The Dominican Republic is awaiting a strong participation of Heads of State and Government at the 5th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), to be held on 24-25 January in Bavaro (East of Santo-Domingo).

On Tuesday, Dominican President Danilo Medina will open the summit in front of a total of 13 Heads of State: President Raul Castro (Cuba), who will travel to the Dominican Republic for the first time, will attend the Summit with Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto (Mexico); Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela); Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia); Evo Morales (Bolivia); Michelle Bachelet (Chile); Rafael Correa (Ecuador); Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua); Salvador Sanchez Ceren (El Salvador); Juan Carlos Varela (Panama) Jocelerme Privert (Haiti) ; Charles A. Savarin (Dominica); David Granger (Guyana) announced Miguel Vargas the Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Prime Ministers of Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda and the Vice-Presidents of Uruguay, Costa Rica and Honduras will also be present. Representatives of 9 regional integration mechanisms and 4 extra-regional partners are also expected to attend the 5th Summit, as well as delegations from Peru, the Bahamas, Brazil and Saint Lucia, to be represented by under ministers.

The Dominican Chancellor said he was optimistic about the outcome of the Summit, which included topics of interest to the region, such as the Guantanamo territory in Cuba, the need to end the American blockade against Cuba, indigenous languages, sustainable health, etc... The presidential meeting will conclude with the Punta Cana Declaration and 20 special agreements on common issues relating to, inter alia, food security, migration and development, drugs, nuclear disarmament, financing for development...

SL/ iciHaiti