The 22 countries of the Iberoamerican Community could not agree on how to build the new global financial architecture. Government negotiators in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) could not agree on one of the four documents that the heads of state and government had to approve at the summit that ended this Saturday. There will be an Ibero-American Environmental Charter or Green Pact, a Charter of Digital Rights Principles and a Food Security Strategy, but no proposal for a new financial architecture.
The aim of this document, which was agreed to be adopted at the Andorra Summit in 2021, was to work towards a more inclusive, flexible and fair financial system. Latin American countries are experiencing serious difficulties in obtaining the necessary financing to regain the post-pandemic growth rate, since they are essentially measured-income companies, unable to benefit from concessional loans on advantageous terms like the poorest countries, and not even more than have sufficient solvency to maintain them on the international financial markets. According to experts, domestic savings are also not sufficient to make the necessary investments. Among other things, the draft that did not materialize provided for the conditions for access to financing for middle-income countries to be reviewed and for multilateral organizations to expand their lending capacity.
The adoption of this document was particularly timely and important given that in 2024 Brazil will chair the G-20, the forum where these proposals should be debated and adopted and where the Iberoamerican Community has four seats: Mexico, Argentina, Spain and Brazil itself. However, according to diplomatic sources, due to the disagreements of some countries such as Cuba, it was not possible to reach the necessary consensus for its approval.
The meeting of Iberoamerican leaders is also marked by absences, starting with the presidents of two Latin American giants by GDP and population. Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did not travel to the Dominican Republic to visit China, which he considers a priority ally. Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is usually suspicious of international forums, had already announced that he would not be attending, but on this occasion his government will not send the head of external relations, Marcelo Ebrard, and the delegation will be headed by the Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean.
To these absences must be added that of Nicolás Maduro, who had promised to attend and finally, like at the previous edition of the Andorra summit, canceled at the last minute amid a wave of criticism of his government. The Venezuelan president, who also took office at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) summit last January, is grappling with an internal corruption scandal at state-owned oil company PDVSA that led to the resignation on Monday of one of the main Chavista leaders, of Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami. Foreign Minister Yván Gil will defend Caracas’ position in Santo Domingo.
Peruvian Dina Boluarte, who was caught up in a political storm over the suppression of protests after Pedro Castillo’s failed suicide attempt last December, will be absent, as will four of Central America’s seven presidents. Panamanian Laurentino Cortizo, Guatemalan Alejandro Giammattei, whose government is increasingly being called into question by attacks on judges, prosecutors and journalists investigating corruption, Salvadoran Nayib Bukele, who is focused on his war on gangs, and the Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega. The drifting away of the Managua regime is precisely another issue indirectly hovering over this summit.
Joining the Cuban government, which on Thursday called on the Ibero-American community to condemn the trade embargo and reject the Joe Biden administration’s decision to leave Havana on the list of regimes supporting terrorism. President Miguel Díaz-Canel defends an alternative model of cooperation between the countries of the region. “Cooperation is always a noble and useful way of relating to nations. In uncertain and challenging times like the ones we are living in, this is a necessity and an urgency,” he said this Friday.
The importance of the financial model and the urgency of reforming the credit system in Latin America were also reflected in the business meeting accompanying the summit. A forum that brought together around 1,500 business people from the region that analyzed the benefits of public-private alliances, private investment and the economic responsibility of states. These conferences, organized by King Felipe VI. and the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, addressed issues such as innovation, sustainability, gender equality, tourism and infrastructure.