Security concerns take lead in FEALAC meet
Security concerns take lead in FEALAC meet
Mynardo Macaraig
Agence France-Presse
Manila
Thirty-two East Asian and Latin American countries agreed at a
ministerial meeting here on Friday to make security issues
ranging from terrorism to transnational crime top priority as
they seek to enhance ties between the two regions.
The second meeting of the Forum for East Asian-Latin American
Cooperation (FEALAC) will discuss setting up a special working
group on "politics and security" to be headed by Chile and
Singapore, conference spokesman George Reyes said.
It was an unusual move for the young forum, which had
previously focused largely on economic and cultural issues.
"What is important is that the ministers have recognized the
importance of politics and security which (previously) had not
even been mentioned in the forum," Reyes said.
Foreign ministers of 32 countries in the two regions headed to
a retreat in the Tagaytay resort south of the Philippine capital
to discuss the idea, he added.
Security concerns were identified as including drug-
trafficking, international terrorism, transnational crimes,
trafficking in arms, insurgency and even "infectious diseases",
Reyes said.
The discussions are "not focused on just drugs or terrorism.
It is the whole gamut."
However, the ministers did not go into specifics, Reyes said.
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu virus
have buffeted Asia in recent months.
Opening the two-day meeting, co-chairwoman Colombian Foreign
Minister Carolina Barco said the Americas had identified "a
series of new threats to security".
These included terrorism, drug trafficking and arms-dealing on
top of natural disasters, poverty and pandemics that required
"decisive action" and on larger co-operation across the
hemisphere.
"They demand urgent and frank discussion, since the dangers
which the Americas have identified are not alien to Asia, or
indeed anywhere in the world," she said.
Barco, who has pushed for the new focus on security, had cited
the experience of Colombia against rebel groups funded by drug
money.
Reyes said Cambodia later called for a special working group
on security.
The ministers also took up a recommendation by senior
officials that the forum should seek a resumption of the Doha
round of trade talks and call for the elimination of agricultural
subsidies in developed countries.
Reyes said Japan, one of few first-world countries in the
meeting, did not object. He suggested that the Japanese were
aware that this move was really aimed at Western Europe and North
America.
They also discussed boosting trade and investment between the
two regions and seeking a greater role for the forum in
international gatherings.
"We should explore the feasibility of a regular dialog among
FEALAC delegations to the United Nations, the World Trade
Organization and other relevant fora," said Philippine Foreign
Secretary Delia Albert.