St Vincent and the Grenadines has succeeded Argentina, taking over the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

CELAC ended its seventh summit in Argentina on Tuesday and St Vincent Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, called for a fresh guard in these difficult times to reflect on the purpose of the integration movement.

“We are forming a meaningful link between Latin America and Caribbean civilizations,” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves said the CELAC presidency would put Kingstown “in a critical leadership position to help to define the dialogue which will take place between CELAC, consisting of 600 million people in 33 states, define the relationship between CELAC and the European Union over the next two to three years”.

He said “ this year, CELAC will hold summits with the European Union, the African Union, India and China.

Brasilia withdrew from the bloc during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who was recently voted out of office, after serving from 2019 to 2022, according to a report from Loop.

They said apart from Gonsalves, other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders attending the CELAC seventh summit are Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis, who is also chairman of the 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM.

Several Caribbean countries are also being represented at the summit by their foreign ministers.