Above: Cuba President Raul Castro (UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Cuba has assumed the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, following the regional body’s summit in Santiago this weekend.
Cuba President Raul Castro, who assumes the presidency, in a government release, called it a “great honour” to assume the role, particularly on the 160th anniversary of Jose Marti, a national hero in Cuba for his role in the country’s independence movement in the 19th century.
Castro said Cuba would work for “peace, justice, development and understanding among member nations of the integration mechanism.”
The next CELAC Summit will be held in Havana in 2014.
Chile President Sebastián Piñera is the outgoing President of CELAC.