than $8 million to safeguard their plummeting financial structures. At the same time, these countries do not comply with the allocation of 0.7% of their GDP to Official Development Agencies. This is the first time that the hypocrisy that dominates the discourse of rich nations becomes so blatantly evident. Cooperation must be established without conditions, and it must be integrated into the agendas of receiving nations, by simplifying the procedures, making resources accessible and affording especial importance to issues of social inclusion.
11.  It is not acceptable to justify interventionist practices against our nations by alluding to the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime.
12.  We are firmly convinced that the change that everyone hopes for will only be possible through the mobilisation and unity of our peoples.

As the Liberator asserted:

“The unity of our peoples is not a man-made chimera, but the inescapable decree of destiny”. Simon Bolivar

Traducción para el Portal ALBA de Damaris Garzón.

Copyright © por ALBA .:Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América:. Derechos Reservados.

Publicado en: 2009-04-29 (1428 Lecturas)