Ambassador Lesly David begins his duties as the new Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), the highest executive authority of the organisation, on 1 August 2025.

During his speech, he underscored his confidence in SELA’s team and in the collaborative work to promote the work of the organisation in proposing public policies for the Member States, as a system of consultation and coordination to agree on common positions and strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the handover ceremony, Ambassador Lesly David received the management report and signed the handover act of Ambassador Clarems Endara, who concluded his mandate with the organisation.

Ambassador David was elected by acclamation as the 13th Permanent Secretary of SELA, within the framework of the XVIII Special Meeting of the Latin American Council of the organisation, in Caracas, Venezuela, for a four-year term from 2025 to 2029.

With a bachelor’s degree in international law and a specialisation in Caribbean regional integration from the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba, Ambassador Lesly David has served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Haiti to the Republic of Colombia and Concurrent Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador.

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 Haiti to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where he managed and coordinated all sections of the diplomatic office. He was also Counsellor at the Embassy, responsible for university, legal, administrative and development aid cooperation programmes. His consular career includes a period at the Haitian Consulate in Miami, where he was responsible for cultural and tourism affairs and contacts with institutions. In addition, he worked as public relations and special programmes consultant, addressing the issue of the Haitian diaspora in Latin America. At the governmental level, he served as Director of the South-East Department at the Haitian Ministry of Tourism.

SELA is a system of consultation and coordination for the Latin American and Caribbean region to adopt common positions and strategies on economic issues before countries, groups of countries, 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 vocation for integration and its actions based on principles of equality, sovereignty, solidarity and mutual respect have made SELA a benchmark in terms of regional coordination.

In its 50 years of existence, SELA reiterates its essential task of working for the integration of the region, through intra-regional cooperation, in order to advance towards economic recovery and development of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.