By Demion McTair. Updated 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has entered the race for the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – CELAC.
Both Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves in his budget address on Monday and Foreign Affairs Minister Kesal Peters in her contribution to the budget debate announced this country’s candidacy.
The elections will take place on January 24, 2023, Foreign Affairs Minister – Senator Keisal Peters said in Parliament.
According to its website, CELAC is an intergovernmental mechanism for dialogue and political agreement.
The regional body includes permanently thirty-two (32) countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which collectively has a population of 650 million people.
CELAC is also the third largest economy in the world with a GDP of around $ 7 trillion dollars and the largest food producer in the world and third largest producer of electricity, its website says.
Argentina was elected on January 7, 2022, to occupy the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2022.
Since its launch in December 2011, CELAC’s presidency has been held by a number of countries including
The move by St. Vincent and the Grenadines comes after this country made history by becoming one of the smallest nations to be elected to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is aiming high again in its international relations.
According to the United Nations, St. Vincent and the Grenadines made history in 2019 after becoming the “smallest nation ever to secure a seat” as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
This country “officially assumed its position on January 2, 2020,” which ran for a period of two years; culminating on December 31, 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
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