The foreign ministers from the 33 member nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) are now meeting in Quito. Their main goal is to define the CELAC 2020 Agenda, which seeks to reduce extreme poverty and inequality, provide greater support for science and technology, combat climate change and better protect the environment, improve infrastructure and movement between member states, and finance development projects. Ecuador holds the Pro Tem Presidency of the body, and accordingly, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño opened the meeting. CELAC seeks to strengthen ties with other regional bodies such as the European Union and countries such as Russia, India, Turkey, Japan and China, which has already made a commitment to invest $US250 billion in the region. Liz Scherffius reports from Quito for teleSUR.
