Complementarity and joint work are fundamental to find solutions and jointly face the high food prices and inflationary pressures that currently have a negative impact on the well-being of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is the essence of the proposals presented this Wednesday afternoon during a virtual summit convened by the Government of Mexico, in which the Cuban delegation was headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The meeting was attended by presidents, prime ministers and high-level representatives of 11 Latin American and Caribbean nations.
The host of the meeting and President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, spoke of the multiple economic and commercial exchanges that can be developed between our countries if "we reach an agreement and remove obstacles, tariffs and sanitary measures," when welcoming the exchange.
For this reason, he expressed his interest that from this meeting, which opens the way for others to be developed in the future, the representatives of the convened nations can reach an agreement "to exchange food and basic products."
For more than two hours, the participants shared ideas and pointed out strategies that could expand trade facilities among the nations of the region; strengthen logistic and financial measures; promote the exchange of technology and knowledge; contribute to create capacities for the development of economic-trade policies and mechanisms that take into account the realities of each country and in general have an impact on the necessary decrease of the inflation that harms our peoples.
With an invitation to “taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the regional political scenario to launch projects of benefit to the peoples," the Cuban Head of State began his speech.
Luis Arce Catacora referred to the effects of the climate crisis which affects us all among the causes of this inflation. It is a crisis that we have not been able to "stop as humanity and is advancing by leaps and bounds."
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, one of the biggest promoters and supporters of policies to fight poverty and hunger amone the leaders of the region, said that although "this meeting brings together progressive leaders in our continent, it is important to remember that hunger has no ideology, nor is it of the right or the left; hunger makes people sick and kills them.
Later, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez read a message sent by President Nicolás Maduro Moros, in which he conveyed his reflections to those present.
"We must boldly and collectively assume an alternative path to defeat inflation and hunger in our region. Our proposal: let us use the energy of our countries to produce food for all," said the Venezuelan President.
With a view to an anti-inflationary agenda that can be implemented in the short, medium and long term, the Venezuelan President shared in his message five lines of work that could be developed jointly: consolidating a powerful energy and petrochemical integration alliance among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; building a new regional financial architecture; establishing the principle of complementarity in our economies; interconnecting as a single bloc with the BRICS countries, of which Brazil is already a member; and jointly rejecting criminal economic blockades.
During this first working session, the presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández; of Chile, Gabriel Boric; and of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, also took the floor. Other speakers were the Prime Minister of Belize, Juan Antonio Briceño; the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Germán Umaña; and the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Camilo Gonsalves, in his capacity as President Pro Tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Taking into account the importance of the central theme of the meeting and the urgency with which it needs to be resolved in the region, the 11 nations participating in the event agreed to hold a face-to-face Summit on May 6 and 7, in the Mexican city of Cancun.
Translated by ESTI
