The presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, the four member states of the Pacific Alliance, met today in the Chilean town of Frutillar to strengthen their economic integration in order to deal with the ravages of global finance.
The presidents of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto and Peru, Ollanta Humala participated in the Business Summit of the Pacific Alliance, which preceded the presidential summit of the bloc to be held this Friday.
Mexico’s Pena Nieto said that the four countries share economic and political “similarities” that have enabled them to make great progress in a five-year period.
In addition, Pena Nieto cited Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) as one of the main challenges for the bloc’s economies and Latin America in general.
Michelle Bachelet urged the bloc to expand integration efforts to Mercosur, the other Latin American alliance, to obtain greater benefits.
Juan Manuel Santos emphasized the importance of capital markets stability, needed to promote the integration process of the Pacific Alliance.
Ollanta Humala said the Alliance has managed to get rid of the ideologies and focus solely on concrete measures to benefit citizens.
Peruvian president-elect Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who will take office for his five-year term on July 28, will also be participating in the Third Pacific Alliance Business Summit.
The presidents of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, and Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, two of the 49 observer countries of the Pacific Alliance also attended the Business Summit. EFE