The Cuban people face food and medicine shortages, power outages, difficulties obtaining fuel internationally, and the impossibility of carrying out repairs and maintenance on energy infrastructure. These are some of the complex realities facing Cubans. Since 2019, the blockade against Cuba has reached extreme levels, becoming increasingly cruel and inhumane. The consequences have intensified with Cuba's arbitrary inclusion on the U.S. State Department's spurious unilateral list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism. After her recent visit to the country and witnessing firsthand the reality of the Cuban people, the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights called on the U.S. government to lift or suspend all unilateral coercive measures applied against Cuba. We thank the countries that have supported and continue to support the demand to put an end to the genocidal blockade against Cuba. The Cuban people, heirs of the legacy of our heroes and martyrs and faithful to the teachings of Fidel and Raúl, have given countless examples of resistance and will to fight against imperial maneuvers and to defend the independence and sovereignty of the homeland. Dear heads of state and government, friends, in such an adverse and dangerous context, it is essential to carve our own paths. As Maduro said, today marks 21 years since the founding of this alliance by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Commander Hugo Chávez Frías, two giants who dedicated their lives to continuing the work begun by Bolívar and Martí in pursuit of true integration of the peoples of our America. As Commander Chávez expressed, and I quote: 'ALBA is the beginning, it is the dawn of a new era, of a new mechanism of cooperation. It is cooperation, not a market, not competition. It is complementarity, it is solidarity. It is putting the human being first, putting the social above the market.' In recent dates, as an expression of these convictions and principles, 20 years were marked since our peoples in Mar del Plata buried the abominable arch that sought to subjugate nations to a new stage of colonization. Today history calls on us to become without delay the gravediggers of the U.S. military, political, and economic aggression looming over all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Inspired by examples like that of Hugo Chávez, whose legacy reminds us that despite hostile circumstances, victory is possible. His struggle and commitment guide us like a ray of light that illuminates the darkest night. A day like today, we also remember the crucial role Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz played in demonstrating that integration is possible and urgent through innovative mechanisms like the People's Trade Agreements and social missions like Yo Sí Puedo and Operación Milagro. Both programs, unparalleled in their magnitude worldwide, enabled millions of people in the region to become literate and recover their vision, and contributed to the spiritual and material development of entire communities. What these missions represented yesterday, today we propose to do amid enormous challenges through new projects to consolidate the alliance and contribute to the well-being of peoples, based on the ALBA TCP Strategic Agenda 2030 that we approved in Caracas in 2024. Among others, these include Agroalba, whose objective is to promote investments to develop agricultural, livestock, poultry, and productive systems in each of our countries, and Alba Azul, which proposes to develop the fishing and aquaculture capacities of member states. Both are already in the implementation phase in Cuba. To this we add the commissioning of the ALBA vessel, which is facilitating trade and integration among nations and which we have already received in Cuban ports, bringing the generous aid from sister Venezuela and ALBA to provinces and families severely affected by Hurricane Melissa. Brother Maduro, comrades, our gratitude is infinite. To continue advancing in achieving these and many other purposes, we have an essential and permanent reference in Fidel, who with his willpower and revolutionary example infused this alliance from its birth with an anti-imperialist spirit, a fierce defense of the self-determination of peoples, and also, like Raúl, the conviction that yes we can. His vision was not limited to economics but encompassed the need to wage a true battle of ideas, to develop a cultural and educational project that promoted unity in diversity and the formation of a Latin American and Caribbean consciousness. Honoring the Commander-in-Chief in the forging of this new-type alliance model based on solidarity, cooperation, and complementarity is a commitment to his legacy and one of the greatest tributes the ALBA family can pay to a universal statesman like Fidel. That ALBA is gathered today is a demonstration of fidelity to those principles, to its founders Fidel and Chávez, and its inspirers Bolívar and Martí. The imperial appetites of our enemies will never be able to undermine the unity of the peoples. They will not be able to bend the will to fight or the faith in victory with their threats and aggressions. ALBA will continue to be an essential space of solidarity and dignified resistance against destabilizing campaigns, pressure measures, and the most diverse forms of aggression. Faithful to the ideas of Bolívar, Martí, Fidel, and Chávez, for more than 200 years we will continue fighting for a common goal: the unity, peace, and sovereignty of our peoples. Until victory always, and thank you very much, Maduro.
