On Wednesday (9), Honduran President Xiomara Castro inaugurated the 9th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), an event during which she will transfer the pro tempore presidency of this regional integration institution to Colombia.
“Today, Honduras hands over the Celac pro tempore presidency not as a ceremonial act but as a political one,” she said, and explained the importance of keeping Celac alive amid the tense global situation caused by the U.S. trade war.
“Maintaining this space in the midst of fragmentation and siege has been difficult, but it has been necessary to show that we continue working for unity, as the continent of hope and political diversity,” Castro recalled.
“Celac is not a perfect organization, but it is ours. It was born from a dream, an ideal, and a utopia of our liberators and founding fathers: the Latin American integration in the face of the great powers.”
“This dream of unity and of a greater homeland is more urgent than ever today, as the old neoliberal order imposed on our countries collapses and the great powers like the United States redraw their economic map without asking which countries are left behind,” the Honduran president stated.
To highlight the importance of international cooperation and solidarity, Castro criticized the actions that Western powers deploy against the peoples of the world.
“We condemn the cruel and inhumane economic blockade that the United States has maintained against the heroic Cuban people for more than 64 years. Cuba does not export terrorists. It exports scientists, doctors, and the dignity our peoples demand,” she stressed.
“We recognize the sovereignty of the Argentine people over the Malvinas Islands, the clamor for peace in the Gaza Strip […] We recognize the resistance of Haiti, which demands a sovereign homeland whose destiny is defined by its people and not by foreign interference.”
To conclude, the Honduran president recalled the most important figures in the founding of Celac, an institution to which she asked to remain faithful to the dreams of historical leaders such as Simon Bolivar, Hugo Chavez, and Fidel Castro, among others.
“We are certain that Celac will not only overcome its challenges but will keep alive the dreams of revolutionaries and of peoples who never give up. As Commander Chavez used to say, ‘Utopia is on the horizon, and we walk toward it so we never stop walking.’”
