Caracas 18 October.  The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean made known their political support to SELA in a joint declaration issued today in Caracas upon the conclusion of the XXVI Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council, the maximum decision-making authority of this organization.

 

The declaration was signed to commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), which is an organization that groups 28 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and whose foundation was agreed with the adoption of the Panama Convention on 17 October 1975.

 

The declaration reads: “The Panama Convention, on the XXV Anniversary of its signing, is still totally relevant, and SELA, as the only entity of an exclusively Latin American and Caribbean scope, constitutes a valuable instrument for cooperation and coordination among the countries of the region and for the fostering of relations between these countries and the rest of the world.”

 

In another item the declaration points out that the actions promoted by the Presidents that attended the Summit of the South, held at the end of August in Brasilia “should be complemented with initiatives that fully involve all the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

 

The text continues: “To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the institutional framework of the region by joining efforts; to activate dialogue, consultation and cooperation mechanisms; and to take effective action for compliance with common projects agreed upon.”

 

In this respect, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Ambassador Jorge Valero, requested that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean “relaunch SELA” and provide it with all the support that it needs to fulfill the objectives for which it was created.

 

Today, Valero spoke in these terms when he opened the Ministerial Stage of the meeting of the Latin American Council which began Monday with the Preparatory Stage of a technical nature.

 

The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Otto Boye,  who also participated in the opening, pointed out that the integration process in Latin America and the Caribbean has currently reached a crossroads that makes it necessary to resolve “the dilemma of having to abandon this goal forever or to accept the responsibility to take very concrete and firm steps to advance toward integration.”

 

“Globalization, which dynamically envelops us more and more each day, is reducing our margin to determine for ourselves the way we want to experience our insertion in this integration in the future.  Hence this clearly leads to integrated insertion as an alternative to fragmented incorporation,” Boye added.

 

Boye, who is a national of Chile, also referred to the situation in the Middle East and with the certainty of expressing the opinion of all those present at the meeting manifested “the vibrant wish” that the agreement reached yesterday in Egypt “be put into practice and rechannel recent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians along a peaceful path.”