Well, thank you very much, comrade President of our sister Cuba, Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and to your entire government team, all that work team, to Raúl, and to the entire Cuban revolution. Very important themes that must have that spirit of action. Rander was saying here when we were speaking off-camera that he himself is going tomorrow to Mérida to produce papaya, he told me. A secretary general going to produce in the field, to produce to overcome. The Monroe Doctrine is a doctrine that is totally ancient, imperialist, and it is a doctrine that has no support from anyone in Latin America and the Caribbean, nor in the United States of America, because long ago some ideas of the first American revolution in the North against colonialism counteracted the Monroe Doctrine and erased it from official discourse in the United States. But always, since the famous Monroe Doctrine emerged, the doctrine that allowed lighting the light and with that light ending that demon of Monroe, of trying to colonize us, the Americans of the South, the Americans of the Caribbean, was Bolívar. Always. Monroe versus Bolívar. And the giant Bolívar always with his sword victorious, because the doctrine of Bolívar is republican. If there is a truly republican doctrine, I say to the people of the United States, listen to me, the people of the United States, listen to me. If any doctrine is republican, truly republican, it is the republicanism of Simón Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad, Bolívar, Palacios, Blanco y Ponte de Bolívar. That is the true republican doctrine to establish sovereign states, to respect the self-determination of peoples, to seek union with respect for diversity, for the emancipation of peoples. The doctrine of Bolívar to seek peace above all else. Peace, not threats of the use of force, not military threats, not pointing missiles at peoples or threatening them. Bolívar versus Monroe. Who will win? Bolívar has always won. Bolívar will always win. Victory forever. Bolívar. Bolívar. Bolívar versus Monroe. That is the truth. With Bolívar, all of us, and with Bolívar, always we will go with reason and justice. That is the truth. I am going to proceed to give the floor to the President of our sister Republic of Nicaragua, always blessed, always Christian, always free. And when President Díaz-Canel was speaking, I took out my book that I carry everywhere, this book, the letters of Simón Bolívar. It has the title 'Free Peoples Defeat Powerful Empires,' a collection of Bolívar's letters. And the American agent Irvin, in 1818, when there was an intense controversy with our liberator, already president of the nascent Republic of Colombia in the Orinoco, and in a controversy, Washington sent an envoy, an agent for a set of things there that were totally illegal. The United States had sent two ships full of weapons for the Spanish troops. When they entered the Orinoco, the liberating army seized them, and agent Irvin came to threaten Bolívar. Bolívar received him twice. He spoke with diplomacy and firmness, without letting himself be deceived by the diplomacy of deception or the diplomacy of gunboats. And facing the diplomacy of intimidation and gunboats, Bolívar told him the following, and our great liberator fulfilled it: 'I will not allow the government and rights of Venezuela to be outraged or despised. Defending them against Spain, a great part of our population has disappeared, and the rest that remains longs to deserve the same fate. For Venezuela, fighting against Spain is the same as fighting against the entire world, if the whole world offends it.' October 7, 1818. That expression became part of Bolívar's well-known proclamations, decrees, and remained forever. And later, on October 12, 1818, five days later, he writes something extraordinary: 'The courage and skill, Mr. Agent Irvin, compensate with advantage for the number. Unhappy are men if these moral virtues do not equal and even surpass the physical ones. The master of the most populous kingdom would soon be lord of all the earth. Fortunately, it has often been seen that a handful of free men defeat powerful empires.' And fortunately, we saw in Nicaragua a handful of free men under Augusto César Sandino defeat the most powerful empire in its sacred history. Let us give the floor to the heir of the legacy of Augusto César Sandino, the co-president Daniel Ortega, who is there with our dear sister, co-president Rosario Murillo. Go ahead, Nicaragua.
