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ParlAmericas brings parliamentary perspectives to regional dialogue on development and cooperation during the forty-first session of ECLAC

October 9, 2026 | Activity

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Latin America and the Caribbean face an international landscape in which power relations, economic competition, and technological rivalries are redefining the conditions for development. Amid these transformations, the region faces a strategic challenge: to go beyond responding to changes in the world order and strengthen its capacity to shape them according to its own interests and priorities.

This reflection was central to the forty-first session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), held from October 7 to 9, 2026, in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

ParlAmericas participated with a delegation comprising Dominican Senator Gustavo Lara Salazar, member of the ParlAmericas Council; Dominican Member of the Chamber of Deputies Shoraya Suárez Ariza, Vice-President for the Caribbean of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability; and Anabella Zavagno, Deputy Director General of the organization.

The meeting, ECLAC’s highest intergovernmental forum, brought together foreign ministers, senior government officials, and representatives of international organizations to examine regional development challenges amid transformations in the world order. A central focus of the political dialogue was the presentation of the report Ruptures and Opportunities: Proposals for Latin America and the Caribbean to Thrive in the New Geopolitical Era, prepared by a high-level commission convened by ECLAC, which examines the region’s options for harnessing its strategic assets, strengthening its institutions, and expanding its international influence.

Throughout its participation, the ParlAmericas delegation emphasized the political dimension of these challenges. Harnessing Latin America and the Caribbean’s strategic assets, modernizing its productive structures, and deepening regional integration require more than the formulation of development strategies: they demand institutions capable of implementing them, legislative and budgetary decisions, and political agreements that can sustain them over time. In this context, the delegation highlighted the role of parliaments as spaces for democratic deliberation, where differences can be addressed and translated into consensus on development priorities.

In an increasingly fragmented international landscape, the delegation underscored the value of parliamentary diplomacy in keeping channels of dialogue open, bringing positions closer together, and helping build regional agreements. In line with ECLAC’s proposals, it highlighted the importance of pragmatic cooperation focused on identifying common interests and translating them into concrete commitments.

ParlAmericas’ participation also forms part of its ongoing cooperation with ECLAC, formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed in 2023. This collaboration seeks to bring ECLAC’s knowledge and technical expertise to the parliamentary sphere, strengthening the capacities of legislatures, and to incorporate parliamentary voices into regional discussions to advance Latin America and the Caribbean’s development agenda.

At a time when international rules and alliances are being redefined, the challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean is to move beyond fragmented responses and act with greater strategic vision and collective capacity, so that its interests and development priorities carry weight in the decisions that will shape its future.

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