LatAm bloc to hold 1st summit with EU

SANTIAGO - The first summit between of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) will be held late this month, but cancer-battling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be absent, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said Thursday.

The summit will be the first between the two regional blocs since CELAC was founded in December 2011.

Chavez is still suffering from a "severe" lung infection that has caused breathing difficulties as he struggles to recover from a Dec 11 cancer surgery in Cuba, Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a national broadcast on Thursday.

Leaders of 33 CELAC nations will meet with their counterparts from the 27 EU members in Santiago on January 26 -27 to discuss economic and political ties between the two blocs, Moreno said, adding that representatives from Croatia, which is set to join the EU in July 2013, will also attend the meeting.

"For the first time, Latin America and the Caribbean attend with a single voice," said Moreno at a press conference, stressing "the relationship has changed a little."

He said the change has made it possible to have "a more symmetric conversation" with the EU, the main investor in Latin America.

The meeting came as the EU is struggling with one of the biggest crises in its history, while Latin America is experiencing a prolonged cycle of economic growth.

"For the first time Latin America could be part of the solution and not part of the problem,"?Moreno said.

The summit has a "central point, and that is investment and how to make it sustainable from an environmental perspective and also from a social perspective", said Moreno.

So far, 43 heads of state have confirmed their participation in the CELAC-EU gathering, which will take place under the theme of "Alliance for sustainable development, promoting social and environmental investment".

According to the Chilean government, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have confirmed their participation.

Cuban leader Raul Castro and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto have also confirmed their intention to attend the summit.

In Santiago, Cuba's Raul Castro is set to officially take over CELAC's rotating presidency from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.