Lula claims that Celac is “ceasing to exist” because of the extreme right.

São Paulo.- The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated this Thursday that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is “practically ceasing to exist” due to pressure from the extreme right. “The Celac is practically ceasing to exist because the growth of the extreme right is scaring away countries,” Lula said at an event to award a posthumous honorary doctorate to former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica. Lula lamented that what happened in the 2000s is not happening now, when the left and right-wing presidents of Latin America united to create Celac and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur). “Even (Álvaro) Uribe, who was considered far-right, actively participated in Unasur,” recalled Lula, who was one of the promoters of the creation of these regional forums and is one of the few leaders who will participate in the Celac summit next Saturday in Bogotá. We recommend reading:

Lula advocates for the unity of South America

The Brazilian ruler considered that part of the failure of regional institutions is explained because they lack “solid mechanisms”, such as a bank. And he emphasized that South America, if it remains divided, “has no chance” against the great powers. The Brazilian leader also criticized that there are countries that believe that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is going to solve the problems of South America. “We are the ones who are going to solve the problems of South America,” he added. More specifically, he invited the countries of the region to come together to decide that critical minerals and rare earths should be used “to recover the citizenship of the Latin American people” and that the extractivist model of the colonial era should not be repeated, which “left a hole” in South America with the search for gold and iron. So far, the only presidents who have confirmed their attendance at the Celac summit are Lula, the Uruguayan Yamandú Orsi, and the host, Gustavo Petro.