Argentina was elected by all the members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) to exercise the pro tempore presidency for the period 2022, in a unanimous vote among the representatives of the delegations, finalized after the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, will request support for the country at the XXII summit of the regional bloc that takes place in the Palacio San Martín.
For his part, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said today that “it is a great honor and pride” that Argentina will be in charge of the pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), and assured that the objective “will be the search for consensus “, when leading the opening of the XXII summit of the regional bloc that takes place in the San Martín palace.
“It is a great pride and honor for us to exercise the pro tempore presidency of Celac. We are going to work for integration, respect for democratic institutions and against corruption“said Cafiero after Argentina was designated as the regional bloc by consensus of the member states of the community.
The official stressed that the coronavirus pandemic “did not prevent” the member countries of that body “from advancing in the task of strengthening dialogue” and being an “integration tool to continue building a region of peace,” while pondering that this block “promotes dialogue without exclusions.”
At the beginning of the second day of deliberations of the Celac, which takes place in the Palacio San Martín, in Buenos Aires, Cafiero stressed that the idea is “to give continuity to the popular and regional mandate, which is to advance in integration despite the difficulties “because” this is a time of pandemic.
On this issue, the foreign minister admitted that “perhaps the greatest difficulty has been the pandemic, but this did not prevent Mexico (current president pro tempore) or all those who are part of Celac from working during 2020 and 2021 and so on. plan to work in 2022 all together in diversities “.
Cafiero stated that the objective of the pro tempore presidency of Argentina is “to advance with an open agenda in the task of strengthening dialogue in the region, of the states parties and, fundamentally, to continue with the integration tools necessary to continue building a region in peace”.
“We do not start from scratch, we are part of a history, we are part of history where many leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean have been leaving testimony, after testimony, and those testimonies show the world from Celac that we are deeply proud of our culture of encounter and of peace, “he reaffirmed.
The head of Argentine diplomacy affirmed: “Our common identity is not a grouped set of diverse interests. Our common identity is a political, social, economic and cultural construction, a rich history that we have to continue fighting so that it does not stop.”
In this regard, he stated that “this is the area par excellence of Latin America and the Caribbean that promotes dialogue without exclusions, that is what we are committed to in today’s work and that is what Argentina is committed to”.
In addition, it was proposed to emphasize gender policies “to ensure equality for women in the region and promote digital and technological cooperation in a region rich in diversity and identity.”
“These are the challenges and goals that we want to incorporate in respect of the particularities as part of a democratic agenda,” he said.
Cafiero also thanked the support of the Celac states to the Argentine claim for the sovereignty of the Malvinas, 40 years after the war with Great Britain for the possession of the islands, and assured that it is a demand “in sustained peace through diplomatic channels “
“Pope Francis advocated for a time in which an epic of solidarity is constituted in international relations. And Celac is a vivid testimony of that conception,” Cafiero pointed out when closing his speech before the audience at the Palacio San Martín.
