MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chavez rejects Americas’ summit declaration which ignores Cuba

Chavez: “Why does Cuba continue to be mistreated?”

President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday Venezuela ''will veto'' the declaration which is being drafted and due to be issued by this weekend's Summit of the Americas at Trinidad Tobago.

Speaking from the eastern Venezuelan city of Cumaná for the mini-summit meeting with his closest allies of the ALBA organization, including Cuban president Raúl Castro, Chavez said the communiqué has been drafted ``as if time had not passed.''

ALBA stands for “Bolivarian Alternative for the Nations of Our America”.

The declaration is essentially an agreement signed by the 34 member nations of the Organization of the American States, OAS, gathering in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to discuss necessary actions needed to advance common issues in the hemisphere.

The summit is being seen as an opportunity for the administration of President Barack Obama to begin to repair relations with Latinamerica and the Caribbean. But Chávez has anticipated that several countries of the region are ''preparing their artillery''.

Chavez has argued strongly that Cuba should not be excluded from the summit in Trinidad and Tobago. He said a new hemispheric group that does not give the United States such power should be created to replace the OAS.

However it is unclear whether the other members of the so-called ALBA alliance, Nicaragua, Honduras, Bolivia and Dominica will take a similar position on the declaration. Paraguay and Ecuador are observers.

At the ALBA summit in Cumaná Chavez said “Why does Cuba continue to be mistreated?“ Chavez said after warmly greeting Cuban leader Raul Castro. ”We can't accept it.“

”I hope the president of the United States is going to listen“ at the summit, Chavez said. He emphasized that the Americas Summit ”continues representing the Monroe Doctrine: America for the Americans,” a reference to a principle of American policy initially declared in the 19th century to oppose European expansion but which has been used subsequently to back US intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Venezuela and the ALBA members also approved a plan to move away from the US dollar by establishing a common currency for trade purposes. The regional electronic currency that is expected to circulate by 2010 will be called “Sucre”.

According to press sources from Washington the drafted Port Spain declaration sponsors promotion of human rights, sustained growth, energy security and environment sustainability for the hemisphere.