On Feb. 13,
Amenothep Zambrano—the Executive
Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) —spoke
to a standing room only audience at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Zambrano, visiting the United States for the
annual meeting of the UN’s Economic and Social Council, highlighted the tremendous contributions of the Bolivarian
Alliance of the Peoples of Our Americas-Trade Treaty of the People (ALBA-TCP).
The existence of the alliance has provided sorely needed relief to over 70
million people in Latin America and the Caribbean from the predatory and
parasitic trade and debt relationships imposed by U.S.-led imperialism.
“ALBA’s fight is for a second true
independence for Latin America and Caribbean; to free ourselves from poverty
and illiteracy and achieve development for our people,” said Zambrano.
ALBA initiatives include: the Bank of
ALBA, which provides credit and capital without the traditional imperialist
burdens of usurious debt; the creation thus far of 12 public companies which
strengthen national economies in industries, including agriculture,
infrastructure, telecommunications, industrial supplies and cement production;
PetroCaribe, an agreement to greatly increase access to energy resources; and a
diverse array of health and education policies.
ALBA’s truly stunning achievements include: the elimination of
poverty for 11 million people in only five years; an increase in literacy rates
from 84 percent to 96 percent; a reduction in infant mortality rates of 32
percent; and the enrollment of hundreds of students in ALBA’s Latin American
School of Medicine to develop still more critically-needed medical workers.
The organization was formally launched in 2004 as a joint project
between Cuba and Venezuela. Today, its membership has extended to include six
more countries in the region, including Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Ecuador,
Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. ALBA is also
developing increasing relationships with a number of non-member countries,
including China, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Haiti, Grenada, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The creation of ALBA was a direct response to the attempt by the
United States to impose the Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty on the
entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean. Implementation of the FTAA
would have imposed intensified neo-liberal economic policies, overwhelmingly
increasing crushing levels of poverty, unemployment and foreign-imposed debt.
Fortunately, the ongoing process of national liberation taking place in the
region brought with it national leaders unwilling to bow to U.S. dictates and
the treaty was rejected.
The need for alliances such as ALBA is further demonstrated by the
more than 50-year-long war waged by the United States against the revolutionary
government of Cuba, and the 2002 failed U.S.-coup attempt against Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez. In 2009, the United States again intervened in the
region by backing a coup against the democratically-elected president of
Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. This time it was successful, and a U.S.-puppet regime
headed by Roberto Micheletti was propped up, eventually leading to Honduras’
departure from ALBA.
As the event came to a close, the presiding official of the
embassy mentioned that the U.S. media routinely demonizes ALBA and its programs
as threats to its own system. He went on to debunk that false contention,
saying that ALBA and its programs are “not threats but opportunities taken by
Latin American and Caribbean countries to develop their own people with their
own resources.”
“We have changed and we ain’t going back,” he went on to say. “If
U.S. representatives understand this, we will be able to go forward, if not, we
will defend what we have created!”
¡Que viva ALBA! ¡Que viva the people of Latin America and the Caribbean!
