Statments
INIVTATION XVII NAM SUMMIT MARGARITA
COURTESY TRANSLATION
Miraflores Palace, 20th June 2016
Excellency
Head of State / Government
Country
Excellency,
On behalf of the People and Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, allow me to transmit my warmest regards with all the fraternal sentiment that unites our two Homelands, our two Peoples.
Moreover, I would like to hereby inform you that Venezuela will host the XVII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to be held in Margarita Island, from September 17th through 18th, 2016, under the motto Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development. In this regard, I have the honour of extending you the most fraternal invitation to attend the rendezvous in Margarita. I reckon that your presence and contribution are very necessary for this Summit to become a new reaffirmation of the historical relevance of the NAM, as a tool of the Peoples at the forefront in the building of a new multi-centre and pluri-polar system-world.
Fortunately, the NAM Summit in Venezuela takes place within a framework of recent commemoration, in 2015, of three historic events of great significance, which, in a diverse manner, continue exerting a profound influence on the current configuration of international relations.
I refer, firstly, to the bicentennial of one of the magnificent papers of Liberator Simón Bolívar: the celebrated Jamaica Letter, a fundamental and founding text of the unity of Our America, wherein a rigorous geopolitical analysis intersperses with a passionate prophecy on the historical development of the Great Homeland.
The Jamaica Letter, which provides an overview of each country of Our America, and was written shortly before resuming, with renewed zest, the struggle for the liberation of the continent, is nothing else but the genuine grammar of our emancipation. Bolívar makes intelligible what had been dispersed and fragmented thus far, hidden by centuries of colonial dominance. As revealed by a great Bolivarian, Argentinean thinker Jorge Abelardo Ramos, inspired on the thinking of the Liberator: "Our America is not divided for being underdeveloped, but it is underdeveloped because throughout its history it has been constantly and systematically divided by the great empires." In this context, it is worth mentioning that there has not been a more faithful interpreter of the Jamaica Letter as Commander Hugo Chávez. His leadership reinvigorated the historical cause of unity: the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) are clear testimony to it. Today, we, as followers of his thinking and work, can proudly say that the prophecy of the Jamaica Letter is closer than ever to its happy accomplishment, thanks to Chávez's vision, as well as to his fruitful and tirelessly work.
Likewise, in 2015, we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. There, a document of major political significance was made known: the Bandung Declaration. The spirit of Bandung has incarnated in the historical development. Nowadays, it acquires an invaluable importance as it revitalizes the fraternal encounter of Peoples, the common and shared struggle against all forms of colonialism and neo-colonialism, the substantive political debate. Incidentally, Chávez always vindicated the full force and validity of the Bandung spirit against the dire dynamic of recolonization of the world launched from Washington.
Certainly, the world has changed significantly since 1955, yet the Bandung spirit keeps demanding us: the ultimate liberation and independence of our Peoples do not allow for any procrastination.
Last, but not least, we commemorated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations; organization of which Venezuela was a founding member and of which it currently is a non-permanent member of its Security Council. At the heart of the UN we have struggled and continue to struggle to realize the re-founding process envisaged and proposed with great clarity by Commander Chávez.
Similarly, it coincides with the bicentennial, on July 14, of the death of one of the most universal Venezuelan in our history, Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda, who took part in vital pro-independence and republican revolutions, vindicating freedom and equality throughout the world as universal principles.
Excellency,
Inheritor and continuer of the ten great principles of Bandung, our NAM faces, now more than ever, the challenge of achieving the realization of a new system-world. Hence, in contrast with those who think that the NAM has lost its raison d'être upon the end of the Cold War, we are convinced that neocolonial dominance can be seen nowadays in both an aggressive and brutal manner.
The common strategy defined during the United Nations Summit held last September is of special interest for the meeting in Margarita. It shall be recalled that the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted within the United Nations, on the basis of the Millennium Development Goals. Every rostrum is pivotal for our Movement. It is therefore fundamental that we consolidate the most perfect unity, based on a shared political vision.
Now, no discussion on sustainable development can circumvent the signs of our historical present: glaring iniquities, violence and war, the consequences of predatory development, the gradual loss of fundamental rights, the relentless deterioration of the environment, and the threats of interventionism are some of the formidable dangers we are bound to reverse. Only then can we advance towards a joint comprehensive development, without impositions of any kind.
Our upcoming Summit becomes then a privileged opportunity to further advance the objectives set in Tehran. Likewise, relaunching our vision and goals in the long term, that is, for the next 15 years, is of utmost importance.
Much can do our Movement in order to contribute to the realization of another possible world, saving humankind and the planet itself. For Venezuela, preserving the historical relevance of the NAM goes beyond short-term or conjuncture political calculations: it is one of the best ways to defend and honour Chávez's legacy.
In my opinion, this Summit will be memorable and will reaffirm the libertarian path of the NAM. History, Excellency, calls us to Margarita on the coming month of September. Your contribution is necessary for all of us to hoist together, with renewed vigour, the flags of the NAM. We are among the best examples of the world we want: a world where many worlds fit.
With all the strength of the libertarian spirit of Bolívar and Chávez, please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my friendship.
Nicolás Maduro Moros
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
