The 18th Summit Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Rio Group ended November 5 with a reaffirmation of the need for a multilateral approach to resolve global problems and secure peace and development with social inclusion and full respect for international law.
The participants issued the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, in which they recognize that the new international realities urgently demand the strengthening and thoroughgoing reform of the United Nations.
In particular, so that the reorganized General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) can preclude the emergence of situations that threaten peace.
In the document, the heads of State also reaffirm their commitment to the Goals of the Millenium, the Monterrey Declaration on Financing for Development, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of Sustainable Development.
The declaration devotes six paragraphs to the problems of Haiti, “the topic of greatest importance and attention at the meeting of the Rio Group Summit.”
After recalling that middle-income Latin American and Caribbean countries require cooperation and Official Development Assistance to achieve higher degrees of governability, “diminishing internal disparities, attaining the Goals of the Millenium, and overcoming poverty,” the communiqué underscores that peace and economic reconstruction in Haiti are among the Rio Group’s major challenges.
The Rio Group also vows to work with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and donor countries to obtain the speedy liberation of funds pledged for the stabilization of Haiti.
The letter reveals that, on an operational plane, the countries’ chancellors were instructed to organize a seminar for November 20, to analyze the Haitian situation in depth and define tasks for cooperation with that country in the political, economic, and social spheres.
The Rio de Janeiro Declaration was signed by 11 of the 19 Presidents of the member countries – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela – and the Vice-Presidents or Chancellors of Argentina, Guyana, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Agência Brasil
Translator: David Silberstein