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TEHRAN, Iran (ACN) -- Non-Aligned Latin American and Caribbean nations will do everything to guarantee the success of the 16th Summit of the bloc, said Cuban First Vice-president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura in his address to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in Tehran, Iran.

Only one Latin American and Caribbean country was part of NAM upon its setting up in 1961; at present the bloc is made up of 26 member nations and seven countries with observer status from that region, Machado Ventura noted.

Latin America and the Caribbean, with an over-20-million-square-kilometer territorial area and more than 580 million inhabitants, have been an important pillar for the movement, and the region will keep contributing to the bloc’s work and objectives, said the Cuban first vice-president.

He noted that the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have the conviction that it is crucial to keep advancing the revitalization and strengthening of the Non-Aligned Movement as a coordination platform for South countries. He said the bloc must take actions to face the big challenges ahead.

Machado Ventura recalled the significant and positive changes taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean, which favour integration and unity as the only possible alternative to guarantee the rights of the nations.

He referred to the setting up of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, (CELAC) as an initiative of great historic importance, which offers the appropriate political instrument to reinforce unity, solve differences, and expand support and cooperation among the nations of the region.

"Our delegations will restlessly work to guarantee that the results of this meeting along with the next three years under the leadership of Iran translate into new steps forward to achieve the strengthening of unity and solidarity among Non-Aligned nations in their struggle for their legitimate right to wellbeing, peace and development," concluded the Cuban first vice-president.

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