Cuban President Castro with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez
Wrapping up a two-day summit of 32 leaders in Cancun on Tuesday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared that the new bloc "must as a priority push for regional integration and globally project a Latin American and Caribbean identity."
Further details of the new bloc, including its name, are to be decided on at a meeting in Caracas next year.
The grouping is expected to serve as an alternative to the US-dominated Organisation of American States (OAS), which includes Washington and Ottawa and has been the main forum for regional affairs over the past 50 years.The times are a-changing…
The Latin American and Caribbean leaders also expressed unanimous support for Argentina's demand for fresh UN talks on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.
Expressing "support for the legitimate rights" of Buenos Aires in the dispute, they said it was in the region's interest that Argentina and Britain resume talks "in order to find a just, peaceful and definitive solution."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for the UN to reopen the debate over the islands' sovereignty, which has reignited in recent days as a British oil firm began drilling off the remote, British-controlled southern Atlantic archipelago claimed by Argentina.
Mr da Silva said: "What is the geographic, the political or economic explanation for England to be in Las Malvinas?
"Could it be because England is a permanent member of the UN security council where they can do everything and the others nothing?"
According to the Irish Times:
“It is the latest example of a decade-long drive within the Americas to deepen continental integration and lessen the once overwhelming influence of the US on politics and economies.
“The formal foundation of what is provisionally to be called the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States will not take place until a summit in Venezuela next year, with President Hugo Chávez as host. He has spearheaded efforts to undermine what he labels US imperialism in the Americas.
“But along with Venezuela, Brazil as well as Mexico have also pushed for the creation of the new body, arguing that the regions developing nations need a separate organisation to represent their interests on the global stage.
’It is time to realise the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean,’ Mexicos president Felipe Calderón told the 24 heads of state at the summit.”
Source: MorningStarOnline.Co.Uk and BeforeItsNews
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