LATAM AND CARIBBEAN STATES CREATE CELAC TO COUNTER US INFLUENCE

Caracas, April 27- Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Affairs ministers are meeting in Venezuela in anticipation of the presidential summit scheduled for July 5 in Caracas when a new regional integration organization is set to be born, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, CELAC.

Latin American and Caribbean leaders will be meeting in July, on the 200th independence anniversary of Venezuela to agree the statutes and founding charter of the new group which has the purpose of becoming an Organization of American States, OAS, without the United States and Canada.

The new entity will bring together all Latin American and Caribbean countries with the purpose of promoting political dialogue and cooperation for development”, points out the Brazilian Foreign Affairs ministry in an official release.

CELAC will also debate the ‘democratic clause’ and take notice on the implementation of the Montego Bay Action Plan, which was ratified at the Cancun summit last February.

CELAC will include the 33 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The organization is defined by Argentine diplomacy as an initiative to address and coordinate the different integration processes and regional development policies.

The different organizations participating in CELAC include Mercosur, ALADI, SELA, Caricom and Sica.

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