CÚPULA DA AMÉRICA LATINA E DO CARIBE SOBRE ... - Funag

CÚPULA DA AMÉRICA LATINA E DO CARIBE SOBRE INTEGRAÇÃO E DESENVOLVIMENTO - CALC
equal among equals, proportionality among equals. And there are unequals
sitting at the table and there must be proportionality among equals.
It is in this vein that I also want to raise the issue of Haiti, which has not
yet come up for discussion here. In fact, I don’t believe it has been mentioned.
It is inconceivable that we can leave here without speaking of the misery in
Haiti and the need for this Summit to provide practical assistance to Haiti,
more than we do at present, to address its economic and social problems. It
is not merely an issue of maintaining security, though that is of great significance.
But the question cannot be dotted and we must speak to it practically. Someone
made reference, although not by name, to the anti-colonial movement in the
early part of the XIX century and the establishment of an independent republic
in Haiti. So just as the spirits of Martí and Bolívar live this meeting, so too
must the spirit of Toussaint Louverture find a practical manifestation for the
ease of the burdens of the Haitian people.
I want to enter into the record, on behalf of the government of Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, our tremendous appreciation for the selfless
international solidarity provided by Cuba and Venezuela to the Caribbean. It
is in keeping with the high character of both President Chávez and Castro to
not wish that I speak in detail on these matters, because it is in the nature of
their modesty and humility to not have entered into the record, in their presence,
the immense contribution they have made on an ongoing basis to our region.
I must also join the Prime Minister of the Bahamas in expressing thanks to
Colombia, Mexico, and now Brazil, which has been accepted as a member
of the Caribbean Development Bank. It is our hope that Brazil very shortly
completes all of its internal domestic instruments to secure full accession to
the Caribbean Development Bank, from which the countries of the Caribbean
access soft loans.
Now, if we use this as a moment for change and we set the particular
structural institutions in place to carry out the functions spelled out in the
declaration, we must nevertheless not seek to do everything, because if we
seek to do everything we may end up doing nothing. The Prime Minister of
the Bahamas has singled out air transport, energy, and education. I would like
to see the list extended some, although those are vital areas, to, for instance,
air and sea transportation and the related physical facilities, without which our
people and goods cannot move. Energy, for obvious reasons, is important. In
the case of agriculture, we have an institution within the OAS system, IICA,
which provides significant technical assistance. But what we are lacking in is
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