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December 12, 2020 – 09:23 pm
Drafting of El País – AFP Agency
President Iván Duque assumed this Saturday the ‘pro tempore’ presidency of the Progress Forum for South America, Prosur, which he will hold for a year.
The president received the position from his Chilean counterpart, Sebastián Piñera, in a ceremony held in Santiago de Chile and which was attended, virtually, by the leaders of Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Peru.
Duque stressed that he is receiving the presidency ‘pro tempore’ to “strengthen this tool” and indicated that he takes on the challenge “with a clear purpose and is to look towards 2021 with objectives that consolidate this alliance.”
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He highlighted the start-up this Saturday of the coordination table on environmental matters, which reiterates the commitment of the member states “with the energy transition, with being carbon neutral countries by the year 2050, and also having tools for promoting clean mobility, reforestation, afforestation, the concept of circular economy, the green hydrogen initiative, the protection of the oceans and high mountain ecosystems “
He also added that Colombia set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 51% by 2030 and stressed that although the country only emits 0.4% of greenhouse gases, it is one of the most exposed to the effects of climate change.
Prosur was created in 2019 and seeks to replace the almost defunct Unasur. It is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Guyana.
Duque reiterated that the Prosur countries will constitute a space for the Ministers of Health to “deliberate on the most effective mechanisms for universalization of vaccines and also on all risk issues associated with this process.”
“We will also create the forum for private initiative, micro, small, medium and large companies, entrepreneurship, within the framework of Prosur, an instance that is required for the economic reactivation process to be safe and effective,” he said.
Finally, the head of state invited the first ladies and social managers of the Prosur countries to work for food security in the region.
Cooperation for the vaccine
In the declaration of the presidential summit the heads of state reiterated their commitment to promote cooperation to guarantee universal access to the coronavirus vaccine.
“This year 2020 was, without a doubt, a year of great problems and great adversity,” Piñera said at a press conference after concluding the meeting.
The leaders analyzed the problems they face due to the coronavirus and the need to recognize immunity against the disease as a “global public good” and the importance of appealing to “solidarity” to overcome it together.
Given this, they determined “to promote regional cooperation in order to achieve universal, equitable and timely access to immunization against covid-19,” the summit statement said.
To achieve these objectives, Prosur has carried out actions such as “managing international loans and joint purchases of medicines, supplies and security elements,” said Piñera.
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They also agreed to take action to access economic assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, and the Development Bank of Latin America, CAF.
They also advocated promoting better policies for a “safe, orderly and regular” border opening that allows the transit of people and goods necessary to mitigate the effects of the “progressive and responsible” covid-19.
Piñera recalled that this year four summits of the bloc were held in which it was agreed to jointly confront “the recovery of lost jobs, the social protection network for our citizens and the reactivation of our economies.”
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