CELAC: A SIGNIFICANT STEP TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION

Havana, January 21 (PL)- The task of building a Latin American and Caribbean community and turn it into a crucial actor is of huge historical and political importance, the journal Granma highlighted yesterday.

Carlos 'Chacho' Alvarez, Secretary General of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), highlights in an article, the upcoming II conference the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), to be held next January 28 and 29, will be strategically important and decisive for the region.

He adds that building a community like this requires establishing bridges across the different subregions and countries, making their varied projects and approaches compatible.

"We need to take into account that there are still many who are putting a lot of effort into the advertisement and promotion of projects to separate or confront our nations, weakening our chances to move towards integration," he said.

The text, taken from the Mexican journal La Jornada, stresses that the world's current geopolitical context asks for Latin American and Caribbean nations' political will, creativity and persistence to create a common space for increased exchange and intraregional trade.

In that space, we will look for better political, productive, industrial and technological infrastructures, both shared and complementary, as well as educational, social, environmental and cultural plans.

Alvarez said this integrationist initiative will allow us to develop and defend in a united way against the uncertainties of globalization run wild, without control or government, in order to put at the service of the community each of our countries' huge wealth.

He adds this task is sometimes regarded as impossible or unfeasible due to the region's differences and heterogeneities, however it remains a challenge for Latin America to define whether it is experiencing an important time of change and play the collective leading role in a changing era.

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