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

CÚPULA DA AMÉRICA LATINA E DO CARIBE SOBRE INTEGRAÇÃO E DESENVOLVIMENTO - CALC
institutional and organizational framework to build consensus to devise a plan
of action, to assemble the technical and administrative capability and provide
for the region an effective vehicle for change. The world is increasingly
reconfiguring itself into conglomerates of sovereign nations. We must decide
whether we face them separately and individually or whether we combine to
ensure we can stand on equal footing and with equal strength and consummate
pride in dealing with the rest of the world.
If we choose the latter option a number questions arise. Do we create yet
another structure? Do we reinvent the wheel or do we evaluate what exist,
look at what we have, to see how it can be adapted, how it can be
strengthened, to respond to what I think it is an urgent call for Latin America
and Caribbean action.
I submit, Mr. President, that the framework for this collective action guides
our way forward. That framework is present within the Rio Group, which has
existed for 22 years and now, with the admission of Cuba yesterday,
encompasses all 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, stretching
from Mexico in the northwest to Argentina and Chile in the southeast. The
Caribbean is represented collectively. But membership is open to individual
CARICOM States, and Belize, Guyana, and Haiti have taken advantage of
that. I want to indicate today that Jamaica will also seek to become a member
of the Rio Group in its own right. The point I want to make is that within the
Rio Group the constituent authenticity has already been established.
We take account of the fact that there are other integration institutions
within the region that exist and must be respected. There is no inherent conflict,
no necessary inconsistency in the existence of those groups and the overarching
authority and authenticity of the Rio Group. They can exist within this broader
framework. They may require some calibration, some synchronization. That
is a job to be undertaken and is not a reason for us to discard the concept. I
want to suggest that if the political will exists, and if we do nothing else at this
meeting, that we establish a task force, a technical working group, to capture
the sentiment of the meeting, to examine all the ramifications and to prepare a
proposal for strengthening the Rio Group with view to transforming it into a
vehicle for consolidating the power of Latin America and the Caribbean and
moving our region’s collective movement forward.
The XXI Summit of the Rio Group is due to be held in 2010 and it may
be useful to put together the details of this kind of framework, this kind of
structure for consideration at that Summit. If this proposal finds acceptance, I
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