"Yes, we are destabilisers"

On his return from the Extraordinary Americas Summit, which 
ended on January 14 in the Mexican city of Monterrey, Venezuelan 
President Hugo Chavez asked for Cuba to be included in the inter-
American system of nations.

"Why isn't Cuba part of it? Who was consulted to exclude it? It 
is right that we should ask the countries of the region why Cuba 
isn't there and not keep quiet when it is attacked in those 
forums", affirmed the President.

Chavez alluded to the Cuban issue during his report to Parliament 
on his administration in 2003, transmitted on radio and 
television.

Responding to recent claims that Cuba and Venezuela are promoting 
political destabilisation in the region, Hugo Chavez stated that 
he and Cuban President Fidel Castro are destabilisers, but of 
hunger and death.

"Yes, we are destabilisers, Cuba and Venezuela, Fidel and Chavez. 
Fortunately we are not the only ones, each day the destabilisers 
of death are more", he announced in his message to Congress.

The Venezuelan President added that the integration model between 
Venezuela and Cuba is being presented as an alternative to the 
neoliberal model promoted by the Free Trade Area of the Americas 
(FTAA).

Chavez reiterated that the neoliberalism coming from the 
International Monetary Fund is the real political destabilising 
force in the region, and added that his government is aligned 
with the struggles of the anti-globalisation movement in search 
of "equity and justice".