Speaking at the 26th ALBA-TCP Political Council, which met in New York in the context of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, the senior Venezuelan diplomat defended unity as the supreme principle guaranteeing peace.

While conflicts are multiplying around the world, “the region must and can live as a space where peace is the norm and not the exception,” he stated, adding that Latin American and Caribbean unity is not simply a romantic aspiration, but “a strategic necessity” to defend our territories, amplify voices, demand respect for the will of the people, defend sovereignty, and promote sustainable development.

Gil emphasized that, in the current context of aggression, threats, and hatred, the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace takes on the utmost significance and relevance because “our States have unequivocally committed to resolving disputes through peaceful means, ratifying the norms of international law and diplomacy as the only legitimate instruments for resolving differences.”

“We will not tire of demanding respect for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States and recognizing the right of each people to decide their own destiny,” he emphasized.

The senior diplomat rejected any form of pressure or external coercion that seeks to alter the constitutional order of our nations and force the so-called policy of regime change.

Referring to current US threats, Gil noted that their presence has become a policy intended to threaten the entire Latin American and Caribbean region and the norm for “a way of doing politics based on blackmail, pressure, and threats.”

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