Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF RECONCILIATION AND NATIONAL UNITY
AT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE SICA
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Time: 10:00 A.M.
Dear Madam, Alexandra Hill Tinoco,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador,
President Pro Tempore of the Central American Integration System (SICA);
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Central American Integration System;
1. We convey to you the fraternal greeting of the People of Nicaragua, of the President of the Republic, Comandante Daniel Ortega and the Vice President, Compañera Rosario Murillo.
2. We are pleased to be meeting this morning in the Sister Republic of El Salvador, to follow up on a regional agenda that demands all our commitment and dedication to meet the expectations of more than 60 million Central Americans who have placed their hopes in our Governments to make SICA a region of Peace and Development.
3. The Tegucigalpa Protocol states that the Secretary General of SICA is the highest administrative official of our Regional Integration System; the General Secretariat of SICA is of vital importance for the functioning of all other organs and instances of the System. It is the SICA's engine. The functions of the Secretary-General are non-transferable and non-delegable.
4. That is why we propose to act urgently and proceed immediately to the appointment of the Head of the General Secretariat of SICA who will continue for the period corresponding to be exercised by the Republic of Nicaragua, 2022-2026, in accordance with what was agreed by the Meeting of Presidents in San José, Costa Rica, on June 29, 2017 and August 11, 2022.
5. Nicaragua, in compliance with the agreements contained in the Declaration of San José, issued at the XLIX Regular Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Member Countries of the Integration System, has presented the shortlist of candidates with the corresponding resumes of Comrades Valdrack L. Jaentschke, Iris Marina Montenegro Blandón and Violeta Lrias Nelson.
These Compañer@s Applicants to the General Secretariat of SICA are high-level Nicaraguan officials, with a background of extensive public service as well as extensive experience in the field of Central American integration.
6. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers, we respectfully appeal that you act with due urgency, in order to proceed as soon as possible to the appointment of the new Secretary General of SICA, a right that belongs to the Republic of Nicaragua.
7. On several occasions we have discussed the need for the efficient use of the resources of the Regional Integration System. Our countries have witnessed the reduction of cooperation on the part of traditional Development Partners and the emergence of new competitors for the destination of cooperation resources.
8. That is why we must take urgent measures aimed at reducing the bureaucratic processes within SICA which slow down progress in addressing issues that are key to the well-being of our Peoples. We must have pragmatic and flexible agendas allowing us to achieve the tangible and concrete regional products required to meet the needs of the moment in a timely way.
9. Our region must have a strategic agenda that allows us to face together concrete problems such as extreme poverty and food insecurity that still persist throughout the American continent in the middle of the 21st century, fueled by the injustice and social inequity entrenched in our societies for centuries. SICA can and should be the ideal scenario for the promotion of human development that allows the eradication of these social ills.
10. We appreciate the signing of the proposal to amend the Convention establishing the Permanent Central American Commission for the Eradication of the Illicit Production, Trafficking, Consumption and Use of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
11. We welcome the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the SICA relating to the proposal of an Agenda of Institutional Strengthening and Legal Security, which aims to strengthen governance and the regional agendas of the System's bodies, without prioritizing the reform of the Tegucigalpa Protocol. We request the SICA bodies to work on the implementation of the actions contemplated, such as strengthening the legal framework of the System; greater financial effectiveness, transparency, promotion of intersectorality, among others.
12. We received with great interest the report of SICA's Ad Hoc Group of Experts, which contains a prioritization of topics for the reflection of the Foreign Ministers, product of consultations carried out with member countries.
13. Accordingly, we reiterate our position of not accompanying proposals for reforms to the Tegucigalpa Protocol or the Central American Union Treaty, which aim to transform the Central American Integration System into an international organization which does not respond to the identity or reality of our integration process. Instead, we must concentrate our efforts on complying with the provisions of the Tegucigalpa Protocol and on carrying out a thorough review of the mandates emanating from the Meeting of SICA Presidents that are still pending compliance.
14. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers, our peoples deserve to have a solid, sovereign integration process, free from external pressures and consistent with their most urgent needs: economic reactivation and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. Let us work together so that Central America and the Dominican Republic become a region of Peace, Harmony, Respect and Development for all.
15. We thank the Salvadoran People, President Nayib Bukele, his Government, and in particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, for the kind attention extended during the celebration of this meeting.
Thank you Very Much.