Cuba Hosts Carribbean States to Talk 'Defense of Our Interests'

With the stated goal of finding alternatives to neoliberal development in order to cope with the current economic crisis facing the region, the Association of Caribbean States opened its 7th annual summit on Thursday in Havana, Cuba.

The three-day meeting is being attended by foreign ministers and representatives of the 25 member countries that make up the bloc. Heads of state will also be attending a meeting on Saturday.

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Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic and Luis Guillermo Solis of Costa Rica have confirmed their attendance. The governor of U.S. territory Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, will attend as a guest.

Cuba’s foreign ministry notes that the summit takes place during a "transcendent" moment for the region, where "unity is necessary to ensure the defense of our interests."

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The Venezuelan delegation is expected to denounce what it casts as aggression by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, who moved to invoke the bloc’s so-called Democratic Charter against the South American country.

Representatives from Colombia, meanwhile, are expected to detail advances achieved so far in peace negotiations with FARC guerrillas.