Latin America and the Caribbean call for international funding at Celac summit

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday (25) asked for more international financing in the region after the economic and climate crises, in a final declaration after a summit held in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

“We emphasize the need for international regional financial institutions, such as the Multilateral Development Banks, to improve lending instruments through clean, fair, transparent and accessible mechanisms,” the document said.

The 111-point “Declaration of Buenos Aires” at the seventh Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) described how the effects of Covid-19, climate change and the war in Ukraine have affected the entire region.

“We express our concern that several countries emerged from the pandemic with higher levels of public debt,” he said.

The declaration also emphasized the importance of democracy across the region, expressed support for talks between the Venezuelan government and its opposition, and demanded that the United States lift its blockade of Cuba.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent a recorded message saying he had chosen not to attend due to “permanent conspiracies, permanent threat, calculated ambushes”.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presence at the summit marked his first trip abroad since taking office on January 1, as well as Brazil’s return to CELAC after the government of Jair Bolsonaro left the community.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou was a dissenting voice, appealing to leaders not to have a unilateral vision in line with their ideology, and saying that “there are countries here that respect neither democracy, nor institutions, nor human rights. humans”

He did not identify any nation by name.