The 7th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which brings together 33 countries from the hemisphere, ended this Tuesday (24th) in Argentina, with the approval of a final text, the Declaration of Buenos Aires. 
The main highlight of the event was the return of Brazil, 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 The country had withdrawn from the organization in 2020, under the management of Jair Bolsonaro. Founded in 2011, in Chile, Celac is the main forum for multilateral discussion among Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The final document of the meeting has more than 100 topics and almost 30 pages. It addresses a shared vision among the group’s countries 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 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 contained in the document are the decisions to convene a meeting of Celac’s Economy ministers for the first half of 2023, focusing on the economic recovery agenda. The document also contains the update of the Food Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication Plan, the continuity of the Sanitary Self-Sufficiency Plan and the strengthening of production capacities and local and regional distribution of vaccines, medicines and critical inputs.
the presidency pro tempore of CELAC in 2023 was assigned, by consensus, to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a country in the Caribbean.
special declarations
In addition to the main declaration, the 7th CELAC Summit approved 11 more special declarations, including sensitive topics such as the defense of Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.
Declarations were also approved demanding the end of the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, a declaration on the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, a declaration on nuclear disarmament, another on integration, and a declaration on environmental protection.
Celac also approved a declaration on combating international arms trafficking and another on the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages.
