Ecuador’s XXIX Ibero-American summit closes without consensus – DW – 11/16/2024
Ibero-American Summit Ecuador closed this Friday (11/15/2024) in the absence of its main leaders and without an official statement due to the lack of consensus, although with promises to fight against climate disasters and help Haiti.
Of the 19 participating delegations, 18 signed the informal document. Cuenca DeclarationAn attempt to save the draft worked on during the meeting ultimately failed to reach consensus due to Argentina’s rejection.
“There was no consensus in terms of what we could call a political declaration and, as a result, the countries made a declaration on the sidelines of the summit,” Ibero-American Secretary of State Andrés Allamand told a press conference.
Host Chancellor Gabriela Sommerfeld argued, “There were some radical stances among some countries,” but the majority “united to save the declaration.”
This document consists of 25 “Special Communications” that promote Ibero-American cooperation in the fight against transnational crime, the promotion of youth employment, the eradication of malnutrition or the fight against climate change, among other topics.
XXIX Ibero-American Summit It got off to a slow start due to protests from social sectors and the disastrous absence of its top leaders at the “counter-summit” a day earlier. Of the 22 heads of state and government convened, apart from local Daniel Noboa, only Spanish King Felipe VI and Presidents Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (Portugal) and Javier Espot Zamora (Andorra) attended the final high-level session. , the only Latin American.
Another 15 delegations participated along with lower level officials. Andean Cuenca was influenced by other nearby international events, such as APEC or G20.
“Strategic” and “fundamental” Ibero-American phenomenon
Given the questions raised about its regional value, many delegates defended the Ibero-American event as a “strategic” and “fundamental” scenario. One of the cross-cutting themes of the final session was the dire political and social situation in Haiti, where mass violence has kept the government in control and plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis.
The question of the re-election of Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro also entered the debate, with many demands for transparency and presentation of detailed results of the election. Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha asked, “We all know what happened in Venezuela in July (the presidential election). It is important to insist on a democratic and effective solution.” “Not doing so will lead to more immigration, more human rights violations and not doing so will lead to increased insecurity in our region,” he said.
The spicy touch of the meeting was provided by the representatives of Argentina and Cuba, who engaged in claims to “respect human rights” on the one hand and to “privilege democracy” on the other.
Ecuador managed to keep the violence of drug trafficking and serious energy crisis plaguing the country out of the summit. On the last day, Noboa called for action by warning about “difficult times” being experienced by Latin America. A region that is also “affected by climate change, significant drought and abandonment,” he said.
Recent devastating floods in Spain and Colombia, the passage of two hurricanes through Cuba or widespread drought across the region provoked messages of support from leaders. King Felipe VI of Spain expressed grief over deadly flooding in Valencia, saying, “These are not easy days in Spain. We have recently experienced a natural disaster that left more than 220 people dead, several thousand “People were affected and there was considerable material damage.”
Andorra requested commitment environmental charter The resolution adopted at the previous 2023 summits in Santo Domingo and Portugal requested support for its proposal to create an Ibero-American system to respond to severe disasters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wbqxzQwRQ
After high-level discussions ended, Ecuador officially transferred the “pro tempore” presidency of XXX Ibero-American Summit As for Spain, which will return to that country in 2026 for the fourth time in the event’s 33-year history.
AMA (AFP, EFE)