CELAC Declaration of Kingstown 2024
CELAC Declaration of Kingstown 2024
A new world order is again announced
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the second smallest nation in the Caribbean, with a population of 110,000. In spite of its small size, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, has played a dynamic role in continuing the revitalization of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the relatively new regional organization that unites thirty-three countries and that stands as a political counterpoint to the Organization of American States, the U.S.-led organization with a decidedly imperialist projection.
The idea to create an organization that united the thirty-three independent nations of Latin America and the Caribbean emerged during the summits of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development, held in Brazil in 2008 and in Mexico in 2010. The idea became reality at the Founding Summit of CELAC, held in Caracas, Venezuela on December 2-3, 2011. It was the culmination of a process of dialogue among the nations, led by Lula, Chávez, and Fidel.
The creation of an organization that unified the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, without the participation of any powerful country beyond the region, was the fulfillment of the dreams of the leaders of the Latin American independence movements of 200 years ago. The creation of the new regional organization was made possible by the wave of progressive governments that came to power at the beginning of the twenty-first century, driven by the rebellion of the peoples in reaction to the negative consequences of the neoliberal project, imposed on the region by the imperialist powers and the international finance organizations that they controlled. The creation of CELAC can be seen as a correction to the historic error of subservient Latin American and Caribbean governments, which participated in the construction of the Organization of American States in the post-World War II era, when the United States was at the zenith of its hegemony and worldwide prestige.
At the founding meeting of CELAC, Raúl Castro, then President of the Council of State and Ministers of Cuba, declared:
We have the privilege of attending a momentous founding event. With the decisions we have taken here..., we are reclaiming more than two centuries of struggle and hopes. Getting this far has cost us effort as well as blood and sacrifice.
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is our most precious work. Symbolically, it consolidates the concept of a united and sovereign region, committed to a common destiny.
In strategic terms, it provides us with the political instrument required to unify political will, respect diversity, resolve differences, cooperate for the good of our peoples, and show solidarity with one another. Its success will depend on the character and wisdom of its members, who are the 33 independent nations situated between the Rio Grande and Patagonia.
Unity with respect to sovereignty, development and equity will be our strength, and on unity will depend the prosperity with justice of the citizens of this vast and rich region. We do not have a completely homogeneous ideology, nor do we agree on all political positions. That is the reality with which we must work in a climate of respect and cooperation.
“CELAC and OAS: The tale of two opposed regional organizations,” January 24, 2023
CELAC subsequently held annual summits in Chile (January 2013), Havana (January 2014), Costa Rica (January 2015), Ecuador (January 2016), and Dominican Republic (January 2017). However, imperialist interference and unconventional war by the United States led to the re-emergence of right-wing governments, which made politically complex the organization of summits from 2018 to 2020, which also was complicated by the COVID pandemic. But the summits have been re-established, due to the initiative of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose government symbolized the revitalization of progressive forces in the region. Summits have been held in Mexico (September 2021), Argentina (January 2023), and now Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The archipelago of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines consists of thirty-two islands and keys, including the main island of Saint Vincent, nine of which are inhabited. Kingstown, Saint Vincent, is the capital. The nation is a representative democracy with a unicameral parliament that elects a Prime Minister; and a constitutional monarchy, with a Governor-General having largely ceremonial powers appointed by the Monarch of the United Kingdom. Its population is 66% black, 19% mixed, 6% Indian, 4% white Caribbean, and 2% indigenous. It attained independence in 1979.
The economy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is overly dependent on the exportation of bananas, produced by small-scale independent farmers. Efforts by the government to diversify the economy have had limited success thus far, due to limited capital. The expansion of tourism possesses some potential for driving the future diversification of the economy.
Ralph Gonsalves was born in 1946, in Colonaire, a town on the eastern coast of the island of Saint Vincent, the son of a farmer/small businessman and a businesswoman. His ancestors arrived from the Portuguese island of Madeira to the British Windward Islands in 1845 as indentured servants, a form of forced labor stimulated by the abolition of slavery in the British West Indian colonies during the period 1834 to 1838. Gonsalves attended Catholic schools in Saint Vincent and subsequently studied at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and in 1971 a master’s degree in government. He received a doctorate in 1974 at the University of Manchester. He subsequently studied law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1981.
As a student at the University of West Indies, Gonsalves became involved in politics, and he was elected President of the Guild of Undergraduates and Debating Society. In 1968, he led a protest of the deportation by the Jamaican government of Walter Rodney, a Guyanese historian and political activist who subsequently became internationally known for his book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. During the 1970s and 1980s, Gonsalves wrote books and pamphlets on imperialism in the Caribbean, on the non-capitalist path of development in the Caribbean, on the Rodney affair, on the labor movement in Saint Vincent, on the production of sugar and the banana in Saint Vincent, and on Marxist-Leninist ideas, among other themes.
