Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque praised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s initiative to call a Latin American and Caribbean Summit that will take place in Brazil on December 16-17 later this year.

According to Prensa Latina news agency, Perez Roque, who is in Rio de Janeiro participating in a preparatory meeting for the event in which the foreign ministers of the region are taking part, described this Summit as historic as, for the first time, it would bring together the heads of State and Government of the 33 countries of the region.

“We hope that the summit becomes the beginning of a process towards unity, integration and cooperation among Latin American and Caribbean nations,” the Cuban diplomat stressed.