Santiago. At the meeting of Forums of Latin American and Caribbean countries on sustainable development, the representative of the G77 + China has called for an end to politically motivated unilateral economic coercion against developing countries. In addition, a new chapter in international cooperation must be opened. Unilateralism and protectionism, including trade restrictions, must be eliminated immediately, stressed Cuban diplomat Pedro Luis Pedroso.
Cuba currently chairs the Group of 77 plus China.
The forum took place from April 25 to 28 at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) in Chile’s capital Santiago.
In his contribution The diplomat noted that developing countries have been disproportionately affected by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the drop in government support, and geopolitical tensions and conflicts in different parts of the world. They also suffered from rising food and energy prices, market volatility, inflation, unsustainable debt levels and climate change. “Added to this is the burden of unilateral coercive measures imposed by industrialized countries on a growing number of countries,” he said.
The only way to avoid an irreversible crisis in the south with unforeseeable consequences is to “open a new chapter in international cooperation that promotes the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement”.
In this context, it will be crucial for the G77+China to initiate a real reform of the international financial architecture. The current system was created almost a century ago and today does not represent the interests and needs of the majority of its members, he said. Nor does his policy offer the countries of the Global South the space for their own public policies or the stability needed to achieve sustainable development.
Pedroso called for access to concessional funding and technical cooperation. He also called for ensuring the financial space for the post-pandemic recovery and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda by investing in high-quality, sustainable infrastructure projects.
A new paradigm of cooperation cannot be envisaged without addressing the problems of the international trading system, which also needs to be reformed, he stressed.
The representative of the Group of 77 + China said that in view of the current challenges to their development, the countries of the South must “strengthen their unity and fighting spirit like never before in order to achieve our legitimate demands. Only in this way can we prevent the prevailing unjust order destroys the dreams of our peoples of prosperity and social justice once and for all,” concluded Pedroso.
Founded in 1964 by the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 currently includes 134 countries. It represents 75 percent of the members of the United Nations and 80 percent of the world‘s population. The founding intention was to create a stronger joint negotiating capacity of the Global South within the UN. The People’s Republic of China began cooperating with the G77 in 1992, but is now a member of the G77. The terminology “G77+China” that is still used goes back to the early days of the cooperation.