Colombia will host, between January 26 and 28, three summits of regional organizations, those of the Pacific alliance, that of prosur and that of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which will be held in three cities in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and in which, among others, an agreement will be signed free trade.
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On Wednesday, January 26, it will be held at Malaga Bay, in the Pacific near the port city of Buenaventura, the 16th edition of the Summit of the Pacific Alliance, the regional integration initiative made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
In this first summit, the signing of the free trade agreement with Singapore, which will make this Asian country the first Associated State with the Pacific Alliance, according to the Chancellery Colombian in a statement.
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The countries will meet for the first time in person since 2019 and it is expected that it will have the presence, in addition to the Colombian president, Ivan Duke, of the Peruvian, peter castle, to whom Congress gave permission this Friday to travel, and the Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera, who already confirmed his willingness to attend last month.
The newly elected Chilean president is not expected to do so, Gabriel Boric, whom Piñera had invited, but who declined because he was working on his future government, and the attendance of the Mexican president has yet to be confirmed, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who on Thursday, January 19, underwent cardiac catheterization in the operating room, although he is already working.
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Colombia, which holds the Pro Tempore Presidency, will pass the command of this body to Mexico and the four countries will also sign a presidential declaration “for the strengthening of creative industries“, according to the Colombian Foreign Ministry.
PROSUR AND CARICOM
On Thursday, January 27, it will be the turn of the third Presidential Summit of the Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (Prosur), which will take place in the city of Cartagena “in which presidents and senior officials from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname will participate“.
It is expected that Piñera, who will attend Bahía Málaga, will also be present at this other summit of this organization created in 2014 as a sort of counterweight to the right-wing governments unasur and the countries of Sunrise.
Iván Duque (center) during a Prosur meeting.
The Brazilian president will also join Jair Bolsonaro, and the question remains as to whether Castillo will also attend, since the authorization from Congress is only for the Pacific Alliance, and whether the Ecuadorian will come, William Lasso, and the Paraguayan Mario Abdo Benitez who gave, last week, positive for covid-19, but it has to receive the Pro Tempore Presidency of this body.
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Finally, on Friday, January 28, in the city of Barranquilla, the second Colombia-Caricom Ministerial Summit will take place, “a space for dialogue with the Caribbean countries with the purpose of continuing to strengthen trade, investment, cooperation and cultural ties“.
The meeting will be opened by Duque and chaired by the Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Martha Lucia Ramirez and will be attended by several of the counterparts of the Caribbean Community.
EFE
