López Obrador inaugurates the Celac summit, crosses to the OAS and asks to imitate the European Union

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The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, inaugurated this Saturday the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), in which more than a dozen leaders of the region participate, most of them critical of the OAS and in solidarity with the regimes of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.

The Mexican president took the opportunity to call for the Latin American region to build something similar to the European Union. AND

He noted that this ideal would be possible if agreement is reached on three basic issues: non-intervention and self-determination of peoples, cooperation for development and mutual aid to combat inequality and discrimination.

Regarding the economic and commercial, the Mexican president proposed the signing of an agreement between the countries of the region with the United States and Canada, with the aim of strengthen the internal market of the continent, which, he said, “is in deficit with Europe and Asia.”

At the summit, the absence of the Chilean Sebastián Piñera, the Colombian Iván Duque and the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro was noted. But if the Peruvian Pedro Castillo, the Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro, the Bolivian Luís Arce or the Cuban Miguel Diaz-Canel were there. Also missing the Argentine Alberto Fernández due to the crisis that surrounds Argentina. He was represented by his outgoing Foreign Minister Felipe Solá.

The Mexican president greets the Peruvian Pedro Castillo (with a hat) before the start of the Celac summit. AFP

The Mexican leader, a critic of the Organization of American States, highlighted the importance of reactivating the economies of the countries of the region soon “to build what we consume in America” ​​and stressed that we have the workforce, in addition to a good technological development.

“We are a rich continent in natural resources, with wide cultural diversity, and the distances between countries allow savings in freight and there is sufficient demand for merchandise, “he said.

However, he added that joint planning and the cooperation of organizations such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are required to promote the economic community in the region.

He criticized the lack of support from the United States government, He highlighted that since 1961, that country invested 10 billion dollars in 10 years (82,000 million dollars at the current exchange rate) for the benefit of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.

He affirmed that it is time to end “the lethargy” and propose a “new and vigorous” relationship, in addition to replacing the policy of “blockades and mistreatment with the option of respecting ourselves.”

He said it would be a gesture of “goodwill” that the United States will donate vaccines against covid-19 to countries in the region that have not had the possibility to protect their peoples against the coronavirus.

Bolivian President Luis Arce was the first to intervene in alphabetical order after López Obrador’s intervention. He criticized the OAS and called for an organism “that works with democratic practices and that responds to reality by supporting the sovereignty of the countries and without interference.”

“The OAS does not work,” said Arce, who praised Mexico’s work in favor of Celac as an organization that defends that “financial interest cannot be above social interest.”

For his part, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced the “opportunistic campaign of US interests against Cuba” and that the US embargo has been tightened while suffering “the conditions due to the pandemic.” “The interventionism of the United States is a flagrant violation of international rights,” Diaz-Canel said.

Mexican citizens welcome Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel outside the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City EFE

Mexican citizens welcome Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel outside the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City EFE

The OAS is at the center of criticism from some of these countries, for their denunciations of human rights violations in the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan autocracy and fraud in the 2019 elections in Bolivia where Evo Morales attempted a fourth consecutive term. .

Mexico. Agencies. mc

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