The integration and the multilateralism will focus the conversations of the 56 Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Central American Integration System (SICA) that celebrates this Friday in the Dominican Republic, the first to be done in person since 2019.
When pronouncing the opening words of the session, which takes place in the city of Santiago (north of the country), the Dominican President, Luis Abinader, affirmed that the integration of the region “has been harassed” by elements such as the health crisis, climatic phenomena and the war in Ukraine.
In this sense, he referred to the consequences on global supply chains, which makes it necessary to “diversify our sources of raw materials, including manufactured products” to strengthen the commercial relationship between the countries of the region.
Likewise, he referred to the crisis that the neighboring nation of Haiti is experiencing, an issue “of the utmost importance” for the Dominican Republic, and affirmed that the international community “has the obligation to come to the aid of Haiti to overcome the sufferings endured by that people and your government can take on a higher level of responsibility.”
Read more: At SICA Abinader reiterates a call to the international community on Haiti
In this sense, he referred to the migratory waves coming from that country, with the Dominican Republic as the main destination, and the general growth of migratory movements throughout Latin America.
For Abinader, “it is imperative” that, from SICA and from each of the organizations where there are spaces for dialogue, work is done to order the movements of people, assuming each government the levels of commitment that correspond to it.
For his part, the Secretary General of SICA, the Nicaraguan Werner Vargas, highlighted the dynamic role of the organization in the political dialogue between the member states on the road to regional integration through the achievement of consensus.
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In his speech, Vargas highlighted the achievements in interregional trade thanks to the customs facilities that have allowed the issuance of up to 12,000 million dollars in exports, as well as the advances in the development of renewable energies, or joint purchase of medicines, among others. .
The Secretary General stressed the integrating role of SICA to face challenges “as complex as human mobility, food insecurity, the effects of the climate crisis, the fight against criminal gangs, inflation and economic recession and the new challenges that may present in matters of public health”.
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The agenda for the day includes, among other points, the transfer of the pro tempore presidency, exercised by the Dominican Republic in the second half of 2022, which passes the baton to Belize, a country that will hold it in the first six months of 2023.
Read also: UN: Criminal gangs in Haiti respond to economic and political interests
In addition to the host, Luis Abinader, and de Vargas, the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chávez, and the vice presidents of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, and Honduras, Renato Florentino Pineda, are attending the meeting. Also present are the president of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), the Panamanian Amado Cerrud Acevedo, and the head of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the Honduran Dante Mossi.
The SICA summit, under the motto “Adapting regional integration to new challenges”, takes place after the System’s Foreign Ministers will meet on Thursday to define the agenda for this meeting at the highest level and agree to include Greece as an observer member of the organization.
SICA, founded in 1991, is made up of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Belize and the Dominican Republic as full members, while Mexico, the United States and other countries have the category of regional observers.