How are you, Nicolás? We've seen you there marching with the people, always moving forward. It is true that throughout our history we face powerful enemies who seem invincible, and these powerful enemies are defeated with firmness, with courage, without stopping. Don Quixote told Sancho when the dogs barked and wanted to bite, and Sancho worried, Don Quixote said: 'Don't pay attention, Sancho. If they bark, it's because we're walking.' They want to paralyze peoples with threats, with barking, with bites. Sanctions are bites. To bite the peoples to terrorize them. Throughout history, the liberating cause led by Bolívar had an impact across all of our America and led to the independence of Central America from the Spanish Empire after the defeats suffered by that empire. At that time, there were also those who wanted to annex Central America to the Empire of Iturbide in Mexico, but that did not happen. A few years after Central American independence, where the Central American countries decreed the abolition of slavery, an American slavist, William Walker, invaded our territory. This was part of the Yankee plan to seize Nicaragua, and from Nicaragua seize Central America, seize Mexico, and go against the United States itself to retake the zone that had defeated the South in the Civil War, which defended slavery. Walker arrived in Nicaragua with a force of military led by Colonel Byron Cole, carrying modern weaponry that neither the Central American armies nor the Nicaraguan army had. Taking advantage of divisions within one of the political forces in Nicaragua, that force gave Walker entry and invited him to help defend Nicaragua, in exchange guaranteeing free transit for an American company from the east coast to the west coast of the United States, because of the Gold Rush traffic of thousands of American families crossing the continent facing danger from assaults and indigenous resistance. Walker's forces landed around 1854-1856 and he began taking over the country, seizing all power from those who had brought him in, even executing them. In those conditions, with a Nicaraguan population of less than a million people, with armies that lacked the effectiveness of Walker's forces, the Nicaraguans did not surrender. Walker advanced so rapidly he first named a president and then named himself president through a rigged election, recognized by the U.S. government of that time. Against Walker's powerful force, the Nicaraguan forces gathered under General José Dolores Estrada, joined by the indigenous people of Matagalpa in northern Nicaragua. They fortified themselves in the Hacienda San Jacinto behind stone walls to combat the invaders, and the battle took place. As a result, the American Colonel Byron Cole fell. This was a devastating blow to them. While they resisted at Hacienda San Jacinto, the troops ran out of ammunition and lacked repeating weapons. This is where the bravery and courage of our hero Andrés Castro emerged. When a Yankee soldier advanced over the trench, Castro had no ammunition and picked up a stone and knocked down the invading Yankee. They were defeated and expelled from Nicaragua. An American ship came to pick them up. They were received as heroes back in the United States. That was Nicaragua's first test of fire against expansionist imperial aggression. Later there was a second battle when a liberal government led by General José Santos Zelaya came to power and began deep reforms that the Yankee government disapproved of and condemned. The U.S. government sent a note to President Zelaya telling him he had to leave because American troops were heading to Nicaragua, and if he didn't leave, they would capture him. Zelaya didn't have the resolve to stand and resist. Another liberal leader, General Benjamin Zeledón, took over. He organized a detachment and began fighting the Yankee troops landing in Corinto heading to Coyotepe, where General Zeledón was entrenched. This was a heroic battle. When they couldn't get Zeledón to surrender and he was inflicting casualties, they proposed he surrender and they would spare his life. Zeledón said, 'I do not surrender.' He wrote a letter to his wife and children, telling them he would give his life because he could not surrender to invaders. On October 4, 1912, General Benjamin Zeledón, national hero, firm anti-imperialist, gave his life for the sovereignty of Nicaragua. The Yankees paraded his corpse everywhere to spread fear among the population. And that's when a young man, Sandino, saw this humiliation inflicted on Nicaragua and on General Zeledón, and he became enraged. He decided to face the invaders and waged a battle lasting years. The Yankees used aviation trying to defeat him, but every day more Yankee casualties emerged from facing Sandino's army of peasants in the mountains of Nicaragua. In the end, the Yankees had no choice but to withdraw. They were defeated by General Sandino. After the defeat, peace agreements were reached, but the Yankees left Somoza in charge of Nicaragua's army. They set an ambush for Sandino after he was invited to dinner by President Sacasa. After the dinner, as Sandino was leaving accompanied by his father and members of his general staff, the Somoza National Guard detained him near their barracks. The daughter of President Sacasa, who had been at the dinner, protested, but they executed all of them. They thought this way Nicaragua would be submitted to the Yankee empire and to the criminal they left governing. But when there is consciousness, when there is courage, when there is love of the homeland, the people keep waiting for the moment to end the traitors. After Sandino, combatants from Sandino's defending army carried out guerrilla incursions and were defeated because they were very small and in difficult conditions. But there was the courage to fight even in disadvantageous conditions. Eventually, young heirs of Sandino's thinking organized the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which had to wage a long battle with thousands dead