In These New Times

PressTV

6th February, 2012

An eight-nation bloc of Latin American and Caribbean countries has thrown its weight behind the Syrian government, condemning foreign efforts aimed at destabilizing Syria.

“The heads of state and government of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) reiterate their condemnation of the systematic policy of interference and destabilization in the brother Arab Republic of Syria which (the policy) intends to impose by force on the Syrian people a change in rulers,” the bloc’s statement said.

The statement was issued during the bloc’s recent meeting in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Sunday.

The statement further lent support to the national dialogue policy of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying that the initiative adopted by Assad is seeking a “political solution to the current crisis respectful of the Syrian people’s sovereignty and the territorial integrity of that Arab country.”

Earlier in October 2011, the ALBA ministers called for an end to the media campaign against Syria, saying that their countries would defend the sovereignty of Syria in international gatherings, particularly at the UN.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Hundreds of people, including Syrian security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters, but Damascus says “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” are responsible for the unrest, which it says is being orchestrated from abroad.