SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Within the framework of the IV Meeting of Synodal Cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean, the archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil and president of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM), Cardinal Jaime Spengler, participated in the inaugural panel sharing the situation of the Church and Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. His intervention highlighted the need for an attentive reading of the "signs of the times" in a region crossed by historical crossroads.

A continent at an institutional and economic crossroads

For Cardinal Spengler, Latin America is going through a historical crossroads marked by the confluence of global tensions and complex regional dynamics. As he explained, the lack of solid structures prevents the transformation of wealth into human development, leaving the countryside open to threats such as corruption, drug trafficking, the fragility of democratic systems and the impact on the common home due to climate change.

In this context, he highlighted how the current geopolitical reconfiguration directly impacts the continent. “If on the one hand, geopolitical reconfiguration allows us to economically take advantage of the opportunities opened by the exponential demand for critical minerals associated with the energy transition, given that the region has important reserves of these minerals, on the other hand, it faces the return of an aggressive US foreign policy, which seeks to restore Washington's pre-eminence in the hemisphere through a selective military and ideological coalition, in clear counterpoint to China's growing economic influence in the region,” he noted.

The central point of the CELAM president's reflection revolved around the strategic role of faith in the reconstruction of the social fabric. According to the cardinal, the Catholic Church remains a "respected ethical reserve on the continent", a moral authority that, in a scenario of crisis of democracies and institutional scandals, has the duty to raise its voice. economic and demographic —particularly Brazil and Mexico— to articulate an alternative vision of regional integration that is pragmatic, based on respect for sovereignty and focused on the resolution of structural problems that perpetuate underdevelopment and inequality.”.

Under this premise, synodal cooperation is presented as the engine of a transformative vision aimed at mitigating extreme inequalities. “It is urgent to prioritize the formation of the laity so that the baptized are true agents of transformation in society,” said Spengler, thus linking the mission of the Church and aid agencies with the imperative need to strengthen local institutions.

The archbishop of Porto Alegre concluded his intervention with a call for regional autonomy, warning that, without a change of course, Latin America will continue to be a contest for powers. external. In his analysis, he stressed that the region must recognize its historical and geographical location to redefine its own and sovereign development strategy.

Latin America needs to radically rethink itself in order to redefine its development strategy, being clear about its geographical location and its hierarchical position within the “western hemisphere” [...] This repositioning, however, cannot ignore the new geopolitical reality: the Chinese presence is structural, the crisis of neoliberalism has opened space for alternatives progressives, and the internal polarization of the region reflects, ultimately, the unresolved contradictions of its historical development.

Finally, the cardinal emphasized that, without this profound rethinking, the peoples and governments of the continent will have little room for autonomous action. This vision challenges synodal cooperation to be not only an aid mechanism, but a space for thought and action that accompanies the region in overcoming its historical debts and in building a more just and supportive future.