Intervention of Mexico at the VI Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States held in Mexico City on September 18, 2021. 

Francisco Javier Chaín Revuelta

 

09/09/2021, Veracruz, Ver. - At 7:58 am, the conductor of the VI CELAC Summit, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico, opened the session.

 

Marcelo Ebrard: Ladies, gentlemen, with your permission, Mr. President López Obrador, we are going to initiate the sixth summit of heads of state and government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

 

We give the most enthusiastic and warm welcome to the presidents, prime ministers, ministers and ministers of Foreign Affairs, the personalities that accompany us, permanent representatives, organizations such as the European Union and of course  Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribe (CEPAL) and we are going to start this summit, with the welcome message, by the president of Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to whom we give the floor, Mr. President, please.

AMLO: Good morning, I am pleased to lead this CELAC meeting, the presence of Charles Michel, president of the European Commission, Alicia Bárcenas of ECLAC and presidents, ministers, ministers, diplomatic representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean, friends, friends all.

CELAC, in these times, can become the main instrument to consolidate relations between our countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, and achieve the ideal of economic integration with the United States and Canada, within a framework of respect. to our sovereignty, that is, to achieve in the American continent, something similar to what it was, the economic community that gave rise to the current European Union. 

It is our feeling that this ideal can become a reality, if we think and agree on three basic questions.

One: Non-intervention and self-determination of the peoples, cooperation for development and mutual aid to combat inequality and discrimination, in the political field, we can commit to respect the internal decisions of the peoples, and that no Government, the power to submit to another country is assumed, under any motive, cause or pretext, or through the use of money, or propaganda, economic or diplomatic sanctions, or the use of force, that controversies, about democracy and human rights, are resolved, at the request of the parties, in truly neutral instances, created by the countries of America and that the specialized agencies of the United Nations have the last word.

Two: Regarding the economic and commercial, I propose that together with the United States and Canada, we build an agreement and sign a treaty to strengthen the internal market, that our continent, which currently has a deficit in relation to Europe and above all With respect to Asia, let us bear in mind that in America we have only 24% of the population of Asia, however, we consume 20% more than in that continent, that is, the per capita consumption of America is 23 thousand 347 dollars per year, while in Asia it is 4,716 dollars, although this proportion has been decreasing, given the productive stagnation in America and the manufacturing and commercial impulse of the Asian countries, the proposal is simple, it is about reactivating the economy in our country soon. continent, to produce what we consume in America, the advantages are many, among others we have a young and creative workforce, there is good technological development, we are a continent rich in natural resources , with a wide cultural diversity, the distance between our countries allows us to save on freight, and I reiterate, there is enough demand for merchandise in our markets, it is only necessary to do joint planning, with the participation of organizations, such as the Economic Commission for America Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB, and others, and ask these institutions to draw up a plan, with the higher objective of promoting the economic community.

Three: Finally, this productive integration, with a social dimension, must have an investment component for the well-being of all the peoples of America, under the criterion that progress without justice is retrogression, it is about moving towards modernity, but forged from below and for all, let us remember that on 03/13/1961 President John F Kennedy unveiled, at the White House, before ambassadors of Latin America and the Caribbean, the plan known as Alliance for Progress 1961 - 1969 , were times of the cold war, and Cuba and the Dominican Republic were excluded, but even with that failure, President Kennedy recognized, in his speech, that in Latin America, millions of men and women suffer daily the degradation of the hunger and poverty, millions are without adequate shelter and protection against disease, and their children lack the education or employment that allows them to improve their lives and every day the problem becomes more urgent, at that time , The United States invested in 10 years, 10,000 million dollars, which at today's prices, would be 82,000 million dollars for the benefit of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, that amount was less, than that destined to Europe, in the Marshall Plan, 13.3 billion dollars from 1948 to 1951, which at today's prices would be 140.6 billion dollars, however, at that time, what was destined for Latin America and the Caribbean, has been the only important thing that has been done. in cooperation for development in our continent, more than half a century.

I therefore think that it is time to end the lethargy and propose a new and vigorous relationship between the peoples of America, it seems to me that it is time to replace the policy of blockades and mistreatment, with the option of respecting each other, walking together and associating ourselves. For the good of America, without violating our sovereignties, perhaps President Biden will not have the support of the United States Congress to allocate resources for the benefit of the peoples of our America and reduce inequality and violence in the region, the main causes of unrest social and migratory flows, imagine, for example, the gesture of goodwill that would mean granting vaccines to most of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which have not been able to protect their peoples against Covic due to lack of economic resources, I am sure that President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau will be attentive to the consensus proposals May we be able to establish in this forum, to act for the good of our respectable peoples, welcome, thank you very much.