Paraguay: Lawmakers Meet Prior Ibero-Am Summit

Asuncion, Oct 24. -Lawmakers meet on Monday in this capital to participate in the 7th Ibero-American Parliamentary Forum, prior to 21st Summit of Heads of State and Government to be run Oct. 28-29 in Paraguay.The meeting will take place at the Congress' Bicameral Hall in the presence of President Fernando Lugo, President of the Parliament Jorge Oviedo Matto, and Ibero-American General Secretary Enrique Iglesias.

Participants in the forum will debate and present proposals on the two fundamental issues of the meeting: "The role of Parliaments and the transformation of the State," and "The role of Parliaments and development."

They will also strengthen links to determine efforts at Ibero-American level, to boost coordination of actions in search of the countries' social and economic development.

Those Ibero-American Parliamentary Forums emerged in 2005 with the objective of strengthening political ties and the role of democratic institutions.

The president of the Legislative Power will welcome the participants and subsequently, Miguel Carrizosa, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and International Affairs of the Senate, and Iglesias will take the floor.

Iglesias arrived in Asuncion Sunday night.

The meeting will conclude with a closing ceremony, and lawmakers attending the event will sign the final document.

The 21st Ibero-American Summit will be in session on Oct. 28-29 under the motto "Transformation of the State and Development." The opening is scheduled for Friday at 19:00 local hour at the Jose Asuncion Flores Theater of the Central Bank of Paraguay.

Organizers have so far reaffirmed the attendance of Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Uruguay's Jose Mujica, Chile's Sebastian Piñera, Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and Portugal's Anibal Cavaco.

Also on the list are Honduras' Porfirio Lobo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Peru's Ollanta Humala, Dominican Republic's Leonel Fernandez, Guatemala's Alvaro Colom, Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos, Panama's Ricardo Martinelli, and Andorra's Head of Government Antoni Marti.

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff, and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega have not confirmed yet.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, El Salvador's Hugo Roger Martinez, and Cuba's Bruno Rodriguez will preside over the delegations of their respective countries, the Ibero-American Secretariat stated. (Prensa Latina)