Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel delivered a speech at the ALBA Summit condemning the Monroe Doctrine and U.S. gunboat diplomacy against Venezuela and the region. He emphasized the sovereignty of Latin America and the Caribbean, and demanded an end to unilateral coercive measures. He reaffirmed commitment to regional integration and the legacy of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez.
In his speech at the ALBA Summit, Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed solidarity with nations affected by Hurricane Melissa and emphasized climate change as an imminent threat. He criticized the resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine as an aggressive policy threatening the independence of Latin American and Caribbean countries. "Latin America and the Caribbean are not anyone's backyard, nor even anyone's front yard", he stated, rejecting U.S. imperial pretensions.
Díaz-Canel denounced the recent assault and seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker by U.S. military forces, calling it an act of piracy that violates international law and freedom of navigation. He condemned the naval deployment in the Caribbean as a threat to Venezuela, warning of a possible "Trump Corollary". He reaffirmed support for the Bolivarian Revolution and President Nicolás Maduro, recalling the 2014 Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
The Cuban president criticized the exclusions of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba from hemispheric summits, attributing them to Washington pressures, and demanded the immediate end to unilateral coercive measures, especially the economic blockade against Cuba lasting over 60 years. He referenced the 21st anniversary of ALBA, founded by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, and highlighted projects like AgroALBA, ALBA Azul, and the ALBA vessel to foster solidarity-based integration.
Díaz-Canel concluded by invoking the unity of peoples against imperial ambitions, faithful to Bolívar, Martí, Fidel, and Chávez, to defend peace and sovereignty.
