Raul Castro and Caribbean leaders mark 18th anniversary of ALBA-TCP

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 14 (ACN) Army General Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, together with regional leaders, celebrated the 18th anniversary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas and Peoples' Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP).

At the Havana Conventions Center, and in an extraordinary session of the National Assembly of People's Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the Cuban Parliament, welcomed Nicolás Maduro Moros, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

He also welcomed Luis Alberto Arce and Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Presidents of the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Republic of Nicaragua, respectively, and Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada, Roosevelt Skerrit of the Commonwealth of Dominica and other invited leaders of ALBA-TCP member countries will also be present at the plenary.

Lazo Hernandez recalled Fidel and Chavez, founders of the alliance on December 14, 18 years ago and highlighted the role of this integration mechanism for the benefit of the peoples.