VENEZUELAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS TO ANALYZE RESULTS OF THE VI SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

Caracas, 9 May 2012.- The headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) were the venue for the Seminar "VI Summit of the Americas: Balance and prospects,” organized by the Institute for Higher Latin American Studies of the Universidad Simón Bolívar, the Centre of American Studies of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, the Venezuelan Council for International Relations (COVRI) and SELA.

Participants in the Seminar made a comprehensive analysis on the results of the VI Summit of the Americas, held in the city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 14 and 15 April and whose motto was “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity.” The Summit was carried out in a global economic context of high uncertainty as a result of the 2008 financial crisis that broke in the developed countries, particularly in the eurozone.

Another outstanding topic is the macroeconomic situation of Latin America and the Caribbean, which allowed the region to quite successfully bypass shocks from the crisis as new partners with growing influence, as China, emerged in the region and had an impact on hemispheric relations.

In addition, many issues affecting the security of the countries in the hemisphere have gained in importance, such as the fight against drug trafficking.

Topics such as the validity of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the relations between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean, the diplomacy of summits, the role of entrepreneurs and civil society at the hemispheric level, continental security and the fight against drug trafficking will be addressed by scholars of the main higher education institutions of Venezuela during the Seminar.

Many of these issues were part of the agenda of the Cartagena Summit, and some of them obstructed discussions, leading to a situation in which no consensus could be reached to adopt a final declaration. Disagreements also erupted over the participation of Cuba in meetings of the hemispheric mechanism, an issue that has caused division within the hemisphere and probably will be addressed prior to the next Summit, to be held in Panama in 2015.

Hemispheric relations have been dealt with, at the level of Heads of State and Government, at discussion forums on common problems and rapprochement initiatives since the first Summit of the Americas in 1994, convened by the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and held in Miami. On that occasion, the draft of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was launched, but in 2005 this scheme was shelved in the Summit of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Following the failure of the FTAA, the United States and other countries in the region have signed free trade agreements (FTAs) at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

The assessment that could be made of the results of the Cartagena Summit and hemispheric relations will be very important, because it will determine the policies that the countries of the region will adopt in their relations with the United States and the continental challenges they will face in the economic, political and security areas.

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