Rio Group declares war on poverty

Foreign ministers of the 19-nation Rio Group political bloc closed a round of talks in Argentina yesterday by declaring the “war on poverty” as the chief issue on the hemispheric agenda ahead of a Summit of the Americas in November.

The foreign ministers said support for consolidating and defending democracy across the region and for economic rebuilding in Haiti also are paramount.

Eight foreign ministers and 11 under-secretaries from the Rio Group of Latin American nations took part in the two days of talks in Pilar, 45 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

They were laying the groundwork for a Rio Group presidential summit to be held at the end of August in the Argentine mountain resort of Bariloche.

They were also preparing for the Summit of the Americas, which will gather the heads of state from 34 nations in Mar del Plata on Argentina’s south Atlantic coast.

Rafael Bielsa, the Argentine foreign minister who served as host for the talks in Pilar, said the Rio Group nations would jointly back new initiatives to fight poverty as a step for further strengthening democracy in the region.

Envoys also spoke in support of safeguarding democratic institutions in Nicaragua, where President Enrique Bolanos has been battling adversaries in Congress who want to oust him.

The Rio Group was created in 1986 as a collective effort to help end armed conflict in Central America.