Caracas, 25 November. High level government officials and representatives of international organizations will meet in Havana, Cuba from 30 November to 3 December on the occasion of the XXIV Regular Meeting of the SELA Latin American Council, the highest political body of this forum harboring 28 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The announcement was made by the Permanent Secretary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), Ambassador Carlos Moneta, who pointed out that according to that agreed at the previous regular meeting of the Council, this meeting’s central topic would be the "Dynamics of External Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean."

In order to provide criteria for the consideration of the issue, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA organized a High Level Panel on the dynamics of the region’s external relations with the participation of distinguished personalities of a number of countries and under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Cuba, Mr. Fidel Castro.

The experts on the panel will be José Antonio Ocampo, Executive Secretary of ECLAC; Abraham Lowenthal, of the U.S. and founder of Inter-American Dialogue and current director of the Pacific Council on International Policy at the University of California.

Also participating on this panel will be Makoto Utsumi, of Japan, formerly Deputy Minister of Finance and current advisor to the Nikko Securities, one of the most important Japanese securities investment companies; Guadalupe Ruiz, of Spain, former Euro deputy and General Secretary of the Research and Specialization Association on Iberian-American issues, and the former Prime Minister of Barbados, Sir Harold Bernard St. John (1985-1986),

In this same vein, the Permanent Secretariat published the book, "Dynamics of the External Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean", which compiles various essays by renowned regional and international experts. Similarly, the Permanent Secretariat prepared a working document to present its own reflections on this issue.

Other documents that will be examined at this meeting focus on the follow-up of the application of the Helms-Burton Act, external financing and external debt of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Participation of Smaller Economies in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

The Council will also consider the issue of the restructuring of SELA in order to adapt the objectives and functions of this organization to the present reality.

The Council’s annual meetings are held either at the headquarters of the Organization in Caracas or in other SELA Member States. During the past decade Council meetings have been hosted in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Uruguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Council’s deliberations are divided into two stages. The first stage, which is the technical stage, will take place from 30 November to 1 December, and the second, the ministerial stage, will be held on 2 and 3 December.

The ministerial stage will be opened by President Castro on Wednesday, 2 December at 9:30 AM, at which time the High Level Panel will also be opened.

During the technical stage the Permanent Secretary will present his report on the activities carried out during the year and SELA’s Work Programme for 1999 will also be discussed.

SELA, which was forged in 1975, is an organization which promotes consultation and coordination of joint positions for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean vis-a-vis diverse issues of interest for the region while also propelling cooperation and the exchange of experiences among its members.

At present, SELA harbors the following countries: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

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