The leaders of Latin American and Iberian countries were on hand for the opening of the 24th Cumbre Iberoamericana (Ibero-American Summit) in Veracruz, Mexico yesterday. Just as notable as who was present, however, was the long list of absences. A block of six presidents—representing Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba—snubbed the two-day summit, which Bolivian President Evo Morales dismissed as a platform for “Spain’s monarchs [to discuss] their own interests.” The president of El Salvador, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, reportedly had to withdraw from the summit to due health issues.
The summit’s focus—“Education, Culture and Innovation”—was reportedly calculated to avoid ideologically charged territory. Yet the summit has faced flagging interest in the face of newer regional fora such as the Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States—CELAC) and the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Union of South American Nations—UNASUR). As a result, after this year, the summit will transition towards a biyearly schedule.
Nonetheless, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Manuel García-Margallo qualified the summit as a success. “We are reflecting on a renewed relationship between Latin American and the Ibero-American countries […] we are achieving concrete results, and we are creating important synergies,” he said.
By the end of the first session, the attendees had reportedly reached five agreements due to be included in summit’s concluding declaration. Among them are an agreement to share information and present a more united front in international fora such as the G20 or the OECD, an agreement on arbitration practices for small and medium-sized enterprises, and an agreement to foster increased talent mobility among the participating nations.
