Caracas, Venezuela.-With the presence of presidents, prime ministers and guests from several countries, the 14th ALBA-TCP Summit opened in Caracas today, paying tribute to the revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez.

On the fourth anniversary of Chavez’s death (1954-2013) on Sunday, the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our Americas-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) are meeting in this capital to boost Latin American integration.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as the event’s host, is accompanied by Presidents Raul Castro (Cuba), Evo Morales (Bolivia) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua), as well as the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, and the foreign ministers of Latin American and Caribbean nations.

Focusing on the development of inclusive economic and social policies, the ALBA-TCP is an integration project that promotes cooperation, independence, emancipation and integration among Latin American countries.

Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Granada, Nicaragua, Saint Kits and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam and Venezuela are members of the organization, which also includes Haiti, Syria and Iran as observers.

The ALBA-TCP, a Latin American organization that fights poverty and social exclusion in the region, was founded in Havana at the proposal of Chavez and the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro (1926-2016).