After playing a part in a confrontation with Miguel Díaz-Canel at the last Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2021, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou once again criticized the region’s governments for violating human rights in intervening in the high-level section of the meeting of the regional institution, meeting in Buenos Aires.
“There are countries here that don’t respect democracy, institutions or human rights,” he said, indirectly referring to the Cuban regime.the only one present to point out, among other things, that he has the largest number of political prisoners in America.
Lacalle questioned the meeting’s final statement, which must be adopted because its text says CELAC supports democracy, human rights and institutions.
The Uruguayan President began his criticism after calling for CELAC to be strengthened by turning speech into action and emphasizing it “In order for these forums to exist, they must not have the character of an association of ideological friends.”
“We are wrong to give CELAC an ideological veneer,” he said. Regarding the contributions of those present, he admitted: “I have heard speeches that I agree almost completely, speeches that I share half of, and speeches that I share almost nothing with. But even without sharing them, I understand that our nations have become united.”
“So beware of ideological temptation in international forums. Because when the ideology of one side or another changes, the forums disappear, and here a forum and another forum arise, and then international law begins to lose trust in the peoples,” he warned.
Specific, Lacalle called for promoting a free trade zone between countries in the regionfrom Mexico to the south of the continent.
In 2021, the Uruguayan President mentioned Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in his direct criticism, sparking a confrontation with Díaz-Canel. In response, Lacalle declaimed a stanza of “Patria y vida,” the song that has become an anthem for those opposed to the Cuban regime, before the helpless gaze of the island’s ruler.
Boric again points to Venezuela and Nicaragua but insists on forgetting Cuba
Chilean President, Gabriel Boric criticized Peruvian President Dina Boluarte when he interfered in the meetingbecause of the crackdown on protests that have already claimed nearly 50 lives, and stressed “the urgent need for a change of course” in that country.
“We cannot be indifferent when today in our sister republic of Peru, with the government under the command of Dina Boluarte, people who take to the streets to demand what they think is fair are shot by those who defend them should,” he said, quoted by EFE.
to sent a message to Daniel Ortega arguing that it was the “duty” of the Nicaraguan governmentabsent from the forum, Movement towards the freedom of political prisoners because, in his words, “only with freedom and dignity can democracy and the well-being of the people be strengthened”.
The Chilean didn’t mention that The Cuban regime has more than twice as many prisoners of conscience in prison as in Nicaragua.
Boric also mentioned the January 8 coup attack on the headquarters of power in Brasilia, declaring that democracy was “under threat” both in the region and in the world. He also called on CELAC and other multilateral fora to activate mechanisms to ensure and support the “full and unrestricted enforcement of human rights and the rule of law”.
“Deepening democracy is an ongoing exercise that requires us, the political leaders, to increase our ability to listen to the people,” argued the Chilean President.
“The exclusionary policy does not offer authentic or lasting results,” Boric added, citing as examples the United States’ “disgraceful” embargo on Cuba and Venezuela.
Gustavo Petro: “There doesn’t have to be a single political prisoner in Latin America”
Gustavo Petro took positions similar to those of Boric during his speech. “Why do we have to continue to perpetuate violations of the Inter-American system even though our governments have signed the treaty in the past? Why must there be parliamentary coups and violent coups, why must popularly elected presidents be in jail today when they should be on this table?” he asked, apparently referring to Pedro Castillo, who was sacked by Congress and charged with a failed coup d’état was taken into custody in Peru.
“There must be a democratic compact here, as proposed in 1972. If we came to power from the left, it wasn’t to imprison the right. There doesn’t have to be a single political prisoner in Latin America,” he noted.
“But when the right comes to power, it’s not to kill the left. It is nothing but coexistence and ideological plurality that allows us to assert ourselves in peace in the region who has seen the worst dictatorships and suffered the wars of revolution,” added the ex-guerrilla.
Mario Abdo Benítez asks to address the situation of the Venezuelan diaspora
Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez urged the leaders attending CELAC to address the situation of the Venezuelan diaspora, a reality that “cannot be ignored but must be addressed” and for which “a A solution has to be found,” he said.
In his speech to the CELAC Plenary He called for a “sincere dialogue” and recalled that, like the acts of violence in Peru and Brazil, the “mass exodus” from Venezuela is “worrying”.
“We cannot look aside when more than seven million Venezuelans have left their homes to seek refuge in the region,” the Paraguayan president recalled in his latest intervention in this forum as his term ends this year.
In addition, Benítez recalled that Venezuelan migration is the second largest external displacement crisis in the world, after Syria, according to UNHCR.
The VII CELAC Summit will take place on Tuesday in Buenos Aires in the presence of representatives of the 33 member countries, including Brazil, which rejoined the mechanism after leaving in 2020 under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro.