4-17-09, 9:19 am

HAVANA, Cuba, April 16 (acn) – Bolivian President Evo Morales said that US President Barack Obama has the moral and ethical obligation to compensate Cuba for the damages caused by previous US administrations, in reference to the nearly-50-year US economic blockade on the Caribbean nation.

In statements in Venezuela, Morales today reiterated that he will propose at the 5th Summit of the Americas that the United States should lift the economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba, EFE news agency reported.

The Spanish agency explained that the Bolivian President arrived in Venezuela to participate at the 7th Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for our Americas (ALBA), underway in Cumana city, in the eastern part of the South American country.

The EFE wire adds that along with Morales other regional leaders are participating in the Summit, such as the host of the event Venezuela´s Hugo Chavez and his counterparts from Cuba, Raul Castro; Honduras Manuel Zelaya, Nicaragua Daniel Ortega, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines´ Prime Ministers Roosevelt Skerrit and Ralph Gonsalves, respectively.

Also attending the meeting as special guests are Paraguayan Fernando Lugo, and an envoy from Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

A report by Prensa Latina news agency says that the representatives of the ALBA countries analyzed joint development projects and reached common positions.

Among the proposals under consideration is the setting up of a regional currency called SUCRE (Spanish acronym for Unique System for Regional Compensation) for the transactions of the ALBA. The SUCRE could become the currency of the regional integration initiative as an expression of its cooperation and integration-oriented approach.