Gabriel Boric joins the Seventh CELAC Presidents Summit
The meeting is being held in Argentina with 33 Heads of State and representatives of Latin American and Caribbean nations in attendance. It aims to promote political dialog and regional cooperation.
Today marks the beginning of President Gabriel Boric's official participation in the Seventh Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit, which is taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The President is accompanied by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Antonia Urrejola, and he will take part in meetings with 33 Heads of State and representatives of Latin American and the Caribbean nations to seek consensus on issues of common interest.
President Boric will hold a bilateral meeting with FAO Director General Qu Dongyu, prior to the opening session at the summit, with whom he will discuss matters such as the Organization's support to reactivate the SAN CELAC initiative, which is the Plan for Food and Nutrition Security and the Eradication of Hunger 2025. This initiative promotes timely and sustainable access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food for all, especially for the most vulnerable, as well as timely and stable food production during socio-natural disasters that could affect its availability.
President Boric will also meet with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to review issues related to modernizing the agreement with the European Union and strengthening the relationship between the European Union and Chile.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Antonia Urrejola, said "CELAC can integrate Latin America and the Caribbean, as it provides the only opportunity for member countries to talk together. As President Boric has said, we believe that it is very important to create multilateral meetings without exclusions and CELAC is precisely that, a multilateral meeting without exclusions".
An important feature of the latest CELAC Summit will be Brazil’s return after an absence of almost three years. Those attending are expected to sign a joint declaration at the end of the day that contains the conclusions from the meeting.
The meeting’s importance
CELAC was created in 2010 and promotes political dialog, consultation and regional cooperation with respect to food and energy security, health, social inclusion, sustainable development, digital transformation and infrastructure that supports regional integration.
Chile made an outstanding contribution to setting up CELAC with the aim of renewing integration, which for the first time would incorporate all Latin America and the Caribbean into a mechanism that promotes dialog and political coordination.
The First CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Governments was held in Santiago in 2013. Chile hosted the Second Ministerial Meeting of the CELAC China Forum in 2018.
Chile believes that CELAC should play a greater role in strengthening, preserving and fully exercising democracy, in promoting and protecting human rights throughout the region without discrimination, and implementing action plans regarding regional governance that address common challenges such as coordinating migration, gender policies, climate change, protecting the oceans, science, technology, energy, knowledge, innovation and security.