Colombia To Receive the CELAC Pro Tempore Presidency
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April 8, 2025 Hour: 11:25 am
On Wednesday, the CELAC summit will take place amid the U.S. trade war against Latin American countries.
On Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro will travel to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to participate in the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
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“I’m going to take over the CELAC presidency. I will prioritize the electrical interconnection of all the Americas with clean energy,” he said, reiterating a message he delivered during his visit to Panama in late March.
On that occasion, Petro advocated for a continent-wide electrical interconnection powered by clean energy, emphasizing that Colombia and Panama can significantly contribute to solving the global climate crisis. From the CELAC presidency, the Colombian president will also speak out against the Zionist genocide in Gaza and in favor of the rights of the Palestinian people.
“This is Gaza. The disgrace of the Western world. The French Revolution taught us about rights and freedom, and from that, republics were created in Europe and throughout the Americas. But it was all a lie. Today, Europe and America erase their roots and fade away as democracies,” Petro said while reposting a video of victims being rescued after an Israeli bombing in Gaza.
On Wednesday, CELAC will hold its summit at a time when its member countries are facing President Donald Trump’s trade war, marked by the imposition of a 10% tariff on imports from Latin American countries. With Venezuela and Nicaragua, however, the U.S. president took an even tougher stance, imposing tariffs of 15% and 18%, respectively.
Petro will also hold bilateral meetings on Tuesday in the Honduran capital with presidents such as Yamandu Orsi (Uruguay) and Xiomara Castro (Honduras).
CELAC was established in 2010 to deepen political, economic, social, and cultural integration. It aims to promote unity and cooperation among countries, reduce dependence on U.S.-controlled international institutions such as the Organization of American States (OAS), and serve as a platform for coordinating policies on issues such as development, climate change, trade, and human rights.
Launched in 2011 in Venezuela, CELAC currently includes 33 countries that seek to strengthen regional integration and represent the region’s interests more independently on the global stage.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – CELAC
