Brstjjy

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
Flag
Map of North, Central and South America indicating CELAC members
Official languages	Spanish Portuguese French English Dutch
Demonym(s)	Latin American Caribbean
Membership	33 member states
Leaders
• President pro tempore	Salvador Sánchez Cerén[1]
Establishment	February 23, 2010 (2010-02-23)
Area
• Total	20,454,918[2] km2 (7,897,688 sq mi)
Population
• 2018 estimate	652,012,001[3]
• Density	32/km2 (82.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$10.070 trillion[4]
• Per capita	$16,087
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$5.764 trillion
• Per capita	$8,869
Gini	49.6 high
HDI (2011)	0.721 high
Internet TLD	.latb
Does not include Barbados, Cuba, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname. Proposed.

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Spanish: Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, CELAC; Portuguese: Comunidade de Estados Latino-Americanos e Caribenhos; French: Communauté des États latino-américains et caribéens; Dutch: Gemeenschap van Latijns-Amerikaanse en Caraïbische Staten) is a regional bloc of Latin American and Caribbean states thought out on February 23, 2010, at the Rio Group–Caribbean Community Unity Summit,^[5][6][7] and created on December 3, 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela, with the signature of The Declaration of Caracas.^[8] It consists of 33 sovereign countries in the Americas representing roughly 600 million people. Due to the focus of the organization on Latin American and Caribbean countries, other countries and territories in the Americas, Canada and the United States, as well as the overseas territories in the Americas of France (Overseas departments and territories of France), the Netherlands (Dutch Caribbean), Denmark (Greenland) and the United Kingdom (British Overseas Territories) are not included.^[9]

CELAC is an example of a decade-long push for deeper integration within Latin America.^[10] CELAC was created to deepen Latin American integration and by some to reduce the significant influence of the United States on the politics and economics of Latin America. It is seen as an alternative to the Organization of American States (OAS), the regional body that was founded by United States and 21 other Latin American nations originally as a countermeasure to potential Soviet influence in the region.^[10][11][12]

CELAC is the successor of the Rio Group and the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development (CALC).^[13] In July 2010, CELAC selected President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez and President of Chile Sebastián Piñera, as co-chairs of the forum to draft statutes for the organization.^[14]

Member states

CELAC comprises 33 countries, speaking five different languages:

Eighteen Spanish-speaking countries (56% of the area, 63% of the population)

One Portuguese-speaking country (42% of the area, 34% of the population)

• 
   Brazil
  

One French-speaking country (0.1% of the area, 1.6% of the population)

• 
   Haiti
  

Exclusive Economic Zones of the member states of the CELAC. Considering them, the total area of the CELAC reaches 39,436,573 km².

Twelve English-speaking countries (1.3% of the area, 1.1% of the population)

Official 2016 CELAC Summit portrait in Quito, Ecuador

One Dutch-speaking country (0.8% of the area, 0.1% of the population)

• 
   Suriname
  

Twelve countries are in South America, which accounts for 87% of the area and 68% of the population.

Rationale

A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational organisations in the Americas.v • d • e

On February 23, 2010, Latin American leaders at the 23rd Rio Group summit in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, said they were forming an organisation of the Latin American and Caribbean states. Once its charter was developed, the group was formally established in July 2011, at a summit in Caracas. The bloc will be the main forum for political dialogue for the area, without the United States or Canada.^[15][16]

Prominent left-wing leaders in the bloc praised the founding of the organization as a step towards separating Latin America from the United States with Evo Morales, President of Bolivia saying "A union of Latin American countries is the weapon against imperialism. It is necessary to create a regional body that excludes the United States and Canada. ... it is the best time for prime ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean to gestate this great new organization without the United States to free our peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean."^[12]Hugo Chávez, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Rafael Correa were among the other prominent far-left leaders who praised the creation of CELAC ^[17][18][19]

Reaction

The announcement prompted debate and discussion across Latin America and the Caribbean about whether it was more beneficial to have close ties with U.S. and Canada or to work independently.^[20][21]

Raúl Zibechi, writing for Mexico's center-left La Jornada newspaper said, "The creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is part of a global and continental shift, characterized by the decline of U.S. hegemony and the rise of a group of regional blocs that form part of the new global balance."^[22]

An editorial in Brazil's conservative Estadão newspaper said, "CELAC reflects the disorientation of the region's governments in relation to its problematic environment and its lack of foreign policy direction, locked as it is into the illusion that snubbing the United States will do for Latin American integration what 200 years of history failed to do."^[18]

As the first summit was underway in December 2011 United States President Barack Obama's senior adviser on Latin America, Daniel Restrepo, informed reporters from Miami that the U.S. government would "watch and see what direction CELAC takes".^[23]

CELAC Summits

Summits list

CELAC Summits

Summit	Year	Host country	Host city
	2011	Venezuela	Caracas
I	January 2013[24]	Chile	Santiago
II	January 2014[25]	Cuba	Havana
III	January 28–29, 2015[26]	Costa Rica	Belén, Heredia
IV	January 27, 2016[27][28]	Ecuador	Quito
V	January 24–25, 2017[29][30]	Dominican Republic	Punta Cana

