Unity Summit for Latin
American, Caribbean Nations Underway
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico - Thirty-one
foreign ministers from Latin America and the
Caribbean islands on Saturday started here
their Unity Summit which will run parallel
with two other summits of the region.
High on the agenda is the stocktaking of
solidarity in the region while the Caribbean
Community (Caricom) will hold its inaugural
summit beginning Sunday and the Rio Group
will hold its summit beginning Monday.
"We have now agreed upon a common agenda.
This shared platform will allow us to
overcome obstacles of earlier times," said
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa
at the opening session of the Unity Summit.
The Mexican foreign minister said that the
unity of the region has an emotional
resonance because Mexico and many other
nations in the region are celebrating the
200th anniversary of independence or the
start of their independence campaigns.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was the
first to arrive for the summit among 26
heads of states or governments who have
confirmed participation along with their
foreign ministers.
Lugo's first statement upon arrival
concerned his country's top soccer player
Salvador Cabanas who was shot in the head in
Mexico City and is recovering from his
wounds in hospital.
Cabanas "is in the hearts of all
Paraguayans. It is an incident that has
brought together the peoples of Mexico and
Paraguay," Lugo said at the Cancun airport.
Foreign ministry officials said Saturday
that Peruvian President Alan Garcia would
not attend the Unity Summit but gave no
explanation.
Honduras will not be present either. The
Mexican foreign minister has earlier
explained that the country could not be
invited until the Organization of American
States has ruled on the status quo of the
country.
Mexico has hosted ousted Honduran president
Manuel Zelaya and later acted as mediator
between Zelaya and interim leader Roberto
Micheletti who came to power after the coup
on June 28 of last year.
A Brazilian embassy official said Saturday
that Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da
Silva would meet with his Mexican
counterpart Felipe Calderon on Tuesday on
the sidelines of the Unity Summit.
The media in Brazil and Mexico have been
speculating that the two leaders will launch
negotiations for a free trade agreement and
may unveil the details of a
2.5-billion-dollar investment in Mexico by
Brazilian petrochemicals giant Braskem.
Mexican lawmakers have signed a joint
declaration with their Cuban counterparts
calling for more cooperation and trade
between the two countries by lowering import
tariffs.
The Mexico-Cuba relations were estranged
during the reign of Vicente Fox who lost
Mexican presidency to Calderon in 2006.
Chile is taking over the rotating presidency
of the Rio Group at this summer after Mexico
has served its two-year term.
The group is managed by a troika made up of
the current holder of the rotating
presidency, the previous and succeeding
holders.
The countries that have sent delegations to
the Unity Summit are Antigua and Barbuda,
Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Jamaica, Mexico, Nevis, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, St.
Kitts, Saint Lucia, Surinam, Uruguay and
Venezuela. |
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