FromEurasia Review

REMARKS OF RAUL CASTRO RUZ AT MEETING OF LEADERS OF CHINA, LATIN

AMERICAN AND THE CARIBBEAN BRASILIA

By Raul Castro Ruz

Her Excellency Mrs. Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil,

Esteemed comrade Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China,

His Excellency Luis Guillermo Solis, President Pro Tempore of Celac,

Esteemed Heads of State and Government,

I wish to thank the authorities and people of Brazil for their warm welcome and the excellent facilities made available to us all.

I also wish to express my appreciation to President Xi Jinping for making this meeting possible, and for being with us here today. This is strong proof of our countries’ political will to consolidate the process of dialogue and cooperation between China and the Latin American and Caribbean region.

I attach the greatest importance to the five proposals submitted a few minutes ago by Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China.

The decision made by the 2nd Celac Summit held in La Habana, on January 28-29, 2014, to install the Celac-China Forum has added practical sense to the efforts of the Latin American and Caribbean region and China to tackle together the challenging conditions prevailing in the world today and to promote our common development.

Expanding our relations will allow our countries to undertake a regular bilateral dialogue on crucial international issues as well as to defend the interests of the South while advancing with ambitious projects in the areas of cooperation, trade, investments and financial relations with a major component of science, technology and innovation, and a special emphasis on the creation of human resources.

The Declaration of Fortaleza, adopted at the recent summit of the group made up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is of paramount importance to us all. We welcome the group’s commitment to work for an equitable and fair international order based on the UN Charter as well as its decision to encourage cooperation, solidarity, multilateralism, peace, security, economic and social progress and sustainable development focused on the eradication of poverty.

The establishment of a New Development Bank and of an Emergency Reserve Fund stands out as a significant contribution towards a more inclusive international financial system.

The economic and social development of the Latin American an d Caribbean region and China builds extraordinary potential to foster mutually advantageous relations. To attain this objective, special attention should be paid to the sister Caribbean nations. The limited scale of their economies and their particular vulnerabilities, the characteristics of their productive and exporting platform, and the devastating effects of the hurricanes that usually hit several of them at the same time, plus the increasing threat of climate change make it imperative that these countries −most of them unfairly considered of middle-size income− receive cooperation, trade and investments on preferential terms, both from Latin America and from China.

Haiti was the birthplace of the first victorious Revolution commanded by slaves in the history of mankind, the same that later contributed to Latin American independence. Now, we all feel it is our inescapable duty to contribute to its development and to help it leave behind the historical consequences of plundering and natural disasters.

The great Asian nation is today the world second largest economy and the main exporter of merchandise. Its sound economic growth has favored an increase in the prices of raw materials and exports from several Latin American and Caribbean economies. Today, China receives 9 percent of the region’s exports and it is the source of 14 percent of its imports.

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which hold a large proportion of the world mineral reserves, the second oil reserves and one-third of the fresh-water reserves, are facing the challenge of working toward the industrialization of our natural and farm resources, of raising and diversifying our exports, especially those with higher aggregated value, and of keeping our trade balance leveled off. In this context, our countries’ relations with the People’s Republic of China can play a major role.

As far as we are concerned, more than five decades of exchanges with China have facilitated the full development of an exemplary relationship that has successfully passed the test of time. The close friendly relations of our two nations has unquestionably reflected on the numerous trade and cooperation projects developed, a good number of them with remarkable social impact.

Today, may we invite you to continue working together to promote relations among our countries based on respect and equality, and for the common good.

Thank you.