CELAC STARTS WITH SOCIAL AGENDA AGAINST INEQUALITIES

Caracas, March 25 (AVN)- Eliminating poverty and fostering social development are the first issues in the agenda to give birth to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States ((Spanish: Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, CELAC), expressed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro.

In Caracas, seat of the constituent summit which will be held next July 05, delegations of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries will debate other issues as security, food sovereignty, universalizing education and democratizing health.

“We hope this preparatory meeting will yield concrete results, which will be proposed by the Foreign Minister Council to our Presidents, who will certainly approve them as (CELAC"s) constituent elements,” Maduro said during a meeting in Caracas Melia hotel.

Together with the social cabinet of the Venezuelan Government, Maduro said the journey is a significant step to get acquainted with the countries" policies, views and perspectives in the face of social inequalities.

“These working groups shall raise proposals for the presidents to review the papers and trace the horizon about what Latin America and the Caribbean want in the 21 century”.

CELAC birth has raised expectations, since it seeks to strengthen the region on equal conditions and without the control of hegemonic powers. For this reason, there have been carried out preparatory meetings a year ago, in order to create a plan in short, medium and long terms, basically to reduce social gaps.

Community without hegemony

Another goal of CELAC is to face the Organization of American States (OAS), which has been denounced by several countries of the region as a body which obeys exclusively to the United States interests.

During the last summit of the Rio Group, in Mexico, it was made official the creation of a Unified Forum, without the United States. This would be co-chaired by Chile and Venezuela for the term 2010-2012, in order to define the constituent documents of CELAC.

In that meeting, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro presented the Plan Caracas, which sets objectives to consolidate integration in different areas and it is being reviewed by commissions of the countries which make up the community.

“We will offer our support for this community to have a good birth. The dream of our Liberators is in the agenda 200 years later,” Maduro said last Thursday at the Caracas Melia Hotel.

“Feel at home and in your Homeland. The Homeland of Liberator Simon Bolivar, where his ideas and energy are reborn,” he said to the delegations which will take part on a meeting this Friday in Caracas.

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