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Speech at the Latin American and Caribbean summit on Integration and Development. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Raúl Castro

The road to this gathering has been long and difficult. It is unquestionably transcendental that for the first time the leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean are meeting in a forum guided by noble and just aspirations, without exclusions and without the presence of countries from outside the region. We feel that adequate conditions prevail to turn this solemn conclave into the starting point of a process of remarkable strategic significance for the destiny of our region, in a world where there is hardly any space for isolated actions that disregard the common challenges decisively thrown on us by globalization.