“Listening to the people to deepen democracy”

"The region can clearly contribute to a peaceful world order, based on dialogue, and strengthen multilateralism and the collective construction of multipolarity," said the President of Brazil. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Within the framework of VII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) Inaugurated in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, January 24.

The continental meeting includes representatives from the 33 nations that make up this space and is marked by Brazil's return to this body after its withdrawal under the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula noted that the world is experiencing "a moment of multiple crises: pandemics, climate change, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions, pressures on food and energy security, threats to representative democracy as a form of political and social organization. All of this in an unacceptable context of increasing inequality, poverty, and hunger."

At the opening of the sessions, the host, the Argentine president, Alberto FernándezHe asserted that “the time has come to make the region defend the same interests,” called for “defending democracy and institutions,” and warned that “the far right that has risen up is threatening each of the peoples, and we must not allow that recalcitrant and fascist right wing to put our peoples at risk.”

Meanwhile, the president of Honduras, Xiomara CastroHe said: “I attend this forum with great hope at a critical moment for our region: faced with the failure of the OAS, today CELAC is more necessary than ever,” and he advocated for unity to shield the region from an attack by neo-fascism: “The right wing never rests; they cynically speak of development and plan coups; through their media machine, economic boycotts and political persecution, lawfare, they maintain a permanent aggression against our peoples,” he expressed.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo PetroHe argued that "there is a great distance between the rhetoric of Latin American integration and reality. We talk a lot about uniting, but we do little to actually do it. And I believe that this has to change. We have to move from rhetoric to reality."

In particular, the Chilean president Gabriel boric He emphasized that "we cannot be indifferent when today in our sister Republic of Peru, with the government under Dina Boluarte, people who take to the streets to march and demand what they consider just are being shot by those who should be defending them." He concluded: "Deepening democracy is an ongoing process that requires those of us who are political leaders to amplify our capacity to listen to the people."