CELAC Summit ends with emphasis on Brazil's return to the bloc

Brazil Agency - The 7th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which brings together 33 countries from the hemisphere, ended this Tuesday (24), in Argentina, with the approval of a final text, the Buenos Aires Declaration.

The event's main highlight was Brazil's return, with the participation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on his first international trip of his third term. The country had withdrawn from the organization in 2020, under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro. Founded in 2011 in Chile, CELAC is the main forum for multilateral discussion between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The final document of the meeting has more than 100 topics and almost 30 pages. It addresses a shared vision among the countries of the group in several areas, with emphasis on post-pandemic economic recovery, food and energy security, health strategy, cooperation in the environment, science and technology, digital transformation, infrastructure, among others. 

One of the ratified measures is the decision to hold a CELAC-European Union Summit in 2023, as well as a CELAC-China Forum Summit in 2024.

In the document, the CELAC countries welcomed Brazil's candidacy to host the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-30), in 2025, in the city of Belém.

Other topics included in the document are the decisions to convene a meeting of CELAC finance ministers for the first half of 2023, focusing on the economic recovery agenda. The document also includes updates to the Food Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication Plan, the continuation of the Health Self-Sufficiency Plan, and the strengthening of local and regional production and distribution capacities for vaccines, medicines, and critical supplies.

The pro tempore presidency of CELAC in 2023 was designated, by consensus, to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean country.

Special statements

In addition to the main declaration, the 7th CELAC Summit approved 11 more special declarations, including sensitive issues such as the defense of Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. 

Declarations demanding an end to the United States' economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, a declaration on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, a declaration on nuclear disarmament, another on integration and a declaration on environmental protection were also approved. 

CELAC also approved a declaration on combating international arms trafficking and another on the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages. 

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