Enrique Pena Nieto Joins LatAm Leaders to Declare Region a 'Zone of Peace' Peter Orsi - Associated Press
go to original January 29, 2014

Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, talks with Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla, second right, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, left, and his wife Angelica Rivera, second left. (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean signed a resolution declaring the region a "zone of peace" on Wednesday, pledging to resolve their disputes as respectful neighbors without the use of arms.

The joint declaration came on the final day of a summit of Western Hemisphere nations minus the United States and Canada. The grouping, conceived as a vehicle for regional integration independent of Washington's influence, was born in 2011.

The 33 nations gathered in Havana committed to nonintervention in each other's internal affairs, to cultivate cooperation and friendship and to respect "the inalienable right of every state to choose its political, economic, social and cultural system," Cuban President Raul Castro said, reading from the text of the resolution.

Leaders have called the summit an attempt to seek unity amid diversity — both of which were evident in their remarks Tuesday.

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