Three days before the Fifth Summit of the Americas, scheduled for April 17-19, a group of Latin American and Caribbean leaders led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will meet in Caracas to discuss new paths for regional integration, trade and cooperation.

On April 14-15 in Port of Spain, Prime Minister Patrick Manning will be preparing to welcome several leaders for the summit.

On those same days, approximately 380 kilometres west of Trinidad in Cumana, Venezuela, President Chavez will host a heads of state meeting of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known by its Spanish initials as ALBA.

However, Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose country is a member of ALBA, told Chavez yesterday that he had decided not to attend the ALBA meeting nor the Summit of the Americas because of domestic political problems.

President Morales has been staging a hunger strike since April 9 to pressure Bolivia’s congress to set a firm date for presidential elections which are mandated by a constitutional reform approved in January.

Under Venezuelan leadership, ALBA was formed in 2004 as an alternative initiative to the stalled US-endorsed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). ALBA member countries include Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Chavez, an outspoken critic of the United States and the FTAA, recently confirmed that the ALBA meeting will be held on April 14-15.

ALBA member countries have taken significant steps to consolidate the group’s objective as a viable integration alternative based on solidarity, equality, and political, economic and social cooperation.

On his return from a tour of Japan, Iran and China, the  Venezuelan leader visited Cuba on Friday, where he met with Cuban President Raul Castro and former leader Fidel Castro to discuss the two upcoming summits.

Chavez said the ALBA Summit was organised to strengthen the united stance of the member countries and ’fine tune the aim’ ahead of the Summit of the Americas.

He said ALBA members will speak with ’one voice’ at the Port of Spain Summit.

The Venezuelan leader said recently that Antigua and Barbuda and Panama have expressed interest in joining ALBA.

Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, he added, had formally requested entry into the group.

That request will be considered at the ’extraordinary summit’ on April 14-15 in Cumana, Venezuela, he said.

Referring to the possibility of another Central American country joining ALBA, Chavez said the group ’has opened arms and hearts to receive El Salvador if its government decides to do so. This is a decision that only President-elect Mauricio Funes can make’.

Chavez did not say how the ALBA Summit would deal with political issues such as the return of Cuba to the return of Cuba to the Inter-American system.

All six ALBA member countries, with the exception of Cuba, and those interested in joining the group will be taking part in the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain.