Connect with us

International

How has Latin American and Caribbean unity been strengthened?

How has Latin American and Caribbean unity been strengthened?
Photo: EFE

June 22 |

This Thursday, June 22, marks a new anniversary of the Day of Latin American and Caribbean Unity, and is received with renewed encouragement after the electoral triumph of progressive options that promote the integration of the region and the consolidation of initiatives that work towards this goal.

It was in 2001 when the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) decreed that the Day of Latin American and Caribbean Unity be celebrated every June 22, the date on which the Amphictyonic Congress was installed in 1826.

The Amphictyonic Congress, installed on June 22, 1826 in the city of Panama, responded to the dreams of integration that the Liberator Simón Bolívar had and whose objective was to collaborate in the consolidation of the unity of the new republics, creating a confederation of the Ibero-American peoples from Mexico to Chile and Argentina.

In recent years, progressive options in the subcontinent have won elections to establish integrationist governments, examples of which are Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Chile, Honduras and most recently Colombia, which has been governed since August 2022 by the leftist Gustavo Petro.

Advertisement
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20240813_lechematerna_728x91
20240701_vacunacion_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
20230816_dgs_728x90
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow

After Petro’s victory in the second round of elections held on June 19, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), stated that his arrival marked the beginning of “a new stage” in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

He also recalled that “when we arrived (in 2018) there were few countries with progressive governments. From our arrival a new stage began and there began to be important triumphs,” he said in reference to Petro’s victory.

Latin America saw an increase in the number of progressive administrations at the end of 2022, with the victory of leftist Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who defeated the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.

Another recent moment of consolidation of regional integration occurred within the framework of the IX Summit of the Americas, held in June 2022 in the city of Los Angeles, California, which had the characteristic that the host country, the United States (US), excluded the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

After learning of this decision, Mexican President López Obrador, and others such as those of Honduras, Argentina and Bolivia, among others, conditioned their presence in the continental conclave to the participation of the leaders of the excluded nations.

Advertisement
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90
20240813_lechematerna_728x91
20240701_vacunacion_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
domfuturo_netview-728x90
20240604_dom_728x90
20230816_dgs_728x90
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
CEL
previous arrow
next arrow
Continue Reading
Advertisement
20241211_mh_noexigencia_dui_300x250
20240813_lechematerna_300x200_1
20240813_lechematerna_300x200_2
20240701_vacunacion_300x250
20231124_etesal_300x250_1
20230816_dgs_300x250
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_300X250
MARN1

International

Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.

“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.

The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.

“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”

“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.

Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.

The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.

Continue Reading

International

Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.

Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.

Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.

In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.

The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.

Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.

Continue Reading

International

Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people

At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.

“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”

The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.

Continue Reading

Trending

Central News