Group photo of the Puebla Group. Photo: Grupo de Puebla.
In addition, the organization proposed the creation of a new world currency.
The Puebla Group, a political and academic forum made up of world leaders, activists and influential figures identified with the left, after concluding its 8th meeting in the Colombian city of Santa Marta, condemned the implementation of unilateral coercive measures—euphemistically referred to as “sanctions”—against Venezuela.
The Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia, Félix Plasencia, highlighted this aspect of the final declaration on Twitter, after referring to it in statements to the press at the end of the forum meeting in the Colombian city.
“The 8th meeting of the Puebla Group in Colombia concludes with the Declaration of Santa Marta where the voice of this progressive forum reflects the rejection of the abusive imposition of unilateral coercive measures against our people,” wrote the Venezuelan diplomat. “All good countries demand the end of unilateral coercive measures.”
In the document, signed by all the members of the forum, it was written that “the Puebla Group condemns the imposition of coercive measures and unilateral sanctions that lead to economic blockades such as those suffered by Cuba and Venezuela. No country can claim the right to sanction another, much less affect the chances of survival of its peoples.”
A currency for the region
The statement was presented in the context of the proposal for a common currency for Latin America and the Caribbean, explaining that there is a new political landscape with the retreat of the radical right in leadership, especially in countries like Colombia and Chile.
According to the statement, “Latin America and the Caribbean need to relaunch a financial architecture, adapted to their needs and without impositions that threaten the sovereignty of the peoples, and focus on the creation of a single Latin American currency.”
The proposal for a currency for the region was previously presented by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and the use of a currency referred to as the sucre was proposed for the countries participating in that organization, which is currently not operational.
This Monday, it was announced that the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, received a letter addressed to regional leaders in which several former presidents of the region, led by the former Chilean president, Michel Bachelet, accompanied by Rafael Correa from Ecuador, Dilma Rousseff from Brazil, Eduardo Duhalde from Argentina, Ricardo Lagos from Chil, José “Pepe” Mujica from Uruguay, and Ernesto Samper from Colombia suggested that UNASUR be reactivated.
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New winds
In the section “New winds are blowing…” the Puebla Group points out that “fortunately, in these months, good news is coming from the polls.”
The text also points out that during the wave of progress of the first decade of the century (frequently referred to as the Pink Tide), “Colombia was one of the few exceptions that kept neoliberal conservatism away from discourses on income redistribution and consolidation of the integrationist vocation”—until the recent triumph of President Gustavo Petro.
The group also celebrated the “triumphs of new progressive leaders” such as Xiomara Castro in Honduras and Luis Arce in Bolivia, who “join the already consolidated leadership of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico and Alberto Fernández in Argentina.”
The forum also celebrated “the triumph of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after four disastrous years in which more than 688,000 Brazilians lost their lives due to the denialism of Jair Bolsonaro during the pandemic.” Added to this are the constant verbal and discriminatory attacks against women, Afro-descendants and the LGBTI+ population by the current Brazilian president.
The text also points out that “Lula opens wide paths of hope to return to the lost path of integration, freedom and social justice in the region.”
(Últimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
