Lula will participate in the Celac summit to discuss regional integration

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will participate on Wednesday (9), in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, of the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the community of Latin American and Caribbean states (Celac).

Heads of state of the bloc, which brings together the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, will discuss topics such as regional integration, the fight against climate change and food security.

The event began on Monday (7), with a meeting of coordinators, and includes a meeting of chancers on Tuesday (8), and the summit itself on Wednesday (9). This 9th summit also marks the closing of the presidency for the time of Honduras and his transfer to Colombia.

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Ambassador Gisela Padovan, Secretary of Latin America and Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), emphasizes the importance of Lula’s regional integration and participation in the meeting.

“The president’s participation is a clear sign of the priority that, by the way, has always been given by President Lula and Brazil to integration. In our Constitution, it is reported that Brazil should seek exactly Celac, the construction of a community of Latin American and Caribbean nations,” says Padovan.

She recalls that Lula’s first act of foreign policy in 2023, the first year of office, was to promote Brazil’s return to Celac.

Unified candidacy

Brazil will propose to the bloc countries a unified candidacy of the region for the position of Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), preferably from a woman, given that there has never been a female leadership in this position.

The mandate of the current UN Secretary-General António Guterres ends next year, when a new person should be chosen for the position.

“From the regional turnover scheme, we understand that it would be up to Latin America and the Caribbean to take this position. So we are proposing that countries come together to start working around a unique candidacy, which gives us a greater chance of enforcing this principle of turnover,” explains the ambassador.

With information from Ascom/Planalto