At the end of the 16th Ibero-American Summit of Chiefs of State and Government, last Sunday, November 5, representatives of 22 countries signed 12 multilateral documents.
Regarding the Montevideo Declaration and the Montevideo Commitment on Migration and Development, the representatives agreed that the main concern is to manage migration flows, legalizing migrants and fighting their criminalization.
In addition to effectively ensuring human rights for migrants, the nations involved made a point of fostering Latin American socio-economic development, thus reducing labor exports.
The participating governments signed special documents as well, committing themselves to support the fight against terror, cited by president ílvaro Uribe as the reason why many Colombians leave the country.
In the presence of Mexican president Vicente Fox, they also issued a memorandum against president George W. Bush’s decision of building a wall separating Mexico and the United States, which Fox calls the wall of shame.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as well as Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez didn’t show up at the summit. Lula explained that he was too tired after his reelection campaign was extended for one more month since he wasn’t able to win in the first round.
The Brazilian president, who has just won a second mandate by a landslide, was seen shirtless, wearing briefs, together with first lady Marisa Letícia, basking under Bahia’s sun, in a secluded beach owned by the Brazilian Navy.
The 16th Summit was the first meeting of authorities in the region to deal with an issue as specific as migration. Up until last year, democracy in general was the subject of discussions.
In 2007, the Summit will be held at Santiago (Chile), along the same lines of the meeting held in Uruguay, dealing with social development.