By Sinay Cespedes Moreno

 Central Bureau, Feb 19 (Prensa Latina) The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) has spread its pro-integration influence to the Caribbean, where three states have united with the principles of this Venezuelan initiative.

   Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are country members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the sponsor of this initiative, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

   Prime Ministers Baldwin Spencer (Antigua and Barbudas), Roosevelt Skerrit (Dominica) and Ralph Gonsalves (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) signed the document.

   Host Gonsalves recalled the principles of solidarity, cooperation, peace and justice defended by ALBA, and said that "no one would be against countries which join efforts to benefit their citizens."

   For Caribbean countries, joining ALBA is an undeniable way to promote a rapprochement and mutual aid between these peoples and Latin America.

  Strengthened cooperation links with Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela (nations grouped in the ALBA) are also useful for this area, which is trying to consolidate economically, politically and socially.

  An example of their common interest in strengthening Caribbean-Latin American links was Chavez' visits to Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines over the past weekend.

   During his brief stay, Chavez called on these states to materialize Caribbean unity and jointly defeat those who are trying to divide and conquer the Caribbean.

   Even without having joined initiatives such as ALBA, Caribbean and Latin American countries have been implementing joint collaboration plans in order to strengthen their ties.

   Initiatives like Petrocaribe, which is a Venezuelan program to supply oil to the Caribbean with preferential payment terms, also including the construction of oil storage and treatment plants, are examples of these pro-integration efforts.

   Operation Miracle, a Cuba-Venezuela project extended to the Caribbean to provide surgery for residents of the area with vision problems, is another initiative that has had a positive impact on the peoples.

   Other projects include the construction of an international airport in Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the extension of an air base in Dominica, as well as a Cuban plan to exchange light bulbs for energy-saving light bulbs in several territories of the region.

   Extending the Cuban teaching method "Yes, I Can" to Caribbean states, and taking an active part in the implementation of social plans are also part of this strengthening of links.

   ALBA is more than the antithesis of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a failed US initiative.

   It is the maximum expression of the will of Latin American and Caribbean states to show that a better world is really possible. 

(Prensa Latina) 19-02-2007