against the Somoza Guard, armed and trained by the Americans. Under the inspiration of the Cuban Revolution's triumph in 1959, twenty years later the Nicaraguan Revolution triumphed in 1979, when it was said that the era of revolutions in Latin America and the Caribbean was over. We have since had a long journey confronting conspiracies and attempts to destroy the revolutionary process. We have a people, a youth incorporated into all activities related to the well-being of the people, fighting poverty, and developing projects, because our main objective remains peace. We are defenders of peace. Sandino fought for peace and we want peace. And we have in the north a power that feels it owns our America. The famous Monroe Doctrine is nothing more than the determination to take ownership of all of Latin America and the Caribbean. But I would say there has been a fundamental axis that has contributed to strengthening the resistance and struggle of Latin American peoples, which was established by our elder brother Commander Fidel Castro and our brother Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. The father Fidel and Hugo the son. They managed to produce a leap in the defense of the rights and identity of the peoples of our America. The first great step was the creation of ALBA. And despite all the threats, despite all the sanctions, ALBA is still alive. ALBA keeps walking. Yes, as Don Quixote told Sancho, don't worry, the dogs bark because we keep walking, and the more they see us walk, the more strength and firmness they see in us, the more they bark, the more they bite. And this siege, they are militarily surrounding the region, starting with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with the story of narcotrafficking. It has been discovered that what they really want is the oil of the Venezuelan people. And what have they done? Stolen an oil tanker. A robbery. They are thieves. Thieves of the highest order, because they feel entitled to rob, to steal the ship, to steal the oil the ship carries. And we must logically condemn these aggressions, which are aggressions targeting all CELAC countries. Some governments may think that because they are 'friends' of the U.S. government, things will go well for them. American rulers, the American empire, the imperialists of the earth have no friends. What they did in Honduras, deciding who had to be president. Poor president, because we don't know how he will fare. We don't see the United States, which despises the Honduran people, despises the Central American peoples, hates them for migration. They won't see it, and they will seek to impose themselves, and if the president who is finally elected there doesn't comply, then he will no longer be a friend. He will be an enemy. These are truly extraordinary moments in the struggle for peace in the world. Because we see the European Union beating drums of war to involve itself, as it has already done, in favor of the Nazis of Ukraine, against the Russian Federation. It is a struggle the Russian people are waging against the Nazis, on land where millions of Russians live who have been discriminated against and assassinated. We see the EU beating drums of war while the Pope calls for peace. The peoples want peace. We are sure the Ukrainian people want peace. We are also sure the Israeli people want peace, but there is a government and a party of a fascist nature. After the Nazis brutalized the people of Israel, now this governing party brutalizes the Palestinian people. These are brother peoples, yet they try to annihilate, to disappear the Palestinians, denying them the rights they have to develop. The destruction is terrible. They have demolished cities, homes, thousands of children murdered. And in the United States, the persecution against migrants is an expression of the racism that exists there.
North American rulers. And I am sure that the majority of the North American people do not agree with the persecution against immigrants, because those immigrants work for the North American people. And they are making war on migrants, expelling them, applying a racist policy, and that cannot go well. A policy that has been implemented in the United States, where the North American people are suffering the impact of economic measures taken by the US government against social programs, health programs, and programs that are essential for the North American people. There is a rejection of all measures being taken by the US government, and they are threatening, constantly threatening Mexico, threatening Colombia, threatening to go against Colombia, against Mexico, sending in troops—they say it calmly. And the peoples will react. Yes. And the North American people will react, and peace must be established in the world. And the people, the people of Bolívar, of Chávez, of Nicolás, the Bolivarian people who have been subjected to an attempt at strangulation. It is a people who have in their citizens, men, women, young people, workers, peasants—all of them are Bolívar, all of them are Chávez, all of them have that strength. And they are not fleeing because they are being threatened with military blockades and threats of land invasion. From there, no one left fleeing before those threats. Rather, the people are happy, content, firm, ready to face, to face whatever these gentlemen try to do, with the conviction that they will defeat them. And defeat is already certain, because this is a people at peace. They have not managed to provoke the people's uprising against the government. On the contrary, there is total unity of the people with the government authorities and with President Nicolás and the Bolivarian army. There is unity, there is joy, they are not terrified because the Yankee ships are right there. They are not terrified. And a people who have that morale, that strength, will always triumph. And you are already witnessing, dear brothers, and you are an example of inspiration for the Latin American and Caribbean peoples and for the peoples of the world.
