El Universal, Caracas
Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela to ink People’s Trade Treaty
26 April 2006
The governments of Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba next Saturday are initialing in Havana a pact to jump start the People’s Trade Treaty (TCP), Bolivian President Evo Morales said, as reported on Wednesday by several Bolivian media.
During an event of his party Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), late on Tuesday, Morales announced the treaty would allow the parties to trade goods free from tariffs.
Official Bolivian sources told Efe on Wednesday that Morales is traveling to Havana on Saturday to meet with his Cuban and Venezuelan counterparts Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, respectively.
In his address on Tuesday, Morales explained the deal would include trade of coca, as the plant has markets in Venezuela and Cuba.
Morales said Cuba and Venezuela accepted his proposal to create the TCP to pave the way for ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas and the Caribbean President Hugo Chávez has proponed as an alternative to US-backed Free Trade Area for the Americas).
Morales said Bolivian Foreign Affairs Minister David Choquehuanca was in Caracas to fine tune details ahead of the initialization of the TCP.