The Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular and Migration Affairs of Honduras, Antonio García, held an informative meeting with Ambassador Clarems Endara, Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), and Verónica Ramírez, Coordinator of International Relations of SELA, with the aim of promoting joint programmes and projects in specific areas.
In May this year, during the XIV Special Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA, Honduras reiterated its commitment to the Organisation and announced that it would resume its functions as a Member State in order to coordinate efforts in favour of regional integration.
On that occasion, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Foreign Policy, Gerardo Torres, represented the country and expressed the government's decision as follows: “On behalf of President Xiomara Castro and Foreign Minister Enrique Reina, we wish to notify our intention to join SELA in due form, we express our willingness to resume our commitments and we are awaiting the appropriate procedure to join.”
BOOSTING COOPERATION
SELA is aimed at promoting a system of consultation and coordination to reach common positions and strategies for Latin America and the Caribbean in the economic field in order to boost cooperation.
Ambassador Clarems Endara said it is especially important for SELA to reconstruct strategies to integrate the countries “because some still do not want to join.”
However, he hopes to have undertaken a practice of consultations to locate a meeting point among nations. As an example, he mentioned the ports network, where public policy recommendations are to be institutionalised with the maritime and port authorities: “We have a multiplicity of models to share in order to rescue logistics and capture better levels of benefits.”
SELA is a regional intergovernmental organisation, with headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, that promotes cooperation and integration among the 25 Latin American and Caribbean member countries: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.