We fully support the proposal made by President Nicolás Maduro about how to organize ourselves, how to work with greater efficiency and with clear points to develop. This will logically give us greater strength in all aspects because we will unite even more than we have already been mobilizing all these factors that President Nicolás Maduro was talking about. And our solidarity, as always, with the heroic people of Martí, of Fidel, of Raúl, and of our brother President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Díaz-Canel was here in Nicaragua when we faced the Contra, and he was alongside us in the combat zone, in the war zone. We greet the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit; the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and External Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, Chet Greene. We greet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Industry and Commerce, Consumer Affairs, Economic Development and Investment of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Export Development of Grenada, Joseph Andall; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Diaspora Affairs of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Keisal Peters. For all of them, brothers, our greeting to their people and the commitment to continue getting closer to strengthen our relations in all fields. And we know that we all face greater or lesser difficulties, but we all face difficulties, and the path to overcome those difficulties was charted—it was charted. Chávez is the dawn. And united we are already winning. Just the fact that we are gathered today, that we have this exchange, is a show of firmness, of courage, of loyalty to our peoples, to Fidel, and also to Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. Forward, brother. Fraternal hugs from the Nicaraguan people.
Well, we thank you for all the historical reflection, the guidance, and the lessons this extraordinary path leaves us. It is a unique story. Everything that is told is not science fiction, not Superman—it is our hero Sandino there, Andrés Castro like David against Goliath. In the end, we carry the force of David against today's Goliath, yesterday's, and the one to come. We carry David's sling, the sling of the peoples blessed by God. Because David told Goliath, 'You may have that armor, you may have the biggest sword ever seen. You may measure two meters tall, and I here, skinny, small, but you don't have what I have.' And Goliath said, 'And what do you have?' I have the power and the blessings of God and the power and the blessings of my people. And win, win, win. Goliath is finished. We are David in the 21st century and we go with Sandino, winning. Sandino forever. They thought they had executed and killed him, but Sandino was sown in the blood, in the earth, and in the heart of that people. And then the beautiful process of July 19, 1979, was resurrected. So, well, our greetings always. Bolívar speaking of peace, our objective, our life, our strength, our struggle. And Bolívar on June 23, 1820, a year and a day before the Battle of Carabobo, said a phrase that is a mantra for us, a mantra. I open quotation marks. Bolívar: 'Peace shall be my port, my glory, my reward, my hope, my happiness, and how precious peace is in the world—the peace that triumphs every day and the peace we will build on solid and firm foundations through the effort we are making.'
I would like, before giving the floor to the Caribbean leader, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, to have communicated to the delegations of our nine countries a proposal we have been working on, in the spirit of the Miracle Mission, Comrade President Díaz-Canel and the people of Cuba, in the spirit of the Miracle Mission: to create a special mission of energy and electricity of ALBA with international character. A special mission to support the people of Cuba in an extraordinary and special way in their fight against the blockade and the impact on all energy and electricity issues. It would be an International Mission of Energy and Electricity for special support to the people of Cuba. It is under consideration, and well, now we will give news about this resolution. And it gives me great pleasure to send a hug from here on behalf of the entire people of Venezuela to Roosevelt, leader and Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Forward, Roosevelt.
Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to see everyone and to participate in this, with much love for everyone. Sending hugs from my Dominica. I would like to acknowledge my dear brother and friend, comrade President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and President of today's summit, my dear brother President of the Republic of Cuba, and of course our dear brother President of Nicaragua. I remember listening to the President of Nicaragua when I was in primary school, and to me it seems he is someone who still has 50 years—I still see him very strong and with great energy, with great wisdom. I would also like to greet my dear brother, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and all the ambassadors present. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, good afternoon. I would like to thank the President of Venezuela for convening this meeting. I believe this meeting is being held at a very opportune moment. It is a moment when the Caribbean region is facing unprecedented challenges—challenges to our peace, our security, our economic and social well-being, and to the cohesion of Latin America and the Caribbean. And also a principle we have maintained for so many years, which is that the Caribbean is a zone of peace. And we want to reiterate that position very firmly when we express our complete solidarity with the government and people of Venezuela as they face this unprecedented threat. All of us present at this meeting have a history of fighting against drug trafficking and criminal activities in our countries, and we have, of course, protected our territorial waters and our borders. This is a fact that cannot be denied. We have all embraced the opportunities to work together, whether with the United States or with any other country, to fight against these criminal activities within our region. This, of course, is a matter that stabilizes our region, our governments, because if we do not control it, it can create tremendous chaos in our countries and among our peoples. Therefore, all of us within ALBA and within the Latin American and Caribbean region are against these criminal activities and, of course, we want to fight against the