Latin American and Caribbean leaders on Sunday paid tribute to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer, and expressed sorrow over the loss of life in a devastating fire in Brazil as they opened their summit in Santiago.
In his opening address at the first summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Chilean President Sebastian Pinera praised Chavez's "vision, tenacity and strength" as
key factors in the bloc's creation as a forum of the Americas that excludes the United States and Canada. Participants responded with an ovation.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had planned to take part in the summit but left earlier Sunday when she heard that a fire at a night club in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul had killed more than 200 people.
Pinera called upon his peers to work to make the region "leave the world of developing countries" and overcome poverty and inequality.
"We have to turn the continent of hope into a continent of reality," he said.
"The problems of the present are the challenges and the opportunities of the future," Pinera noted.
CELAC leaders participated Saturday and Sunday in a summit with the European Union in Santiago. In his address, Pinera pointed to Europe as a role model en route to integration and development.