Dilma Rousseff
As we argue inside, 2012 should be better for Latin America than 2011, if only because the region’s two biggest economies, Brazil and Mexico, will probably grow a bit faster than they did in 2011. Brazil will do better because its policymakers organized a gentle slowdown in the second half of 2011 to avoid upsets later on in President Dilma Rousseff’s four-year term. In Mexico, the stronger economic tone of the U.S. economy is already beginning to act as a locomotive.
CELAC: New Community of 33 Latin American and Caribbean Nations
by Alfredo G. Pierrot
(Taken from The Havana Reporter)
CARACAS – The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) was officially founded in an early December summit attended by the leaders of the region´s 33 nations.
The new pro-integration bloc, heir to the Latin American and Caribbean Summit (CALT) and the Rio Group, will be led by a troika of countries, with Venezuela as the outgoing president pro tem (summit host), Chile as the current president (to host the 2012 summit) and Cuba as the future president (the 2013 summit host).
The United States and Canada were the only countries in the Americas not invited to be part of the new bloc, which was formed after the heads of state at the summit approved the Caracas Declaration by consensus, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez presiding. The declaration was the result of meetings held by foreign ministers and other officials in the days leading up to the summit.
The summit also approved two other founding documents by consensus, the 2012 Action Plan, and Procedures for the Organic Functioning of the CELAC.
When the procedural document was put to a vote, Chávez noted that meetings previous to the summit had not reached agreement on one of its points. The document stipulated that all CELAC decisions would be made by consensus, but Ecuador proposed that in cases where consensus was not achieved, an agreement could be reached by a qualified majority of four-fifths of the bloc´s members.
The Ecuadorian delegation argued that decisions that are important for the majority of countries should not be blocked by the disagreement of one or two countries, as sometimes happens in the UN Security Council, for example. Opinions remained divided on this issue, and it was finally agreed – by consensus – to refer the issue to the troika for further discussion and a subsequent proposal for future CELAC meetings.
Two other matters referred to the troika were a proposal made by Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli to create a general secretariat, offering to host its headquarters in his country, and the proposal of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who said the troika should include a representative of the CELAC´s 14 English and French-speaking Caribbean member countries.
Eighteen special communiqués also were approved by the meeting, addressing issues such as the Malvinas Islands, food and nutritional security, financial speculation and food prices, the human rights of immigrants, solidarity with Haiti and a security strategy for Central America. Other issues included the defense of democracy and constitutional order, the battle against drug trafficking and terrorism, and the struggle against the U.S. blockade of Cuba.
