Latin American leaders, who gathered for a development forum in Panama City yesterday, called for regional unity in the face of increasing political polarisation and the recent US intervention in Venezuela.

 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva did not name the United States, but refers to the country’s recent actions and the resulting political divisions that have caused paralysis in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has sparred with US President Donald Trump and is scheduled to meet him next week in Washington, was more direct. He criticised bombing over Caracas and said former-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should be tried in his own country or by a regional judicial body that he called a Three Americas Tribunal.

 

Leaders from Ecuador, Bolivia and Guatemala were also in attendance, as well as Chile’s President Jose Antonio Kast.