SELA to attend VI Summit of the Association of Caribbean States in Mexico

Caracas, April 30.- A debate on the present and future of the Association of Caribbean States and dialogues on the opportunities for regional cooperation are two of the main activities that is carried out at the VI Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Merida, Mexico, today 30 April, chaired by the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto.

The Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, was invited to this event. SELA is a regional organization for consultation, coordination and economic and social promotion, with vast experience in the area of regional cooperation, in which the Caribbean region is quite important, as demonstrated by the fact that SELA, jointly with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), organized a meeting of experts to address the issue of the debt burden in the Caribbean region, which was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 24 February 2014.

The objectives of the ACS are: strengthen regional cooperation and the integration process, with the purpose of creating an expanded economic space in the region; preserve the environmental integrity of the Caribbean Sea, considered as a common heritage of the peoples of the region; and promote sustainable development in the Greater Caribbean. At present, its focal areas are trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters.

The Member States of the ACS are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Discussions at the preparatory meetings for the Sixth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States will focus on the draft declaration of Merida and will evaluate the Action Plan of Petion-Ville, corresponding to the previous meeting, which was held in Haiti.

The Declaration of Petion-Ville recognizes the integration efforts carried out in the region by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America – Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), PETROCARIBE, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project, and the Pacific Alliance, as well as other integration organizations with high social content, based on the principles of complementarity, cooperation and social justice.

In this architecture of integration SELA has a significant stake, through its activities. In the field of regional cooperation, since its creation, SELA has attached priority to this issue.

In order to promote regional and international cooperation, the meetings of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean have been promoted since 1987 as a space for the exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices among cooperation directors and agencies from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective.

The XXV Meeting of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean will be held on 5 and 6 June in Antigua, Guatemala, in coordination with the Government of Guatemala, through the Ministry of Economy, the Secretariat of Planning and Programming of the Presidency and the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund of the Group of 77. The central topic of the event will be “Cooperation and migrants’ remittances: Impact on savings, investment and development”.

Prior to the Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States, a preparatory meeting for the Extraordinary Meeting of the ACS Ministerial Council will take place, followed by the ministerial session. The Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Fernando Carrera, will hold the chairmanship of this Council.

In the ministerial sessions, the floor will be taken by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the host country, Mexico, José Antonio Meade; the Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Fernando Carrera, and the Secretary-General of the Association of Caribbean States, Ambassador Alfonso Múnera.