Latin America has lots of action-taking to do to restore regional cohesiveness. Key speakers at the Global Forum @ Casa de Campo on Tuesday, 29 March 2022 in La Romana addressed the issue as preparations are underway for the 9th Summit of the Americas, the regional meeting of the heads of state of the Western Hemisphere. The event was organized by Funglode, former President Leonel Fernandez’s think tank.
Former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon came to participate in the “Global Forum @ Casa de Campo: Towards the next Summit of the Americas: Hemispheric Challenges and Renewed Perspectives.” Kevin O’Reilly, national coordinator of the US for the 9th Summit of the Americas also attended. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate of the United States participated via video conference.
These are not good times for Latin America, more so from its perspective as a regional block. In his introductory words at the Casa de Campo gathering, former President Leonel Fernandez summed up the Latin American regional bloc outlook: “Latin American regional integration is in crisis: Celac simply does not work, Unasur has disappeared, the Community of Andean Nations does not make itself felt, the Central American Integration System (Sica) is affected by division, Caricom does not represent all the Caribbean nations,” said Fernandez at the opening.
Fernández also pointed out that the Organization of American States (OAS) is economically “fragile” and “does not manage” to gather all the support required to carry out its role.
Dominican Minister of Foreign Relations Roberto Álvarez also spoke of the lack of consensus in the region as the date for the celebration of the Summit of the Americas nears. Alvarez says there is even no certainty regarding the presidents of countries in Latin America who will participate in the event.
Álvarez pointed out that the upcoming presidential elections, especially in Colombia and Brazil, will decide which side of politics the region will rest on.
“It is one of the great dilemmas,” said Alvarez in his remarks before the start of the Global Global Forum @ Casa de Campo. Roberto Álvarez also pointed out that the private sector will have a more preponderant role in the Summit of the Americas, above and beyond the meeting between the presidents.
The Ninth Summit marks the United States’ first hosting since the inaugural meeting in Miami, Florida in 1994. This is the only major event that brings together the Western Hemisphere heads of state and government.
The Summits of the Americas are institutionalized gatherings of the heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere organized as a place where leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas.
The next Summit of the Americas is set for the week of 6-10 June in Los Angeles, California, USA with a focus on ”Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future.” Kevin O’Reilly, national coordinator of the US for the 9th Summit of the Americas was a speaker at the Casa de Campo event.
Foreign Minister Alvarez of the Dominican Republic lamented that lack of cohesiveness is an obstacle for the presentation of a united front in favor of key issues such as the concessionary financing mechanism for middle-income countries, the mechanism for access to fuel with financing and access to food.
Alvarez placed special emphasis on the situation of food insecurity in neighboring Haiti, where 4.5 million of its citizens (45% of the population) are food insecure, according to the World Food Program (WFP). “It is urgent that we find innovative mechanisms to at least help our neighbors,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said that actions such as Public Law 490 or PL 480 of the United States could again be contemplated. That law allowed for sending food aid to countries with humanitarian crisis. “We could, perhaps, develop a program similar to this one to help alleviate and mitigate Haiti’s situation. That is one of the issues we are exploring,” he added.
In view of the divide in regional organizations, the Dominican Republic is working closely with countries that share the same mindset. Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic have grouped as the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD). During its last meeting held in Panama, the heads of state of Panama, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic became ADD+USA Business Council to participate as such in the Summit of the Americas and the CEO Business Forum in Los Angeles. The public-private alliance will also participate in Washington and New York events to promote and attract US companies to the three countries.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Hoy
Funglode
Diario Libre
30 March 2022