The European Union on Tuesday named Uruguayan former banker and diplomat Enrique Iglesias as its point man to help end the crisis in Venezuela, part of an intensification of diplomatic efforts to seek new elections.
In a poorly attended Ibero-American summit held during two days in Panama, the heads of state and government from the Americas, plus Spain and Portugal, decided that instead of holding annual meetings they would get together every other year, starting after the 2014 summit in Veracruz, Mexico.
Paraguayan president elect Horacio Cartes held a meeting on Friday at his home with former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and the Ibero-American secretary general Enrique Iglesias to talk “about Mercosur issues and Paraguay’s suspension from the block”, according to sources close to the meeting.
Spain and Portugal sought help from their former Latin American colonies to rescue them from economic crisis through a new wave of trade and investment across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Secretariat Enrique Iglesias, warned Thursday that the EU crisis could reach as far as Asia and Latin America, and that preventive measures should be taken.
Nations from the Ibero-American bloc reaffirmed the need for the resumption of Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty negotiations and called on the UK to avoid carrying out “one-sided” actions, such as exploiting resources and military action.
The Ibero-American summit scheduled for October 28/29 in Paraguay will be ‘much dominated’ by current global events said Secretary General Enrique Iglesias who also warned on the risks of self-complacency in Latin America.
The Secretary General of Ibero-America Enrique Iglesias praised the “courage” displayed by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff who has been challenged by serious corruption allegations involving members of her cabinet.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, held a ceremony in its Santiago de Chile headquarters to honour Enrique Iglesias, the Uruguayan economist who was executive secretary of the commission from 1972 to 1985 and is currently, Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Secretariat.
The head of the Ibero-American Secretariat Enrique Iglesias denied that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, to be created next July pretends to take distance from the United States or Spain.