arms, against these criminal activities and drug trafficking in our region. I also believe, Mr. President, that this is a moment when we should be even more united than we have been. It is a moment when we must demonstrate our solidarity with one another. This is a test that history is presenting to us, and it will be very interesting to see how history records our own commitment to solidarity, our own recognition of our friendship. And the question is whether as peoples we will disappoint our ancestors—those who fought for our independence, those who gave their lives for independence, those who fought for our sovereignty, and those who fought and perished for our integrity and dignity. This is not the moment to be afraid. I believe it is the moment when we must strengthen our bonds of cooperation, solidarity, and complementarity. As always, Dominica supports the principles against the blockade of Cuba and anywhere in the world, in any forum, we will demand that the blockade of Cuba be ended. This has, of course, no objective other than to create poverty and economic and social problems for our peoples. Of course, we are very firm on this position. Cuba supporting terrorism—that is a brazen lie. Cuba is known for supporting other countries, for being solidarity with other countries regardless of their economic and social problems. I believe a prosperous Cuba, a Cuba that can demonstrate its real capabilities and potential, will be a benefit for the entire Latin American and Caribbean region, and not only for us, but for the whole world. And this is a principle for us—it is something we do not negotiate. We do not negotiate these principles. Of course, we also remain in solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela. In this case, we believe that the relationship between us is not something governed by what happens at the world level. It is about respecting the sovereignty of the people of Venezuela, respecting their territorial integrity. It is about calling for peace and ensuring that the lives of the Venezuelan people are respected and that they are recognized as a sovereign people. Of course, we maintain our solidarity with the people of Venezuela and its government. So, today's message is very simple. This moment requires that we all remain united, that we support one another. At this moment we must express our solidarity with dignity, with a sense of pride, and from our principles. We are not here to declare war on anyone. It is not about that. We are not like that. It is not what we have been taught. And if we look at the lessons of Fidel Castro, a leader for his country who suffered many assassination attempts, there were so many efforts to end the sovereignty of his country, and Fidel always taught us that we must choose the path of peace and not the path of war. Cuba has always brought dignity to other peoples, brought freedom to other peoples, brought peace to regions destroyed by war and ethnic cleansing. Therefore, we must follow the instructions of our ancestors, of our liberators. In the case of Hugo Chávez, it is exactly the same. Hugo Chávez always spoke of bringing dignity to the peoples, of ensuring the sovereignty of nations, respect among us, and working together to bring joint solutions to challenges we all have. And if we look at all the neighbors we have in Latin America, all the efforts that have been made to maintain peace, to share the resources we have with the rest of the region, so that we can grow together and build greater prosperity for our citizens. So, I would like to congratulate the President of Venezuela for following the guidance, of course, of the former President, Commander Hugo Chávez, and for choosing the path of peace, the path of dialogue, the path of commitment to diplomacy at all levels. And I would like to congratulate your leadership. I consider you, President Maduro, to be an impressive leader by the way you have been able to direct your country during such difficult times, and we see the strength in your tenacity, in your commitment to this struggle, and in your commitment to the ideals of Bolívar, of Hugo Chávez, and of Fidel Castro. So you can be sure that you are not alone in these moments. We will continue to participate at all levels to ensure that respect for sovereignty is maintained, that respect for international law is maintained, and that countries can self-determine, can choose the government they elect, and can defend their country in the way their citizens decide. And that is what we have been doing in our Latin American and Caribbean region. And we reiterate the need for this region to continue being a zone of peace where every citizen, every government, every country can govern their own lives under respect for international law and respect for self-determination. So, this message will not be very long. I simply wanted to tell you and all our friends throughout Latin America and the Caribbean that Dominica will always respect the principles. We will not stand on top of a mountain and shout this to all the Caribbean, but of course we will not negotiate, we will not compromise our principles. Cuba, Venezuela, and all our friends from Latin America and the Caribbean have all been very kind to us, have been extraordinary neighbors, and we have no reason for this to change, for these circumstances to change. We want rather to strengthen these relationships, strengthen our bonds of solidarity and complementarity, and we want to continue working together to continue fighting against social injustices, against the indignity of our citizens, so that each of them can have a just life, free from attacks on any other country or their communities. Money can be spent in much better ways than war. There are tremendous challenges. We still have many children going to bed hungry. There are many families who wake up not knowing how they will feed their children. However, there are still some who believe war is the path to solve problems. But history has taught us that war solves nothing; what it does is bring more chaos and destruction in the long term for the peoples. Therefore, I hope we remember that history and that we cease promoting war once and for all. Thank you very much, President, for your invitation. I hope to see you soon in Caracas, but you should know that you have friends, and your friends will stand in solidarity with you and with the people of Venezuela, with the free and dignified people of Venezuela, who protect their territory to ensure that future generations enjoy this freedom for which so many fought and that they enjoy today. Thank you very much.
