Although the Summit continues to be held everytwo years, its status of importance and influence is in doubt. The appearance of other international organisms that are solely for the countries of some regions have moved the discussion of the multiple and complex issues of every region to their own, smaller version of the Summit. Read on to find out about the influential status of the Ibero-American Summits today.
Intention Of Rebirth
Most specialized media published the idea of the Ibero-American Summit losing its weight because of the embarrassing lack of presidents that attended to the Paraguay version in 2011 and the Panama one in 2013. Those years, the amount of presidents and heads of state attending was as little as half of them. According to El Pais, this could be the side-effect of the creation of the UNASUR and CELAC, which are the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States respectively. These organisms were created to attend the common issues of their member countries much like the Ibero-American Summit, but in a smaller version. They do not include any European countries and are strictly aimed to helping each other solve regional problems.
Because of these bad experiences, Rebecca Grynspan, the Ibero-American General Secretary started her role on April 2014. She assumed with a clear objective: to make the Ibero-American Summit an interesting and powerful tool again. She is the first woman to take over the role and since she did, there has been a revitalization effect in the organism. According to El Pais, she is decided to turn the Organization and the Summit to a status of relevance that will make it an instrument to change the reality of the involved countries and an attractive meeting for the leaders to discuss important measures again. She believes that the organization can be of weight and relevance in its own context of collaboration with the European part.
The Influence
While it is true that the reputation of the Ibero-American Summit and the Organization behind it are not what they started being, the aforementioned organizations UNASUR and CELAC are born with the Ibero-American model in mind. The concept of getting together to make common ground and solving issues that are relevant for all members come from the first summit´s document that laid the foundations for all that came afterwards. With that in mind, it is safe to say that the influence and legacy of the Ibero-American Summit lives on in the numerous organisms that have formed since.
Regardless of how many more editions of the Summit will be held in the future, the original aim of changing the world to make it a better place lives on in the form of other organisms and global consciousness.