In the framework of the plenary session of the XXVI Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in the city of La Antigua, Guatemala, the Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, began his speech recalling the words delivered by our Libertador Simón Bolívar before the Angostura Congress in 1819.
“We wanted to bring Simón Bolívar to this forum, within three months will be fulfilled 200 years of the Speech before the Congress of Angostura, which was the most strategic, most complete, most comprehensive political and literature piece and it is still valid even almost 200 years later”, he said.
The Venezuelan diplomat also recalled that for the Liberator, “the most perfect government system is the one that can provide his people with the greatest amount of happiness possible, the greatest amount of social security and the greatest sum of political stability”.
Likewise, he urged the countries to participate in the events to be held on Venezuelan soil within the framework of the Angostura Discourse Bicentennial.
Citing Bolívar, Arreaza stressed the importance of the origin of our Latin American identity. “We are not Europeans, we are not Indians, but an intermediate species between the aborigines and the Spaniards. Americans by birth and Europeans by right (…) keep in mind that our people are not European, nor North American. It is more a composite of Africa and America than an emancipation of Europe”.
“We believe that this summit, like all summits, is one of the unity of our region, and in this case because it involves the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, Portugal, Andorra. It is a constant re-tying, re-linking, re-articulating from our origins”, reflected the FM.
On the other hand, the Head of the Foreign Ministry assured to the Summit that both Venezuela and Nicaragua are used by other nations to hide their internal problems.
“We do not want to get into the internal problems of Costa Rica but they also exist. President Alvarado we want to tell you that a government like the Venezuelan … is at service to achieve a dialogue with the workers”, he added.
The Minister offered “the good services of Venezuela, of a workers’ nature, so Costa Rica can engage in a respectful dialogue with the workers of that country who have been on strike for more than 68 days before the fiscal reforms”.
In this sense, he valued the Ibero-American space as a place of healthy dialogue and called for the permanent protection and enrichment of this regional event.
“For Europe, Latin America is fundamental and this Summit has to be a bridge between both regions, we must protect and enrich it constantly”, said the Foreign Minister.
In the same order of ideas, the Minister of Foreign Relations stated that “it is the moment of multilateralism, of its defense. It is the moment where we must give in before any difference to defend multilateral bodies (…) our continent has always been characterized by defending collective decision-making and the construction of a better world”.
Finally, he expressed his solidarity with Cuba and Nicaragua for the infamous foreign sanctions that, in his opinion, no country should accept.
Photos: Jesus Adrián García
