Latin America's CELAC summit debates push back against US power, economic measures
Latin America's CELAC summit debates push back against US power, economic measures
Saturday, February 6, 2016
By Denis Rogatyuk, Quito
The 2016 summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) began on January 26 with the meeting of foreign ministers and chancellors of the Latin American nations at the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Mitad del Mundo, Quito, Ecuador.
CELAC, a regional body involving all nations in the Americas except for the United States and Canada, was officially created in Caracas in 2011 under the leadership of then-Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The group was designed as a direct counter to the US-dominated Organisation of American States (OAS). It aims to promote Latin American unity, eradicate structural poverty, resist the influence of neoliberal policies and end the interference of foreign imperial powers in the region's internal affairs.
Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino opened the summit with a statement on the goals of CELAC in eradicating poverty, fighting climate change, creating an alternative economic and financial model and ongoing integration of Latin American states. A January 27 meeting featured representatives from all 33 CELAC member states.
'Liberating' Latin America
Left-wing Bolivian President Evo Morales called on CELAC to continue its mission of “liberating” Latin America from imperialism, and foreign corporate and financial domination.
“When we reclaimed the government of Bolivia 10 years ago,” Morales said, referring to the election of the Movement Towards Socialism government in 2006 on the back of huge anti-neoliberal protests that overthrew two presidents, “Bolivia was one of the poorest nations in the region, divided by the interests of big oil and energy companies.”
“We went from a colonial state to a 'plurinational state' [based on recognising the nations of the indigenous majority], where the US Embassy and the IMF no longer ruled. We have introduced democracy with the help of the people.
More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61008
