Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed on Wednesday a 'fundamental pact for life and freedom in the Americas' during his speech at the second International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Panama City. 'This fundamental pact is based on two concepts: freedom and life. Without freedom and life, we do not exist as human beings anywhere on the planet,' Petro stated. The International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean, dubbed the 'Latin American Davos' and organized by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), brings together eight regional leaders to seek new paths for their insertion into the global stage. According to Petro, this proposal for a pact for life and freedom will be presented to US President Donald Trump during their meeting next February 3rd in Washington to smooth over bilateral relations after a year of disagreements on issues such as migration policy, the fight against drug trafficking, and US intervention. 'That is the basis of a pact,' Petro declared. He stated that 'if we make a pact on oil or coal like the Europeans, world wars will come,' but 'if we do it on life and freedom, then the energy model has to change.' The forum also includes the presidents of Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Ecuador, Daniel Noboa; and Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, as well as the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, and the elected President of Chile, José Antonio Kast. The leaders, along with representatives of international organizations, are debating the main challenges and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean to build, through dialogue, solutions that promote growth, inclusion, and competitiveness, according to CAF. 'We must dialogue, not make war, neither among ourselves nor with the world,' Petro said, adding: 'we are also a center of peace and truth.' In his speech, Petro also mentioned another topic to discuss with the United States: the potential of Latin America and the Caribbean in clean energy. 'South America and the Caribbean have four times more potential for clean energy than the energy matrix of the United States demands in a year. Let the message of Washington and Bolívar be restored and be the basis of a pact for life and freedom in the Americas,' he expressed. Regional unity as a center of power Petro also advocated for 'articulating' the 'diversity' of Latin America to build this pact that must be a regional center of power. 'Either we let ourselves be shattered into pieces and fragments, or we truly unite and then we will be what we are, power,' Petro stated, expressing hope that Trump will understand because in the United States 'there was also a liberator, emancipator, with his contradictions, like all of us, George Washington.' In his call for Latin American unity, the Colombian leader emphasized that 'freedom cannot be silenced by threats' and therefore urged dialogue between brotherly nations.
