Central American
Parliament highlights Cuba’s fulfillment of the
Millennium Goals
GUATEMALA (PL).—Julio Palacios, president of the
Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), highlighted
this Monday Cuba’s fulfillment of the UN Millennium
Goals on the reduction of poverty, access to
education and health and a lower infant mortality
rate.
"Cuba is the only country in the Caribbean and
even at the level of all Latin America to have
exceeded the Millennium Goals in almost all areas,"
Palacios stated to Prensa Latina at the
parliamentary summit that is in session in the
Guatemalan capital.
The central theme of the meeting, which has
brought together here legislators from the Americas,
Europe and Africa, is a discussion on the
contribution of the legislative bodies in terms of
meeting the UN objectives.
The development goals are an attempt to reduce
extreme poverty and hunger, attain universal
elementary education, reduce maternal and infant
mortality, halt the spread of AIDS and guarantee
sustainability and the environment.
Only a few Latin American countries have advanced
in that context and others have even regressed from
2000 to date, the PARLACEN president noted.
According to the Central American Parliament,
more than 200 million people in Latin America and
the Caribbean are living in poverty and 96 million
of them in absolute poverty.
