http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/diciembre/juev18/Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean.html
Havana. December 18, 2008
Latin America and the Caribbean reinforce regional integration
COSTA DE SAUIPE, Brazil, December 17.- "The first Latin American and
Caribbean Summit has concluded in this coastal resort with the conviction that
the political, economic, social and cultural integration of the region
constitutes a necessary factor on the road to sustainable development and the
social wellbeing of its citizens."
According to PL, in the extensive final declaration, heads of state and
government reaffirmed their commitment to the defense of sovereignty and the
right of every state to construct its own political system, free from threats,
aggression and coercive unilateral measures.
The document reiterates the disposition to establish a more just and
equitable international order. Likewise, it champions the strengthening of
multilateralism and confirms the urgent need to launch a genuine reform of the
United Nations that will guarantee representation and democratization in its
principal bodies, particularly the Security Council.
The leaders emphasized the urgent need for efforts in regional
cooperation, complementation and integration with respect to the energy sector,
given the severe imbalances between supply and demand throughout the world.
The dignitaries also defended the need for wide-ranging international
dialogue with the active participation of developing countries in the context
of constructing of a new financial architecture.
Likewise, they emphasized the importance of and urgent need to strengthen
regional and sub-regional mechanisms in order to promote integration and
development in the context of the global financial crisis.
During the sessions of this historic event, Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez urged the continent to create an Organization of Latin American and
Caribbean States, a fundamental strategy for integration in the face of the
current capitalist world order.
For his part, Bolivian President Evo Morales affirmed that impositions
from above and outside have not been solutions, nor have the formulas drawn up
by organizations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.
During his contribution to the Summit, Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce
Golding also called on those present to strengthen regional strategies in the
face of this situation, such as the Rio Group which, he said, must become the
driving organizational and institutional framework for development in the
region.
In a communiqué, Honduran President José Manuel Zelaya underlined that
"this is a meeting to dignify the positions of Latin America."
Included as part of the event at the coastal resort of Costa de Sauípe
were the summits of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Rio Group
- which officially welcomed Cuba as a full member of this forum - and the
Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR).
Translated by Granma International
- Special Declaration on the Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial
and Financial Blockade Imposed on Cuba by the Government of the United States
of America, Including the Application of the So-Called Helms-Burton Act
- Brazilian parliamentarians send document to Obama calling for an end to
the blockade Ambassador Clifford Sobel
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