Official photo of the XXVIII. Heads of State and Government present at the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State or Government on March 25, 2023 in Santo Domingo. afp_tickers
This content was published on March 25, 2023 – 14:58 March 25, 2023 – 14:58 minutes
(AFP)
The Ibero-American summit ended this Saturday with the commitment of the member countries to reduce hunger and negotiate better financing conditions together as well as to work for more controlled migration and a comprehensive solution for Haiti.
Delegations from 22 countries signed the Santo Domingo Declaration, which recognizes the need for a “critical path to achieving inclusive and sustainable food security in Latin America”.
“There is hunger, we have more or less 60 million people who have food security problems and a third of the food produced in the region is wasted,” explains Andrés Allamand, Secretary General of Ibero-Americans, at a press conference at the end of the meeting.
“What we have in mind as a commitment to this summit is to create a situation without hunger,” he added.
It’s not an easy bet in a region with growth forecasts of less than 2% this year and the world’s most expensive healthy diet: $3.89 per day per person, unattainable for 22.5% of the population, according to the United Nations.
“Access to healthy food should be a right, not a privilege,” said Bolivian President Luis Arce, who highlighted the impact of climate change on food production.
Countries signed letters with commitments to fight this phenomenon and protect the environment.
– negotiate en bloc –
Fighting hunger, the heads of state and government agreed, requires countries to have better access to finance and better conditions.
Host country President Luis Abinader told a press conference that “Ibero-American countries will work together as a single bloc” to negotiate with organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
“We are witnessing an international scenario characterized by high and unsustainable levels of debt that fuel growth,” Argentine President Alberto Fernández, whose country has not yet emerged from a chronic crisis of high inflation and exchange rate volatility, said in the plenary debate.
Argentina itself agreed in January 2022 to refinance a $44,000 million debt to the IMF, which required spending cuts.
Ecuador, which is taking over the presidency pro tempore and will host the next summit in Quito on November 29, 2024, pledged to study the “feasibility” of approaches to reforming the financial system.
In addition to the “shortage of water resources and pollution of the oceans”, the environmental letter warns of “the global challenges of climate change” such as “the loss of biodiversity”.
This crisis “creates hunger, death,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“In terms of clean energy, strong national, foreign, public and private investments are needed,” explained Petro, who suggested that the countries with the highest emissions should feed them.
– migration flows –
Throughout the debate, sensitive issues for the region such as migration and political stability were raised, with sharp comments from Chilean President Gabriel Boric against the “family dictatorship of (Daniel) Ortega and (Rosario) Murillo in Nicaragua”.
“Outside of democracy there is neither freedom nor dignity,” he snapped. “We see new risks and threats to democracy around the world,” he said.
Foreign Minister Denis Moncada demanded “respect” as Ortega’s representative.
In view of the migration crisis, Boric called for greater “coordination” and announced talks with Venezuela, a country from which more than seven million people have fled in recent years, according to the UN.
“Any sustainable solution depends on whether countries of origin, transit and destination can work together,” said the Chilean. “There is an urgent need to speed up and intensify coordination between our police and immigration authorities to combat organized transnational crime networks.”
The region faces heavy flows of migrants from Cuba, Haiti and other Central American countries, as well as Venezuela, trying to escape poverty.
Petro proposed a summit on the subject.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has suspended his attendance at the summit after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday, his vice-president Delcy Rodríguez reported. He was represented by Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
– “pacify” Haiti –
Many of the presidents condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A thorny issue, especially for Dominicans, is Haiti, the Americas’ poorest country, controlled by violent gangs that have killed about 530 people and kidnapped about 280 since January, according to the UN.
“The only way to deal with Haiti is to pacify Haiti,” Abinader said.
Costa Rica’s Rodrigo Chaves asked the summit to “make a strong and forceful call to the United Nations for an immediate response.”