Ailing Chavez Slams US, Praises Cuba’s Castro

Local Editor

Venezuela’s cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez called regional leaders to show unity, while slamming the US embargo on Cuba. Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro has read Hugo’s letter on Monday at the CELAC summit in Chile’s capital, Santiago. The ailing president, currently recovering from a seven-week-long operation, praised Cuban President Raul Castro in the letter over assuming rotating president of the Community of Caribbean and Latin American nations (CELAC). "After 30 years of resisting this criminal imperial blockade, Latin America and the Caribbean is saying to the US, in one voice, that all your attempts to leave out Cuba are failing," the letter, signed by Chavez in red ink read. Chavez praised the progress of the group, which came as a counterweight to the US dominated Organization of American States (OAS). "Since December 2011, when we founded CELAC in Caracas, world events have only confirmed the extraordinary importance of our decision, the great step forward that we took," Maduro said, reading Chavez' letter. The Venezuelan leader also urged the Caribbean and Latin American leaders in the message to work together on different issues, from energy to literacy. He also supported Argentina over the sovereignty of Malvinas islands, also claimed by Britain.

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