On 23 July 2008, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva convened the first summit of Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss about integration and regional development.

Thus far, there have been four (04) Latin American and Caribbean Summits on Integration and Development (CALC):

• First Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development; Brazil, 16 and 17 December 2008
  As stated by the Brazilian President, this meeting provided a unique opportunity for all participating countries since it was the first time in over two hundred year of history that the Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the Caribbean held a meeting with an agenda of their own, without the presence of countries from outside the region.
  
  In this first CALC Summit, there was an interesting debate about the political dimension and potential provided by a space such as this one, where our countries could discuss and reach common positions as regards major issues on the global agenda.
  
  In the Declaration of Salvador de Bahia, adopted at the First Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development (CALC), the Heads of State and Government of the region decided to “intensify dialogue, interaction and synergy among the regional and subregional integration mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to deepen integration and speed up development through the coordination of common and complementary projects”.
  
  This Declaration embodied the political will of the Heads of State and Government to strengthen cooperation among the secretariats of the regional and subregional integration mechanisms and to hold frequent meetings and encourage interaction among them, so as to create a space for dialogue and exchange of information on a permanent and well-coordinated basis, particularly as regards priority issues for the region, while urging regional and subregional integration mechanisms to collaborate in their search for complementation.
  
  
• Ministerial Meeting of the Latin America and the Caribbean Summit on integration and Development (CALC); Montego Bay, 6 November 2009
  During the Ministerial Meeting of Montego Bay, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs approved concrete proposals on the steps to be taken in the CALC in order to execute the mandates given by the Heads of State and Government in the Declaration of Salvador de Bahia.
  
  The Ministers approved the Montego Bay Plan of Action, which establishesCooperation among Regional and Subregional Integration Mechanisms as its first initiative, providing for dialogue and cooperation among these mechanisms, “...with the purpose of deepening mutual understanding and identifying possible synergies and opportunities for joint initiatives, while assessing the possibility of starting a process for convergence in priority areas.”
  
  The Montego Bay Action Plan identified four (04) priority areas for dialogue, cooperation and exchange of information among the mechanisms: (i) economic and trade, (ii) production, (iii) social and institutional, and (iv) cultural. Each one of these four areas included various issues to be addressed by the Secretariats and Pro Tempore Presidencies of the regional and subregional integration mechanisms.
  
  The Ministers of Foreign Affairs instructed to convene a meeting among “the Secretariats and Pro Tempore Presidencies of the regional and subregional integration mechanisms in order to start dialogue and cooperation among them”.
  
  
• Unity Summit, 23 February 2010 (II CALC Summit and XXI Summit of the Rio Group)
  At the Summit of the Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in the Mayan Riviera in Mexico, the Heads of State and Government decided to create the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). To this end, they agreed to promote an integrated agenda that preserves the heritage of both the Rio Group and the CALC.
  
  The Cancun Declaration provides for cooperation among regional and subregional integration mechanisms, as follows: “To intensify dialogue, coordination, interaction, consensus, synergy and convergence of actions...”, among others, “...to deepen integration and speed up regional development through the coordination of common and complementary projects”.
  
  In the Cancun Declaration, the Heads of State and Government reiterated the decisions approved by the foreign ministers in the Montego Bay Action Plan stating that the regional and subregional mechanisms should promote “concrete schemes to favour the exchange of experiences, as well as the identification of areas for cooperation, necessary synergies and convergence of actions among the different subregional processes, in order to take specific steps that allow us to delve deeper into the various dimensions of integration”. This Declaration included the Montego Bay Action Plan as an integral part of it, in order to deepen the compliance with the Latin American and Caribbean agenda.
  
  Already existing integration and cooperation mechanisms and groups were considered, as a whole, a valuable regional asset that is based on shared principles and values.
  
  
• Ministerial Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development (CALC); Caracas, 03 July 2010
  In its capacity as Chair of the CALC, from February 2010 until 5 July 2011, when the III Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development will be held, Venezuela convened a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs with a view to proposing ways to implement the mandates stemming from the Declarations of Salvador de Bahia and Cancun, as well as the Montego Bay Action Plan.
  
  During this meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs adopted through a Resolution the Caracas Work Programme for the Implementation of the Montego Bay Action Plan - 2010-2011, to be executed during the tenure of Venezuela, which reiterated the commitment to strengthen regional unity and to comply with the effective commitments for joint actions to promote integration and sustainable development of the peoples with social inclusion. The ministers also expressed their intention of complying with the commitments to strengthen integral cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean in the areas of common interest identified in the CALC documents.
  
  The Caracas Work Programme, approved by the Foreign Ministers, foresees a series of provisions that reflect the mandate given by the Heads of State and Government to materialize the CALC mandates contained in the Declarations of Salvador de Bahia and Cancun and in the Montego Bay Action Plan, during the period 2010-2011.
  
  Thus, as an initial step and following the thematic order of Montego Bay, the Caracas Work Programme provides for a Meeting of Regional and Subregional Integration Mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held in Caracas in 2010.