Unity Summit for Latin American, Caribbean nations underway in Mexican resort town

Thirty-one foreign ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean islands on Saturday started here their Unity Summit which will run parallel with two other summits of the region.

High on the agenda is the stocktaking of solidarity in the region while the Caribbean Community (Caricom) will hold its inaugural summit beginning Sunday and the Rio Group will hold its summit beginning Monday.

"We have now agreed upon a common agenda. This shared platform will allow us to overcome obstacles of earlier times," said Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa at the opening session of the Unity Summit.

The Mexican foreign minister said that the unity of the region has an emotional resonance because Mexico and many other nations in the region are celebrating the 200th anniversary of independence or the start of their independence campaigns.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was the first to arrive for the summit among 26 heads of states or governments who have confirmed participation along with their foreign ministers.

Lugo's first statement upon arrival concerned his country's top soccer player Salvador Cabanas who was shot in the head in Mexico City and is recovering from his wounds in hospital.

Cabanas "is in the hearts of all Paraguayans. It is an incident that has brought together the peoples of Mexico and Paraguay," Lugo said at the Cancun airport.

Foreign ministry officials said Saturday that Peruvian President Alan Garcia would not attend the Unity Summit but gave no explanation.

Honduras will not be present either. The Mexican foreign minister has earlier explained that the country could not be invited until the Organization of American States has ruled on the status quo of the country.

Mexico has hosted ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya and later acted as mediator between Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti who came to power after the coup on June 28 of last year.

A Brazilian embassy official said Saturday that Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva would meet with his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Unity Summit.

The media in Brazil and Mexico have been speculating that the two leaders will launch negotiations for a free trade agreement and may unveil the details of a 2.5-billion-dollar investment in Mexico by Brazilian petrochemicals giant Braskem.

Mexican lawmakers have signed a joint declaration with their Cuban counterparts calling for more cooperation and trade between the two countries by lowering import tariffs.

The Mexico-Cuba relations were estranged during the reign of Vicente Fox who lost Mexican presidency to Calderon in 2006.

Chile is taking over the rotating presidency of the Rio Group at this summer after Mexico has served its two-year term.

The group is managed by a troika made up of the current holder of the rotating presidency, the previous and succeeding holders.

The countries that have sent delegations to the Unity Summit are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nevis, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, St. Kitts, Saint Lucia, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Source: Xinhua