During the closing of the IX Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Tegucigalpa, the delegations of 30 of the 33 member countries approved the Tegucigalpa Declaration, a document that reaffirms the principles of regional unity, sovereignty and multilateral cooperation.
The official reading of the Declaration was in charge of the Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina, who stressed that the document reflects the main consensuses reached by the member states in the face of the current challenges of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Among the most relevant points of the Declaration is the commitment to strengthen CELAC as a mechanism for political and regional consultation, as well as the ratification of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, rejecting any type of unilateral coercive measure that contravenes international law.
The document also supports the candidacy of a Latin American or Caribbean person — preferably a woman — to occupy the UN Secretary General, stressing that in the history of the organization only one of its nine secretaries general has come from the region.
CELAC also agreed to strengthen their joint presence in multilateral forums, expand cooperation ties with other regional blocs and highlighted the work of Honduras during its pro tempore presidency, to promote agendas in areas such as food security, climate change, human mobility and energy.
Colombia was also welcomed as the new pro tempore presidency for the period 2025-2026, and its priorities were recognized, focused on issues such as the energy transition, connectivity, rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, health, education and the fight against organized crime.
Finally, the member countries reiterated their support for the stability of Haiti and expressed their willingness to contribute, according to their capabilities, to the restoration of security and the integral development of the Caribbean nation.
The Tegucigalpa Declaration marks the end of a summit that reinforces the spirit of Latin American unity in an increasingly challenging global context.