<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<h1 class="title">US Further Isolated as CELAC Rejects Regional
Intervention </h1>
<div class="submitted">
<div class="symbols"> <a
href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/printmail/11178" title="Send
this page by e-mail." class="print-mail" rel="nofollow">
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11178<br>
</a><a href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/11178"
title="Display a printer-friendly version of this page."
class="print-mail" rel="nofollow"> </a> </div>
<p class="byline"> By <span class="author">Rachael Boothroyd</span>
</p>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Bogota, January 30th 2015 (Venezuelanalysis) The US is seeing
its role in Latin America increasingly challenged, as the 33
member states of CELAC (the Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States) vehemently rejected North American intervention
in the continent, and particularly the US-led blockade of Cuba and
recently enacted sanctions against Venezuela. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The comments were part of the "Belen Declaration," approved
during the CELAC's third annual presidential summit, held on
January 28th and 29th in Belen, Costa Rica. Formed in 2011, the
CELAC was a political initiative proposed by former Venezuelan
President, Hugo Chavez, who aimed to reconstruct Simon Bolivar's
dream of a united Latin American continent. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"We reiterate our most profound rejection of the implementation
of all coercive and unilateral measures and once more call on the
US to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade which it
has imposed on its sister nation for over five decades," reads the
22 page document. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The declaration includes 94 different points and is
characterised by an emphasis on regional cooperation, social
inclusion, the sovereignty and right to self determination of
member states, as well as a commitment to tackling poverty and
inequality.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Other points of action include an effort to generate
sustainable models of production and consumption, the promotion of
regional energy integration and to construct bilateral ties with
other regional organisations, and particularly with the BRICS,
(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the African Union
and the League of Arab States. The declaration also cites
"South-South" cooperation as vital for regional development. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"We came with the spirit of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar's men
and children, we came with his flag, the flag of unity," said
Chavez's successor and current Venezuelan Head of State, Nicolas
Maduro, who hailed the document as a "historic" declaration which
represents a transcendental moment in the continent's
independence. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"The Liberator foresaw the centuries that lay ahead and he
sought the time to bring about unity between us. He said that this
time had to be demarcated through legal mechanisms and 200 years
later, it has fallen on this generation to carry this through," </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The CELAC is the first time than 33 countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean have been united in a regional organisation
without the presence of the US and Canada. The organisation brings
together governments' from differing and even conflicting
ideological orientations, including the rightwing governments' of
Mexico and Colombia and the socialist administrations in Venezuela
and Bolivia. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"Beyond ideological borders and the politics that separate us,
there is a diverse America...(the strength of CELAC) is to have
achieved unity in diversity, based on respect, solidarity and
helping each other in the joint construction of Latin America and
the Caribbean," said Maduro. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>During the summit, the Pro-Tempore presidency of the
organisation was officially passed over from Costa Rica to Rafael
Correa of Ecuador, who applauded Venezuela and Nicaragua's
initiative to have US colony, Puerto Rico, occupy a seat at
CELAC's next summit. He stated that the action would "demonstrate
that America is a region free of colonialism". </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"CELAC must play a protagonistic role in accompanying the
process of decolonisation in the Latin American and Caribbean
region. In general, it should be the "go to" organisation for the
resolution of conflicts or long standing issues which affect the
countries in the region," stated the Ecuadorean president. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The Belen Document goes on to stress member states' commitment
nuclear disarmament in Latin American and its support for the
ongoing peace talks in Colombia, currently in the midst of an
attempt to bring its more than 50 year civil war to an end. It
also expressed solidarity with CARICOM's initiative to form a
Reparations Commission for Caribbean countries affected by slavery
and Argentina's plight against the vulture funds. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>With the exception of the French Caribbean islands, the United
States has directly and indirectly intervened or occupied all
Latin American and Caribbean countries since the early 19th
Century. More recent examples include support for attempted coups
against the leftist governments of Venezuela (2002), Ecuador
(2010) and Bolivia (2008), as well as for the successful coups
against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras in 2009 and Fernando Lugo, the
leftist "Priest of Paraguay" in 2012. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"We are in the era of our America, of our Latin-Caribbean
America. After 200 years searching for our path, we have found
it," declared Maduro.</div>
<div> </div>
<p class="published">Published on Jan 31st 2015 at 10.01am </p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>