Cuban President Calls for Regional Integration in ECLAC Forum

“There is no other option but to advance regional integration and development with equity”, said the newly elected president during the opening day of the forum

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called for regional integration in Havana today, when he intervened at the opening of the thirty-seventh session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

“There is no other option but to advance regional integration and development with equity”, said the newly elected president during the opening day of the forum scheduled for the Palace of Conventions until Friday, when Cuba assumed the presidency for two years pro-tempore of the organ founded in 1948.

In his speech, he highlighted that ECLAC has been for decades a benchmark of economic and social knowledge, contributing to placing equity at the center of development.

According to Díaz-Canel, the study promoted by the Commission of the structural causes that make Latin America the most unequal region of the planet is also worth mentioning.

It is an inequality associated with the colonial past of our nations, which affects in particular indigenous people, people of African descent, girls and women, he warned.

He also pointed out that such an adverse scenario derives from the impact of imperialism, neoliberalism and the macroeconomic policies that for decades favored the transnationals, deepening class differences and discrimination.

The Cuban president reiterated the commitment of the island to concentrate ECLAC’s efforts aimed at assisting the most vulnerable people and to continue promoting development from the perspective of social justice and equal opportunities.

Before the intervention of Díaz-Canel, Mexico —the country that delivered the pro tempore presidency— said in the voice of the head of the Office of the President, Francisco Guzmán, support for the largest of the Antilles in its management.

Cuba is a founder of ECLAC, entity of 45 member states and 13 associates, and had hosted a forum of this nature in 1949, when it became venue of the second regular session.

The new edition, scheduled until Friday at the Palacio de Convenciones, calls on the region to address priorities such as the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the fight against inequality and the promotion of South-South cooperation.

ECLAC is one of the five regional commissions of the UN and its headquarters is in Santiago de Chile. Its objective is to contribute to the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean, coordinate actions aimed at its promotion and strengthen relations between countries and with the rest of the world.