Thursday 18 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
First Latin America,
Caribbean Summit To
Boost Regional
Integration
Panama Calls For UN
General Assembly Session
On Financial Crisis
Brazil's Telecom
Operators To Cooperate With Police On
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Argentine Senate
Approves Nationalization
of Flagship Airline
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Name
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First Latin America,
Caribbean Summit To
Boost Regional
Integration
Sauipe Coast - The first
Summit of Latin America
and the Caribbean on
Integration and
Development (SLAC)
concluded Wednesday in
northeastern Brazil,
calling for dialogue and
interaction to boost
integration in the
region.
The call was made in the
Declaration of Salvador
adopted by the two-day
gathering at the coastal
resort of Sauipe Coast,
which drew leaders from
33 countries in Latin
America and the
Caribbean, the first
time in history without
the presence of the
United States or any
European country.
The aim of this decision
was "to deepen
integration and
accelerate development
through the articulation
of joint and
complementary projects,"
said the declaration.
According to the
document, leaders of the
region at SLAC
highlighted the progress
in the various
integration mechanisms
and their importance to
the promotion of
democracy, social
justice, poverty
eradication, illiteracy
reduction, cultural
enrichment,
technological
development and economic
growth.
They renewed their
commitment to the
consolidation of
democratic institutions
in their countries,
vowing to protect human
rights and fundamental
freedom.
The leaders also voiced
their willingness of
broad and active
participation in affairs
of common interest,
saying they would seek a
fair and equitable
sharing of benefits
generated by the
region's development.
They also decided to
promote their
coordination through the
exchange of experiences
and carry on cooperation
on the basis of
solidarity, flexibility,
diversity,
complementarity of
actions and voluntary
participation.
On the current global
financial crisis, they
expressed great concerns
over it and proposed an
extended dialogue to
build a "new
international financial
architecture to
guarantee the democracy
and transparency of the
financial management and
the strength of the
regulation mechanism."
The document
acknowledged that
nations of the region
faced enormous
challenges in overcoming
poverty and other social
problems and that those
challenges had been
exacerbated by the
current financial
crisis.
To this regard, the
document reaffirmed the
determination of
governments in the
region to launch a
vigorous social agenda
which corresponds to the
commitments made in the
UN Millennium
Development Goals.
The declaration said
that these leaders would
make efforts to build a
more just, equitable and
harmonious international
order based on the
respect for
international laws and
the principles set by
the UN Charter.
It also defended the
sovereignty and the
right of every country
to build its own
political system which
should be free from
threats, attacks and
unilateral coercive
measures.
It emphasized that
strengthening
multilateralism was
essential to ensuring a
more stable and peaceful
world, so it would be
urgent to undertake real
reforms of the United
Nations to strengthen
and ensure efficiency,
transparency,
representativeness and
democratization of its
principal organs,
particularly the
Security Council.
In his closing speech,
Brazilian President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva
stressed the need to
invest in sectors that
could generate
employment and noted
that the current
international financial
crisis was an
"opportunity to rethink
the kind of economy we
want."
He also called upon
reforms on international
financial institutions
like the International
Monetary Fund and the
World Bank. |
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