MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CELAC FMs call for joint connection with the rest of the world

“Latin America and the Caribbean now present an asset, an opportunity for the world,” Cafiero said

Foreign Ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires Wednesday issued a statement calling for the consolidation of regional unity while deepening strategies for joint approaches regarding the bloc's connection with the rest of the world.

A document was issued after the XXIII Meeting of Foreign Ministers, whereby the group agreed on pursuing “social, economic, and productive recovery, placing science, technology, and innovation at the service of sustainable development.”

They also expressed concern over the challenges and threats that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose and pledged to undertake effective actions to strengthen the food supply by supporting agricultural and rural development.

The top diplomats also underlined the need to “strengthen South-South and Triangular cooperation mechanisms as vehicles of the countries' foreign policies for the mobilization of knowledge, good practices and the promotion of strategic alliances that make it possible to effectively reactivate and prepare for future global crises” while “building a more just, inclusive, equitable and harmonious international order, based on respect for international law, multilateralism and the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, including the sovereign equality of States, international cooperation for development, respect for territorial integrity and non-intervention in the internal affairs of States.”

The declaration also insisted the UN General Assembly had called to put an end to the economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba and welcomed the progress achieved in deepening political dialogue with extra-regional partners, including the European Union, China, India, the African Union, and ASEAN.

Hosting Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, who presided over the meeting, called for a deeper debate into the future of CELAC. “This debate implies reflecting together on the best strategies to strengthen the institutional framework of the mechanism, as well as seeking a greater articulation of CELAC's own voice in its dialogue with extra-regional partners,” Cafiero said.

“CELAC must definitely move into action. From a valuable forum for sharing ideas, it must make the qualitative leap to become an engine of regional integration, with its own strength and traction, and with all the instruments it requires to achieve its mission,” he added.

“Latin America and the Caribbean now present an asset, an opportunity for the world,” Cafiero also pointed out while underlining the new role of this part of the world in the global food supply.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Carlos Faria said his country was committed to the unity of nations amid diversity and to consolidating Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of “peace and cooperation,” while denouncing the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States on nations of the world. “The children of Bolivar reiterate once again the call to add our voices to continue denouncing, rejecting, and condemning the application of unilateral coercive measures, blockades, and systematic sieges against countries in the world,” he said.

CELAC includes the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It was created in 2010 to advance the region's gradual integration.