The 22 countries of the Ibero-American Community of Nations will celebrate a summit this Friday and Saturday in the Dominican Republic that will finalize four instruments drawn up by different delegations. The XXVIII meeting of the organization will debate the meetings of foreign ministers and heads of state and government, convened under the slogan “Together for a just and sustainable Ibero-America”. Four Climate change, food security, agreement on the digital divide and a resolution on credit and international financial architecture. The meeting in Santo Domingo, in any case, seeks to lay the groundwork to facilitate integration between the two coasts of the Atlantic and some leaders, such as Chilean Gabriel Boric, are determined to encourage debate on the region’s migrant challenges. ,
After holding a regional conference on the climate crisis and economic challenges, the summit plans to approve two papers, a strategy and a joint statement. The first to be baptized as the Ibero-American Environmental Charter (also known as the Ibero-American Green Pact) was raised last July as “the largest political agreement on environmental issues at the Ibero-American Conference” Was. Then began preparing the working document, which according to sources in the organization, sets some guidelines to guide public policies to protect biodiversity, combat pollution and deal with the consequences of global warming.
The second is the Ibero-American Charter of Digital Principles and Rights. The agreement is based on a diagnosis of the gaps that already exist between different countries and within their regions, in some cases particularly deep due to economic fabric and geographical features. According to the draft, it favors the inclusion and promotion of legislation that impacts both the public and private sectors. The educational sector, for example, or the digital transformation of companies and industries with the aim of increasing competitiveness, its development and impact on the labor market.
The third agreement is a strategy related to food security. The proposals presented by the delegations seek to enhance trade within the region, support the development of supply chains, promote or consolidate small-scale agriculture, and reform financing systems for the promotion of the agri-food sector and digital infrastructure . in rural areas. This section also deals specifically with initiatives against climate change. The La Rabida Observatory’s third report, presented Wednesday by the Ibero-American Secretariat headed by Chile’s former foreign minister Andrés Allamand, shows that 45% of greenhouse gas emissions in the community’s 22 countries are generated by the food sector on its territory. set.
The fourth objective is to issue a Special Statement on the International Financial Architecture, which proposes to advance a more inclusive, flexible and fair financial system through credit, especially in the context of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The underlying objectives are, ultimately, the fight against inequality and energy transition processes. All documents have been prepared with a gender perspective that recommends measures to promote women’s participation and reduce the labor market gap. Another focus is on education, with a special focus on children, as well as innovation and universal health.
Spain proposes a reference to Ukraine
Reaching these consensuses is important in itself because of what it means to reach an agreement between 22 delegations whose political and economic routines are marked by different agendas and which are in some cases ideological adversaries. And it is normal that, in addition to the scheduled debates at the summit, there are presidents, foreign ministers or delegations that try to raise other exigencies. The Spanish government, for example, will propose to include in the final declaration a paragraph on Ukraine and references to a just peace within the framework established by the United Nations. On the other hand, there are no plans to delve into the serious crisis in Nicaragua.
There are also countries that try to get a nod for their own interests. Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, called for a meeting in Santo Domingo this Thursday to facilitate “financial transfers to developing countries and equal access to technologies and resources that remove tremendous inequalities”, but above all he The island government took advantage of the partnership to launch a message against Washington and the Joe Biden administration.
“We are confident that this meeting in the sister Dominican Republic will demonstrate our firm rejection of the arbitrary and unilateral US classification of our country as a sponsor of terrorism and we look forward to the summit counting on the traditional and valued support of Ibero-America. Are.” For the fair claim of ending the criminal and illegal blockade imposed against the Cuban people, reached unprecedented extremes during the pandemic,” Rodríguez said in a video broadcast on social networks
To these claims is added the absence of the two Latin American giants, leaders by GDP and population, Brazil and Mexico. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva did not travel to the Dominican Republic to visit China, while the government of little friend Andrés Manuel López Obrador will not send Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to the international summit either. The Mexican delegation will be led by Maximiliano Reyes, Under Secretary in charge of Latin America. On the other hand, Colombian Gustavo Petro, who met this Thursday in Caracas with Nicolás Maduro (who ultimately will not attend the summit), will try to consolidate his coalition of progressive governments of Argentina’s Alberto Fernández and Chile’s Gabriel Boric. Also, Fernandez and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira will join forces to try to revive the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which two decades ago marked the rise of the so-called pink tide.
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