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Chávez and Correa agree on the future
of regional integration
Caracas, December 20.— Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez and Rafael Correa, the president-elect of
Ecuador, have spoken today in favor of advancing the
process of regional integration so that it may go
beyond the area of trade.
Both
politicians expressed their coinciding opinions
following the reception ceremony to welcome Correa
at the Maiquetía International Airport, where he had
arrived to carry out a two-day visit to Venezuela.
Correa, who is set to assume the presidency next
January, indicated that now is the time to
acknowledge the past and the common destiny of the
region, as part of an agenda of integration that
goes beyond merely the commercial sphere alone.
This
must be a new kind of integration, of a logical
complementary nature, overriding the absurd version
imposed by the North that forces us to compete with
each other, he highlighted.
The
Ecuadorian president-elect emphasized the
complementary possibilities in the fields of energy
and finance, given the region’s capacity for
self-financing.
Correa, who reiterated the call for Venezuela to
rejoin the Community of Andean Nations (CAN),
indicated that the future should see the fusion of
this organization with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).
This, he said, will be a priority during his
mandate.
Translated by Granma International |
