The XXVIII. Ibero-American Summit, which will be held this Saturday in the Dominican Republic, started this Friday evening with the aim of “achieving concrete results that will have a positive impact on the quality of life of Ibero-Americans”. Former Chilean Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand, in charge of the Ibero-American Secretariat, has urged the 22 countries that make up the Community to take advantage of the regional context, which, as he stressed, “seldom mixes opportunities and challenges. ” One of these occasions, in his opinion, is the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of this year. It is, he stressed when setting up the meeting in the Ozama Fortress in Santo Domingo, an opportunity “to set an agenda for the future between Latin America and Europe to work together to solve problems such as climate change, which is an existential threat to humanity.And the summit of Celac, the community of Latin American and Caribbean countries, scheduled for July 17 and 18 in Brussels will specify a package of European investments in the region, as announced by King Felipe VI.
Climate challenges are exactly one of the axes of the event, whose motto is “Together for a fair and sustainable Ibero-America”. The meeting of Presidents and Heads of State plans to adopt three documents, an Ibero-American Environmental Charter or Green Pact, a Charter of Digital Rights Principles and a Food Security Strategy. A key proposal for the international financial architecture, which ultimately pursued market reform to facilitate access to credit, fell through at the last minute. The lack of consensus due to the opposition of some countries, such as Cuba, has stalled this debate, according to diplomatic sources. Its President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was one of the 11 who will share the stage tonight with the host, Dominican Luis Abinader, King Felipe VI, Chilean Gabriel Boric, Argentine Alberto Fernández, Bolivian Luis Arce or Honduran Xiomara Castro shared .
The absences, the delays, the anticipation and the speculation about the assistants have also marked the peak. Brazilian Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, rulers of two Ibero-American giants, did not travel to the Dominican Republic for different reasons, first because they had planned a visit to China and second because of concerns about international forums . Colombian Gustavo Petro did not attend the summit’s opening ceremony after delaying his departure from Cartagena de Indias, while the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, who was traveling with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell and the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was still flying and landed at the last minute.
The hypotheses about the participation of Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro, who in 2021 in the days leading up to the previous Ibero-American Summit in Andorra monopolized prominence and definitively left the organization, became entangled as the hours went by. In the middle of the week, Hugo Chávez’s successor had confirmed his participation. Later, the option for Chancellor Yván Gil to replace him grew in strength, who actually arrived in Santo Domingo and joined the inauguration to deliver “President Maduro’s message for the unity of our America and the greater Caribbean.” But the event’s moderator also mentioned the Venezuelan President’s name among the leaders who were about to arrive. However, he left out Gustavo Petro’s, leading to some confusion. Nobody rules out that Maduro could arrive just before the start of this Saturday’s matches. But nobody excludes that, although he has confirmed his presence, he will not travel to this summit, which aims to lay the foundations for cooperation beyond political differences and ideological disputes.
A moment of inauguration of the Iberoamerican Summit. Monica Gonzalez Islands
In his speech, Abinader recalled that the Ibero-American community faces “common challenges that require collective responses” and invited participants to a “sincere and friendly dialogue”. At the Ozama Fortress – the first fortress built by Spain in America – the Dominican President was in charge of receiving the leaders who attended the summit. Among them was Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who had undergone surgery just a week earlier for a herniated disc. Abinader also welcomed Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who was also using a walker due to a lumbar cyst.
Applause was generous among attendees as Chilean President Gabriel Boric, seated next to Bolivian President Luis Arce, watched the start of the meeting. Both presidents have not spoken to each other, although they have expressed a certain willingness to talk about the differences between their countries, mainly the dispute over the territory where Bolivia is demanding an exit to the Pacific.
In-depth discussions with the host President include the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, who also traveled to Santo Domingo as the only female head of state from a member state. Castro appeared at the reception on the arm of his son Héctor Zelaya, who is also his private secretary. The heads of state dressed in white guayaberas for the welcoming ceremony, except for the presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle, and Argentina, Alberto Fernández, who opted for suits with ties.