XX Iberoamerican Summit begins with notable absence and presence of ‘Wikileaks’
Argentina, December 3, 2010:
The XX Iberoamerican Summit of Mar del Plata, will be composed of 19 Latin American countries plus Spain, Portugal and Andorra, and six observer members, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco and the Netherlands.
The Summit will be without the presence of: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who decided not to attend the summit and stay at home because of emergency decreed by the floods, which caused over 30 deaths in Venezuela.
The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero canceled his attendance by new economic measures that his government has to approve to stop harassment of the markets.
The President of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, was not invited following the decision of Argentina of not recognizing its government after the military coup.
Finally, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was scheduled to attend the summit, as reported last week, but he will not attend the event and eventually will be replaced by Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera. Morales’ decision comes after the diplomatic telegrams published, obtained by Wikileaks in which U.S. officials claimed that the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez, cooperated with the United States in Bolivia, but advised Washington to be “careful” to not seem a “political operation” against Morales.
Latin American leaders who gather from this Friday in the resort town of Mar del Plata will discuss inevitably the ‘Wikileaks’ case, which revealed talks with U.S. officials which may be uncomfortable in some cases for relations between countries region.
Iberoamerican Secretary General, Enrique Iglesias, conceded that “Wikileaks leaks may appear in discussions between the presidents but did not think that this issue complicates diplomatic relations between countries” and ruled that “the leaders made reference to the issue in closing documents at the summit.”
In addition, the presidents that make up the Union of South American Nations, UNASUR will meet afternoon at the Hotel Provincial to elect a new secretary general of the regional bloc, on the death of Nestor Kirchner.