Chavez Calls Meeting Before Americas Summit

HAVANA TIMES, April. 6 – Representatives of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) will meet in Caracas April 14 and 15, announced Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez said the meeting will serve to agree on positions before the 5th Summit of the Americas, to be held in Trinidad and Tobago April 17-19.

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known by its Spanish acronym ALBA, is a regional integration effort that currently has Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica and Honduras as member nations.

The ALBA stresses fraternity, mutually beneficial trade and social development. It was founded as a counterweight to profit-oriented free trade schemes promoted by the United States.