Two surprises before the start of CELAC 6:31
(CNN Spanish) -
The president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated this Saturday in his country the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which has the participation of several leaders of the region.
In his first speech, López Obrador said that CELAC "can become the main instrument" to consolidate relations between the countries of the region and "achieve the ideal of economic integration with the United States and Canada.
In other words, to build in the American continent something similar to what was the economic community that gave rise to the current European Union ”, said the president.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Credit: Cepropie
According to the president, this "ideal" can be a reality if three basic issues are agreed upon: non-intervention and self-determination of peoples, cooperation for development and mutual aid to combat inequality and discrimination.
The leaders of the region met at the invitation of López Obrador, with the aim of discussing the regional response to the coronavirus pandemic and the creation of a fund to attend to disasters derived from climate change, according to Reuters.
López Obrador will lead the sixth CELAC summit 1:58
On Friday night, the Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed to CNN the presence at the summit of the questioned president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
