The XXIX Ibero-American Summit kicked off this Thursday in Cuenca (Ecuador) with the lowest attendance of leaders in the history of this forum, which began in 1991.and without any Latin American president, with the exception of the host, Daniel Noboaalso unprecedented in this series of meetings between the twenty-two countries of Ibero-America.
Only the King of Spain, Felipe VI, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Head of Government of Andorra, Xavier Espot, attended the event, which has as its motto ‘Innovation, Inclusion and Sustainability’, while, in another unprecedented event, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Head of Government of Andorra, Xavier Espot, attended the meeting, the chairs of three countries were left empty: Mexico, Nicaragua y Venezuelawhich have broken off relations with Ecuador.
Despite the scarce presence of leadersIn the course of the preparatory meetings, delegations are working to adopt a declaration reflecting the agreements reached in the course of the preparatory meetings, especially in the area of cooperation, but the talks are encountering obstacles in countries opposed to gender policies and focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to sources close to the negotiations.
Tensions also focused on Cuba’s disagreement with the pretension of Argentina to eliminate from the declaration a condemnation of the U.S. blockade of the Caribbean country, according to other sources consulted by EFE during the meeting of foreign ministers.
In view of the difficulty of achieving the necessary unanimity to draw a declaration from this Summit, countries such as Spain, Costa Rica, Panama and Chile promoted a declaration supported by the vast majority of the participants, which will not be an official document of the meeting.
Allamand calls for cohesion
“It would be absurd to ignore that the region is going through turbulent times“admitted the Ibero-American Secretary General, the Chilean Andrés Allamand, in his speech at the opening ceremony.
The head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib) remarked that “the Ibero-American General Secretariat has a very important role to play in the Ibero-American Summit”.the world needs more and not less multilateralismcooperation and solidarity”, in a context where “politics is besieged by fragmentation and polarization”.
“The consequence of this is the great difficulty to generate consensus, which slows down reforms that could lay new foundations for prosperity and coexistence,” Allamand said.
In this sense, he recalled that “the Ibero-American meeting allows us to distinguish ourselves in a world in which conflicts explode, threats loom, injustices are perpetuated”.
“The Ibero-American meeting is the one that allows, in times of differences, to reach consensus, in times of fragmentation, to bring unity, in times of division and promote cohesion”, while, “in times of differences, to take steps towards argumentation, but not exclusion”.
Thus, Allamand invited to “vindicate Ibero-America”. and to take advantage of “a work of more than 30 years in which the search for consensus has prevailed and in which progress has been made with a real impact on people’s lives”. “This is not the time for resignation, but for ambition,” he added.
A Summit, in spite of problems and conflicts
For his part, Noboa affirmed that his administration has worked to move this Summit forward, “in spite of all the problems and internal and external conflicts”.
The president, the youngest in Latin America at the age of 36, called for generating innovative solutions against transnational organized crimeThe company’s work is focused on the following issues: climate change, labor inclusion of young people, environmental protection, access to education and strengthening connectivity.
He therefore encouraged the support of youth through employment generation and vocational training, which in his opinion will open paths towards equitable economic growth.
“This will only be possible to achieve with the commitment of the business sectoras was evidenced in the XV Ibero-American Business Meeting, which concluded this afternoon with the approval of the ‘Commitment to Employability’,” Noboa celebrated.
“The alarming unemployment rates make us an easy target for organized crime, which undermines the economic and social development of our nations. We must promote policies that encourage public-private investments and allocate resources to education to forge a better future for the youth,” he concluded.
After the inauguration of the XXIX Ibero-American Summit, the forum will continue this Friday with the plenary sessions.The heads of state and government, as well as the delegates of the other representations, will take part in the plenary sessions.