TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, CMC—St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is joining leaders and other representatives for the ninth summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which began here on Wednesday.
The 33-member grouping is meeting in Honduras and will allow the leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Cuban President Miquel Diaz-Canel, to discuss regional cooperation, trade policies, and the upcoming selection of the next UN Secretary-General.
Mauro Vieira emphasized that CELAC members are expected to coordinate with the Brazilian Foreign Minister on a unified candidate for UN leadership, indicating that the CELAC countries should collaborate on issues important to the region.
The Brazilian government expects the selected nominee to be a woman. Ambassador Gisela Maria Figueiredo Padovan, Secretary of Latin America and the Caribbean, said that Latin America and the Caribbean should rightfully assume the position under the regional rotation system.
She said Brazil proposes a joint effort among member countries to support a single candidate, increasing the chances of upholding the rotation principle.
The meeting will address key initiatives, including food security programs and disaster relief funding.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro will hand over the pro tempore presidency of CELAC to President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. Petro has promised that Colombia will carry out its pro tempore presidency with great responsibility, seriousness, and professionalism.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Foreign Affairs Minister, Frederick Stephenson, speaking at the CELAC Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting, said there is a need to “engage in a more serious dialogue on how we strengthen our organization and the establishment of a permanent secretariat.
“We are mindful of the consequences of elections. However, we must be empowered as an institution to withstand an assault on our core principles, even if we no longer make decisions by consensus.”
Stephenson said the declaration presented to the ministers “is very brief but significant in that we accept and continue to endorse the principles and actions enshrined in previous declarations.”
She said it also identifies the areas of focus for the incoming PEP and that it is essential that all of the special declarations submitted “are presented so that this body can approve them since they represent the interest of individual member states requiring our support.”
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