First summit

ESO exhibition area at the CELAC–EU summit in Santiago^[31]

CELAC's inaugural summit was due to be held in mid-2011, but was postponed because of the ill-health of Hugo Chávez, president of the host nation, Venezuela. The summit was instead held on December 2 and 3, 2011 in Caracas.^[32] It primarily focused on the global economic crisis and its effects on the region. Several leaders, including presidents Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Dilma Rousseff and Juan Manuel Santos, encouraged an increase in regional trade, economic development, and further economic cooperation among members in order to defend their growing economies.^[20][21]

Chavez, and other leaders such as Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, expressed hope that the bloc would work to further Latin American integration, end U.S. hegemony and consolidate control over regional affairs.^[20] Chavez, citing the Monroe Doctrine as the original confirmation of U.S. interference in the region, openly called for CELAC to replace the OAS: "As the years go by, CELAC is going to leave behind the old and worn-out OAS."^[21] Correa called for a new human rights commission to replace the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Other leaders argued that the organisation should be used as a tool to resolve regional disagreements and uphold democratic values, but not as a replacement of the OAS.^[20][21] Santos stated that he would like to see dialogue within the group over whether existing counter-drug regulations should be revised.^[20] The president of the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) said he expects that Parlatino will become the main legislative institution of CELAC.^[33] Amongst the key issues on the agenda were the creation of a "new financial architecture," sanction for maintaining the legal status of coca in Bolivia and the rejection of the Cuban embargo by the U.S.^[34]

2013 Summit – Chile

The EU-LAC chose CELAC to be the main organization representative of the relationship between European and Latin American and Caribbean countries. Therefore, the EU-LAC is now called the EU-CELAC.

2014 Summit – Cuba

During the summit, the region was declared a "peace zone". After three days and with the approval of participating representatives, a document with 83 focus points was created. It emphasized that, despite cultural and regional differences, unity between the participating countries is necessary in order to create progress. "Unity and the integration of our region must be gradually constructed, with flexibility, with respect to differences, diversity, and the sovereign right of each of our countries to choose our own forms of political and economic organization" stated the document. It also states which countries have been developing the best and how they are doing it in order for them to be a model for other countries.

The issue of poverty was widely discussed. Cuba's Raul Castro pointing out that throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, people want a fairer distribution of wealth, access to affordable education, employment, better salaries, and the eradication of illiteracy. He argued that CELAC countries can work together, support each other, to create new plans and solutions for these problems.^[35]

2015 Summit – Costa Rica

Countries discussed plans to eradicate hunger by 2025. Venezuela would host a follow up meeting in late 2015 to review the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organizations plan for their region. They called for the U.S to stop meddling in regional affairs, for Puerto Rico to be able to participate in future summits, and for the embargo against Cuba to be lifted. Statements in support of Cuba and Venezuela were widely heard. CELAC rejected U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. It was decided that a monument would be built in memory of victims of the slave trade. Member countries also supported Argentina's right to the Falkland Islands and peace negotiations in Colombia.^[36]

Indicators

The following table shows various data for CELAC member states, including area, population, economic output and income inequality, as well as various composite indices, including human development, viability of the state, rule of law, perception of corruption, economic freedom, state of peace, freedom of the press and democratic level.

