Ibero-American Summit 2023: What issues did the leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean raise?

Fighting hunger, improving access to credit and controlling migration flows stand out among the issues discussed this Saturday by heads of state and government Iberoamerican summit from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which also highlight the climate crisis and the effects of the war.

presidents Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivian, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Paraguayan, Portugal And Uruguaybesides the king SpainFelipe VI and his head of government, Pedro Sancheztake part in the plenary session, which should continue throughout the day.

The draft joint declaration is already ready and should be signed before the end of the day.

“If we don’t unite, we will lose the opportunity to get some concrete benefit for our countries,” the Dominican president of the host country, Luis Abinader, said at the opening of the forum, outlining the main themes of the final document: food crisis, environment and digital justice.

“We have seen a marked decline in food security,” he added. “We can’t afford to take a step back”.

The debates focused on sensitive issues for the region, such as migration and political stability, with sharp comments from the President of Chile. Gabriel Boric against “family dictatorship (Daniel) Ortega and (Rosary) Murillo in Nicaragua.”

“Outside of democracy there can be neither freedom nor dignity,” he snapped. “All over the world, we see new risks and threats to democracy (…). We must respond with more democracy, not less,” he said.

In the afternoon, the Venezuelan government announced that President Nicolas Maduro had suspended his participation in the summit after testing positive for the coronavirus. COVID-19 on Friday.

“Today (Saturday) two tests were done with negative results,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez tweeted.

“Hunger, Death”

Latin America a difficult year ahead with growth forecasts of less than 2%, while the cost of healthy food in the region is the most expensive in the world: $3.89 per person per day, out of reach for 22.5% of the population, according to the UN. .

“Access to healthy food should be a right, not a privilege of a few,” the Bolivian president said. Louis Arcewhich highlights the impact of climate change on food production.

This environmental crisis “spawns hunger and death,” said the Colombian president, also a leftist. Gustavo Petro.

“Clean energy requires strong national, foreign, public and private investment,” he said. Petrowho proposed that the countries with the highest carbon emissions pay for their funding.

“Insolvent”

A central aspect of the debate was access to finance for poor countries.

“We are seeing an international scenario characterized by high and unsustainable levels of debt, which is causing the growth of our countries,” said the Argentinian Alberto Fernandez.

Argentina, which in January 2022 agreed to refinance $44 billion of debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has ordered state-owned companies to swap dollar bonds for new peso instruments to stop international reserves from falling amid the deficit. foreign exchange and exchange rate volatility.

The President called for “greater access to credit lines to accelerate growth and development.”

Fernandez had previously held a trilateral meeting with Pedro Sanchez And Joseph Borrellhead of European Union diplomacy.

Sanchez also held a bilateral meeting with William LassoPresident of Ecuador.

immigration summit

Boric called for more “coordination” in the face of the migration crisis and announced talks with Venezuela, a country from which more than seven million people have fled in recent years, according to the UN.

“Migration management is perhaps one of the biggest regional challenges,” and “any sustainable solution depends on the ability to work together across countries of origin, transit and destination,” the Chilean said. “There is an urgent need to accelerate and strengthen coordination between our police and immigration authorities to counter organized transnational crime networks.”

The region faces large flows of migrants from Cuba, Haiti and other countries in Central America, in addition to Venezuela, seeking to escape poverty in their countries of origin.

Petro proposed to hold a summit on this issue.

“Pacify” Haiti

Many presidents condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A sore point, especially for Dominicans, is Haitithe poorest country in America, controlled by violent gangs that have killed about 530 people and kidnapped about 280 people since January, according to data UN.

“The only way to act with Haiti is to pacify Haiti,” the President of the Dominican Republic said. “The international community cannot allow this situation to continue,” he said.

Rodrigo Chavezfrom Costa Ricaurged the summit to “send a strong and energetic appeal to the United Nations for an immediate response”.

(AFP)