Gonsalves has been a Member of Parliament since 1994, representing the district of North Central Windward. In 1998, he became party leader of the Unity Labor Party (ULP), which was created through the merger of two parties. When the ULP attained a majority of seats in the Parliament in the 2001 elections, Gonsalves was elected Prime Minister by the Parliament. The ULP has maintained a parliamentary majority, which has resulted in Gonsalves being elected Prime Minister for an unprecedented five consecutive terms.
Cuban diplomat Cristian Padilla González of the Department of Multilateral Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has shown excellent leadership of CELAC during this past year as president pro tempore, in spite of it being a small Caribbean Island state. It has convoked five ministerial meetings that brought together authorities with respect to crucial themes, such as innovation, science, environment, and agriculture. In addition, during its presidency, there has been put into place a Plan of Food Sovereignty, which seeks the eradication of hunger and poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. He observed that “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have given continuity to the revitalization of CELAC from the presidency pro tempore of Mexico and then of Argentina.”
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The Declaration of Kingstown
CELAC emitted the “Declaration of Kingstown” on March 1, 2024. The document reaffirms the commitment of CELAC to “the rule of law, multilateralism, respect for territorial integrity and non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and the defense of sovereignty, as well as the promotion of justice and the maintenance of international peace and security.”
The Declaration stresses the “full validity of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.” The Proclamation is based on the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter and international Law, which envision an international system “based on respectful relations of friendship and cooperation, free of threats, aggressions and unilateral coercive measures contrary to International Law, in an atmosphere of peace, stability and justice.”
The Declaration commits to “further consolidate a Latin American and Caribbean community of sovereign nations, capable of reaching consensus and fostering international cooperation, while recognizing our different political systems and economic diversity, on a coordinated approach to. . . overcoming economic instability, combatting corruption and the eradication of poverty.”
It recognizes the need of the nations of the region to financial resources in order to attain their development goals, and it therefore calls for “a fairer, more democratic, inclusive, and supportive international financial system that allows developing countries, including members of CELAC, access to necessary financial resources under fair, equitable, favorable, and transparent conditions including debt restructuring mechanisms.”
The Declaration recognizes and reaffirms the steps that CELAC has taken toward cooperation among the states in improving the production and just distribution of food, in order to guarantee food and nutrition security in the region. It supports in this regard the recommendations of the CELAC Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture on January 26, 2024, in Santiago, Chile, which provide the foundation for the consolidation and implementation of a regional strategy with respect to food security.
The Declaration expresses concern with restrictions on agricultural trade “adopted with the justification of conserving the environment.” It declares that the CELAC member states agree that “unilateral trade restrictions inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) principles are inadequate to address environmental concerns and the promotion of sustainable development.” It recognizes “the importance of family, peasant, and indigenous agriculture (FPIA) in ensuring food and nutritional security and the sustainable management of natural resources among other production systems.”
The Declaration affirms the importance of CELAC structures of cooperation with respect to health, such as the CELAC Health Self Sufficiency Plan, which facilitates the production and distribution of vaccines, medicines, critical supplies, and technology transfer as a complement to mutual support with respect to research, innovation, and technological development in the health-related fields. It calls upon countries to accelerate collective efforts to prevent and control non-communicable diseases and to achieve universal health coverage, based on primary health care as well as on respect for ancestral and traditional knowledge. It expresses willingness to continue negotiation of the World Health Organization Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response from the point of view of the needs of the developing countries, seeking to ensure universal and equitable access to health care and to such essential inputs as vaccines, medications, and diagnostic tests.
The Declaration recognizes “the role of sustainable tourism as a positive instrument for poverty eradication, protection of the environment, and better quality of life, and its contribution to the sustainable development of CELAC countries.”
It recognizes the steps that have been taken to improve air, sea, river, railway, and road connectivity within the region. It notes that these steps toward increasing physical integration will stimulate greater trade, investment, and tourism within the region, and they thus will promote the socioeconomic development of the region and will provide greater employment opportunities and a better quality of life for the people of the region.
The Declaration reaffirms commitment to open scientific collaboration as a necessary foundation for the development of solutions to global challenges. It calls for the development of a framework for mutual recognition of diplomas in the region, which would promote mobility within the region by professionals. In addition, it stresses the importance of developing initiatives aimed at addressing the factors that promote the brain drain of human resources from the countries of the region, a phenomenon that is detrimental to local and national development. It welcomes the proposal for the establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Centre for Development of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The Declaration expresses the willingness of the member states to renew cooperation with respect to energy, taking advantage of the availability of complementary forms of energy in the region. Projects of regional electricity interconnectivity ought to be considered, as well as the collaborative development of renewable energy, with respect for the capacities, policies, and needs of each country.
With respect to artificial intelligence, the Declaration recognizes that “the responsible, inclusive, people centered, and ethical design, development, deployment, and use of secure artificial intelligence systems has the potential to accelerate sustainable development.” At the same time, it acknowledges that “A.I. systems pose risks that are particularly challenging for developing countries.” It therefore calls upon all States “to continue the negotiation process within the UN in order to develop an agreed international regulatory framework regarding A.I. and other systems.”