Country	Area[37] (km²) 2015	Population[2] 2015	GDP (PPP)[2] (Intl. $) 2015	GDP (PPP) per capita[2] (Intl. $) 2015	Income inequality[2] 1992-2014 (latest available)	HDI[38] 2015	FSI[39] 2016	RLI[40] 2016	CPI[41] 2016	IEF[42] 2017	GPI[43] 2016	WPFI[44] 2016	DI[45] 2016
Antigua and Barbuda	440	91,818	2,117,532,266	23,062	N/A	0.786	56.2	0.67	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Argentina	2,780,400	43,416,755	884,155,392,935	20,364	42.67	0.827	48.4	0.55	36	50.4	1.957	25.09	6.96
Bahamas, The	13,880	388,019	8,924,827,793	23,001	N/A	0.792	51.6	0.61	66	61.1	N/A	N/A	N/A
Barbados	430	284,215	4,662,763,817	16,406	N/A	0.795	49.0	0.67	61	54.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
Belize	22,970	359,287	3,048,017,325	8,484	53.26	0.706	66.0	0.47	N/A	58.6	N/A	20.61	N/A
Bolivia	1,098,580	10,724,705	74,577,744,269	6,954	48.40	0.674	78.5	0.40	33	47.7	2.038	31.78	5.63
Brazil	8,515,770	207,847,528	3,198,897,964,239	15,391	51.48	0.754	65.3	0.55	40	52.9	2.176	32.62	6.90
Chile	756,096	17,948,141	419,386,742,725	23,367	50.45	0.847	41.9	0.68	66	76.5	1.635	19.23	7.78
Colombia	1,141,749	48,228,704	666,958,038,483	13,829	53.50	0.727	80.2	0.51	37	69.7	2.764	44.11	6.67
Costa Rica	51,100	4,807,850	74,976,669,841	15,595	48.53	0.776	45.1	0.68	58	65.0	1.699	11.10	7.88
Cuba	109,880	11,389,562	132,900,000,000b	11,600b	N/A	0.775	66.3	N/A	47	33.9	2.057	70.23	3.46
Dominica	750	72,680	789,634,652	10,865	N/A	0.726	N/A	0.60	59	63.7	N/A	N/A	N/A
Dominican Republic	48,670	10,528,391	149,893,354,990	14,237	47.07	0.722	70.8	0.47	31	62.9	2.143	27.90	6.67
Ecuador	256,370	16,144,363	185,242,693,748	11,474	45.38	0.739	75.6	0.45	31	49.3	2.020	33.21	5.81
El Salvador	21,040	6,126,583	52,808,578,088	8,620	41.84	0.680	72.5	0.49	36	64.1	2.237	27.20	6.64
Grenada	340	106,825	1,448,391,593	13,559	N/A	0.754	63.0	0.66	56	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Guatemala	108,890	16,342,897	126,206,881,633	7,722	48.66	0.640	83.2	0.44	28	63.0	2.270	38.03	5.92
Guyana	214,970	767,085	5,769,805,304	7,522	44.55	0.638	70.9	0.49	34	58.5	2.105	27.07	6.25
Haiti	27,750	10,711,067	18,824,011,297	1,757	60.79	0.493	105.1	N/A	20	49.6	2.066	24.66	4.02
Honduras	112,490	8,075,060	41,144,078,465	5,095	50.64	0.625	79.8	0.42	30	58.8	2.237	44.62	5.92
Jamaica	10,990	2,725,941	24,785,002,528	8,873	45.46	0.730	65.0	0.57	39	69.5	2.091	12.45	7.39
Mexico	1,964,380	127,017,224	2,157,817,248,941	16,988	48.21	0.762	70.4	0.46	30	63.6	2.557	49.33	6.47
Nicaragua	130,370	6,082,032	31,628,389,092	5,200	47.05	0.645	79.0	0.42	26	59.2	1.975	28.82	4.81
Panama	75,420	3,929,141	87,373,244,561	22,237	50.70	0.788	53.2	0.52	38	66.3	1.837	30.59	7.13
Paraguay	406,752	6,639,123	61,069,963,183	9,198	51.67	0.693	72.6	N/A	30	62.4	2.037	33.63	6.27
Peru	1,285,220	31,376,670	393,125,472,102	12,529	44.14	0.740	72.0	0.51	35	68.9	2.057	29.99	6.65
Saint Kitts and Nevis	260	55,572	1,394,199,261	25,088	N/A	0.765	N/A	0.66	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Saint Lucia	620	184,999	2,024,690,870	10,944	42.58	0.735	N/A	0.64	60	65.0	N/A	N/A	N/A
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	390	109,462	1,219,366,997	11,140	N/A	0.722	N/A	0.61	60	65.2	N/A	N/A	N/A
Suriname	163,820	542,975	9,069,126,393	16,703	57.61	0.725	66.7	0.53	45	48.0	N/A	16.70	6.77
Trinidad and Tobago	5,130	1,360,088	45,302,518,908	33,309	40.27	0.780	57.8	0.57	35	61.2	2.056	23.29	7.10
Uruguay	176,220	3,431,555	72,899,109,557	21,244	41.60	0.795	36.2	0.72	71	69.7	1.726	15.88	8.17
Venezuela	912,050	31,108,083	542,198,453,528c	17,665c	46.94	0.767	81.6	0.28	17	27.0	2.651	44.77	4.68
CELACa	20,414,187	628,924,400	9,584,329,148,839	15,239	48.14	0.731	66.3	0.54	42	58.9	2.104	30.52	6.33
Country	Area (km²) 2015	Population 2015	GDP (PPP) (Intl. $) 2015	GDP (PPP) per capita (Intl. $) 2015	Income inequality 1992-2014 (latest available)	HDI 2015	FSI 2016	RLI 2016	CPI 2016	IEF 2017	GPI 2016	WPFI 2016	DI 2016

See also

• Union of South American Nations


• Caribbean Community


• Association of Caribbean States


• Latin American Integration Association


• United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean


• List of regional organizations by population


• Pan-Americanism


• Mercosur


• Non-Aligned Movement


• Group of 77

Notes

• 
  "CARICOM: We are not mashing up the OAS". Caribbean News Agency. February 24, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2010..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  ^{[dead link]}
  


• 
  Singh, Rickey (February 28, 2010). "Caricom must list the benefits". Trinidad Express. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  ^{[dead link]}
  


• 
  Sanders, Ronald (February 28, 2010). "To OAS or not to OAS: that is the question". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  


• 
  Singh, Rickey (February 28, 2010). "Decline of OAS in New Caricom/LA 'Community'". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  


• 
  "Latin America Has Excluded the U.S. ... So What Now?". La Razón. Bolivia: via translation from WorldMeets.US. February 26, 2010. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

• 
  CELAC Parlament (in Spanish)