EFE.- The Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) will meet this Saturday in Mexico to deepen the joint fight against the pandemic and discuss a possible transformation of the Organization of American States (OAS).
“It has been a long time since the presidents, prime ministers and senior officials that the President of the Republic has now convened have met,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stressed about the summit led by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
So far, the participation of 17 presidents or heads of state is expected – 18 if the Mexican president is counted – two vice presidents, 12 foreign ministers and other officials.
In addition, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will be present.
Among the rulers present will be Luis Arce (Bolivia), Miguel Díaz-Canel (Cuba), Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador), Carlos Alvarado (Costa Rica), Juan Orlando Hernández (Honduras), Pedro Castillo (Peru) and Luis Lacalle Pou (Uruguay ).
López Obrador is temporary president of Celac and has proposed to transform that body “into something similar to the European Union.” He has insisted that “the replacement of the OAS by a truly autonomous body should not be ruled out,” as he said in July during a meeting of foreign ministers.
In recent months, López Obrador has increased his role in foreign policy trying to lead a critical position towards the OAS and towards the United States, above all, with his requests to end the embargo on Cuba.
“The Government that I represent respectfully calls on the Government of the United States to lift the blockade against Cuba because no State has the right to subdue another people, another country,” said the president on Thursday during his speech at the celebration of the military parade of the Mexico’s independence.
PLAN AGAINST PANDEMIC
Among the topics that will be discussed during the meeting is the presentation of the progress achieved, mainly related to how the pandemic was dealt with.
Alicia Bárcena, secretary of ECLAC, will detail the plan to be followed by the region to have vaccines, equipment, and tests.
Among them is the production and packaging of vaccines with the Mexico-Argentina agreement, with the support of the Slim Foundation, of the AstraZeneca drug.
In addition, they will address the support of 13 Celac vaccine research projects, in countries such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
The Government of Mexico has played an active role before the UN, where it has a seat on the Security Council, to demand vaccines against covid-19 for Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to closing an agreement with Argentina to distribute AstraZeneca drugs for your neighbors.
Likewise, they will highlight the importance of regional coordination for the meetings of the network of specialists of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the network of virologists of Celac and the regional plan of vaccines and medicines of ECLAC.
NEW BODY
At the end of last July, during the Celac foreign minister’s summit, the founding agreement of the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) was signed, and now in this new summit it is expected that the foundation of the organization as such will be carried out. .
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Prior to the meeting of foreign ministers in July, López Obrador asked to create in the region “something similar” to the European Union (EU) for the Latin American region and to replace the OAS.
Those attending the meeting will elect their new president pro tempore, a position held by Mexico since January 2020, the year in which the meeting had to be suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
So far the only candidate is Argentina.
The meeting will also discuss the creation of a disaster fund for Latin America, given the impacts of climate change.
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