In the same vein, the Declaration affirms the need for developing states to have access to new information and communication technologies, but it recognizes the threat posed by the malicious use of new technologies to promote international instability, undermine the integrity of the infrastructure and the national security of States, and promote transnational organized crime, including child sexual abuse and human trafficking. It stresses the need to improve coordination and cooperation among States in the fight against the use of information and communication technologies for criminal purposes.
With respect to criminal activities, the Declaration commits to “deepen cooperation mechanisms in the fight against transnational organized crime, corruption, illicit drug-trafficking, illicit trafficking of firearms, ammunition and explosives, trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling, illegal mining, crimes that affect the environment according to national legislation, money laundering and other related crimes.”
The Declaration commits to strengthening and enhancing dialogue with partners and key global actors from other regions. It recognizes the importance of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation not as a substitute for but as a complement to North-South cooperation. South-South cooperation is necessary for closing socioeconomic gaps, fighting hunger and poverty, and improving the self-sufficiency of the countries of the South. The Declaration supports the CELAC-China Forum to be held in 2024, and it applauds the current initiative to engage the African Union in order to strengthen economic and cultural interaction between the two regions.
The Declaration supports UN efforts with respect to climate change. It welcomes the operationalization of an environmental loss and damage fund at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (See “COP28 delivers historic consensus in Dubai: Recognizing the claims of the Global South,” December 15, 2023).
With respect to the rights of indigenous nations and peoples, the Declaration reaffirms the commitment of CELAC “to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032, whose objective is to protect, use, preserve and protect indigenous languages, in favor of guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples.”
The Declaration reaffirms the principal of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. In encourages “the full, meaningful and equal participation of women in leadership positions and decision-making spaces,” and it calls for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
The Declaration condemns the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity, which has had the consequence of the underdevelopment of the Caribbean region. It supports reparations in accordance with the CARICOM Ten Point Plan on Reparatory Justice, which is a collective developmental approach that focuses on the issues of healthcare, education, and economic and cultural development.
The Declaration reaffirms the commitment of CELAC to comprehensive and humanitarian management of the growing migratory flows in the region, with the intention of attaining a “safe, orderly, and regular migration” that recognizes the human rights of the migrants and also addresses the concerns and rights of host communities.
The Declaration reiterated the call of the United Nations General Assembly to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba. It further reiterated its rejection of unilateral lists that affect Latin American and Caribbean countries, and it requested the exclusion of Cuba from the unilateral list of countries that allegedly sponsor international terrorism.
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Final Considerations
The Kingstown Declaration indicates that the nations of CELAC have taken concrete steps toward cooperation with respect to agricultural production, health, scientific development, and infrastructure. It affirms fundamental principles that must guide humanity in the context of the current multidimensional world crisis: respect for the sovereignty of nation, no interference in the internal affairs of states, and cooperation among nations. It affirms the historic principle of South-South cooperation, which dates to the 1950s; and it declares the need to continue expanding relations with other regions, particularly China and Africa. It displays no hostility toward the Western powers, and indeed, it affirms the need for North-South cooperation as a complement to its own strategies for socioeconomic development through deepening cooperative relations with the nations of the South. It exhibits common-sense intelligence with respect to issues that are divisive in the West, such as immigration, the rights of indigenous peoples and communities, and the legacy of slavery.
The Kingstown Declaration shows the unity of purpose of the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean. If its meaning is to be understood, the Declaration must be seen in context. It further develops the process of Latin American political unity and economic integration, which has been unfolding during the last two decades, with Hugo Chávez playing a crucial role in its initial moments. Moreover, it expresses itself in parallel with similar unifying and integrating processes in East Asia, in the Arab and Islamic worlds, and in Africa. It is fully in tune with similar expressions emerging from the Non-Aligned Movement and the G77 and China. In addition, the Declaration is consistent with the principles, policies, and global initiatives of China, which is increasingly playing a leadership role in seeking to guide humanity toward win-win relations of cooperation.
We are witnesses to a new world order in the process of being born. It is a world order that intends to be post-imperialist and post-colonial but not post-truth. It affirms the fundamental principles and values that must guide humanity, if humanity is to survive the current multidimensional crisis and enter a stage of peace, scientific progress, economic prosperity, and ecological sustainability. These values include respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of all nations; mutually beneficial trade and cooperation among nations; solidarity among peoples in responding to common human challenges; working together toward the protection of the socioeconomic rights of all persons, including healthcare, nutrition, education, transportation, communication, housing, and physical security; and respect for the ideological, religious, and cultural diversity that is integral to the human condition.
The greatest tragedy of our time is the myopia of Western public discourse, political leadership, and academic and journalistic practices, which fail to see the significance of the processes that constitute a new world order seeking to be born. It is a tragedy, because nothing could drive more rapidly the attainment of the new world order than understanding and cooperation by the world centers of political and economic power.
Failing to understand the world that it made, Western imperialism is falling into decadence, leaving the peoples of the West in a condition of confusion and division. I maintain that the cure to our Western malaise and decadence is to listen to what the peoples of the world are saying, not in order to arrogantly dismiss, but in order to learn.
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