On Monday, 16 June, Haitian Ambassador Lesly David was elected by acclamation as the new Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) during the XVIII Special Meeting of the Latin American Council of the organisation in Caracas, Venezuela, for a four-year term from 2025 to 2029. 

“Given that we have only one candidate, and that most of SELA’s Member States are present, I propose to proclaim Ambassador Lesly David elected as Permanent Secretary for the period 2025–2029,” said Milton Rengifo, Colombia’s Ambassador to Venezuela and chair of SELA’s Latin American Council. 

“We are convinced that the new Permanent Secretary of SELA will contribute to opening new paths for regional economic consolidation (…) Colombia has full confidence in Ambassador David and wishes him a fruitful term,” Ambassador Rengifo emphasised. 

Ambassador David currently serves as Haiti’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Colombia and concurrent Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador and will assume his duties as SELA’s 13th Permanent Secretary on 1 August. 

Ambassador David holds a bachelor’s degree in international law and a specialisation in Caribbean regional integration from the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba. 

He has an extensive diplomatic career that includes his work as Ambassador of the Republic of Haiti to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela between 2012 and 2024. Previously, he served as Minister Counsellor and Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where he directed and coordinated all diplomatic sections. He was also Counsellor, with responsibilities in university cooperation, legal affairs and development programmes. His consular career includes a stint at the Haitian Consulate in Miami, where he dealt with cultural, tourism and institutional liaison matters. In addition, he worked as a consultant in public relations and special programmes targeting the Haitian diaspora in Latin America. In the government sector, he served as Director of the South-East Department of the Haitian Ministry of Tourism. 

The XVIII Special Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA was led by the Ambassador of Colombia to Venezuela, Milton Rengifo; the Consul of the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago to Venezuela, Dayne-Marc Chin Slick; the Ambassador of Mexico to Venezuela, Leopoldo de Gyves de la Cruz; the Second Head of Mission of Cuba in Venezuela, Jorge Luis Mayo; and Ambassador Clarems Endara, current Permanent Secretary of SELA. 

All delegations present at the XVIII Special Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA highlighted and acknowledged Ambassador Endara’s management of the organisation over the last four years. 

Ambassador Eric Anderson, Secretary General of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, expressed his gratitude for “the leadership and work of Ambassador Clarems Endara, and the excellence that has characterised his tenure. I would like to congratulate Ambassador Endara and his team on their work, and I would like to take this opportunity to ask the new Permanent Secretary to take these advances into consideration, for which he can count on Peru’s support.” 

For his part, Daniel Cámara, Director-General for American Regional Organisations and Mechanisms at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the “excellent work of Ambassador Endara in recent years, because he managed to set an important agenda for the entire region. At a time when countries must continue to commit to multilateralism and integration, I believe that rethinking regional organisations is important, and Ambassador Endara has undoubtedly done so, which is why he has our full recognition from Mexico.” 

The representative of Venezuela, Ambassador Elvis Urbina, also acknowledged Ambassador Endara’s work. “We join in congratulating Dr. Endara for his work, because he leaves behind a legacy of important achievements that contribute to the integration process that Latin America and the Caribbean need. We are grateful and congratulate him for all his efforts and hard work in repositioning SELA as a benchmark in the region,” he said. 

The Ambassador of Barbados to Venezuela, Aquinas J. Clarke, highlighted the achievements of Ambassador Clarems Endara. “I would like to congratulate Dr. Endara on his excellent work. We were privileged to have been able to witness his work during this historic time for SELA. Congratulations to Endara and David. We look forward to continuing to work together in the coming years,” he stated. 

Bolivia’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Sebastián Michel, also said that Ambassador Endara “has done an outstanding job. We are successfully closing a very complicated cycle because SELA’s administration has had to deal with a post-pandemic situation and armed conflicts that have shaken the global economy, and yet we have shown great resilience. We hope that this resilience will also be present in SELA’s new administration.” 

SELA is aimed at promoting a system of consultation and coordination for the Latin America and the Caribbean region to adopt common positions and strategies on economic issues before countries, groups of nations, forums and international organisations. 

Throughout its history, the organisation has had 12 Permanent Secretaries, who have led cooperation processes, best practices and joint actions that have strengthened the position of Latin America and the Caribbean in the global context. Its integrative vocation and actions based on principles such as equality, sovereignty, solidarity and mutual respect have made SELA a benchmark in regional coordination. 

Fifty years after its creation, SELA reiterates that it is essential to work towards regional integration through intra-regional cooperation in order to advance towards economic recovery and development of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.