New regional grouping holds summit

Heads of government of CELAC meets in Venezuela

Caracas, Venezuela (TDN) —- The 33 nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, held their first meeting in Caracas, Venezuela Dec. 2-3, and agreed to deepen integration between governments and economies. The countries are looking to build a relationship that is able to function free of the all-pervasive daily political and economic influence coming from Washington.

The regional bloc, which was formed in February 2010, replaces the Rio Group of 1990, which was formed to promote peace in Central America during armed conflicts in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Hugo Chavez who chaired the first meeting said that the countries were laying the foundation for unity, independence and development. He stressed that the countries should no longer fall behind the rest of the world and be exploited.

The regional heads of state and government who attended the summit agreed to deepen economic and political ties while respecting international laws and human rights, find peaceful solutions to conflicts and avoid the use of force and threat. They also said that they would team up to fight the international financial crisis and poverty in the region.

Members include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Only the United States and Canada from the Western Hemisphere are not slated to join prompting some observers to view this bloc as an attempt to replace the Organization of American States (OAS).

No decisions have been taken on the setting up of a Secretariat and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called for the Caribbean countries to be given a more visible stake in the grouping.

The bloc is said to represents 590 million people and a combined gross domestic product of US$7 trillion, and an area of 20.5 million square kilometers (7.9 million square miles).