Cuban News Agency

SANTIAGO, Cuba, July 26(acn) Cuban President Raul Castro described the ongoing transformations aimed at consolidating Latin American and Caribbean unity as a firm and continuous process.

Despite attempts to divide us in order to keep on with plunder, Latin American and Caribbean integration keeps unfolding, said Raul Castro in his closing remarks of the national ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes garrisons in 1953.

He pointed out that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our Americas (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) are integration-oriented entities that prove the will of regional leaders to achieve unity, despite the hurdles posed by the United States.

Raul said that “we have never lacked the support of the nations of this continent,” and he mentioned some of the new social-political processes underway in the region.

He recalled the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution after the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959, and after two decades, Hugo Chavez made his Bolivarian Revolucion in Venezuela, which is now being firmly led by Nicolas Maduro, Raul pointed out.

The Cuban head of state also mentioned the process of changes underway in Bolivia under Evo Morales, and the revolution in Ecuador under Rafael Correa, as well as the changes led by Jose Mujica in Uruguay.

Raul Castro referred to the work being undertaken by Caribbean leaders in support of their nations.

As to the domestic scene, the Cuban president said that the historic leadership of the Revolution is passing over to the new generations their responsibilities with full confidence and based on their proven capabilities to defend socialism, and he stressed that with this regard the unity of all Cubans is crucial.

The Cuban president took the occasion to pay homage to those who were killed at the Moncada garrison and to the Commander of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro who, along his people, has withstood huge sacrifices.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/2013/0726Latin-America.htm