Since 1991 Iberian Spain and Portugal have been meeting with 19 countries in Latin America that share their cultural and linguistic heritage as a result of former colonial ties. The grouping is analogous to the (formerly British) Commonwealth of Nations. The French equivalent is the International Organisation of Francophonie, with its Secretariat in Paris.

Eleven Spanish-speaking countries in the Greater Caribbean attended the Summit in Bavaro; all but one (Cuba) represented by their Head of State. The Prime Minister of Belize and the Governor of Puerto Rico were also there as specially invited guests.

Recent Iberoamerican summits have focused on social and political matters including the condition of children, governance and human rights, and terrorism. This year's agenda, proposed by hosts Dominican Republic, focused on tourism and the environment.

In fact two-thirds of the tourism business of Latin America and the Caribbean is generated within the region of the Greater Caribbean itself. The region continues to feel the fall-out from the slow-down in US and world tourism since 2001. But the environmental impact of the industry has also become a major concern because of the fragility of the coastal and marine environment on which it mostly depends.

The Summit Declaration endorsed the promotion of sustainable tourism and mandated the Ministers of Tourism to develop coordination and cooperation mechanisms to this end. They are to report to the XIII Summit in Bolivia next year. The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Convention on the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean could be one model for the Iberoamerican cooperation programme.

Another key issue discussed at Bavaro was the Doha Work Programme of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Spain and Portugal, as European Union members, are keen to accelerate the pace of progress in the WTO meetings in the run-up to next year's Ministerial meeting in Mexico. They lobbied hard for a stronger commitment from the Latin American countries to keeping the Doha Work Programme on track.

But the developing countries of the region are insistent that more attention should be paid to the issues of concern to them. Chief among these are the application of Special and Differential Treatment and the huge agricultural subsidies of the EU, the United States and Japan that are detrimental to Latin American exports.

The meeting also singled out the strategic importance of the air transport sector, recommending that Transport Ministers continue to work on improving the public policies and the institutional and legal framework required for its sustainability.

And it showed a welcome recognition of the importance of efforts and measures for the prevention, mitigation and reduction of disasters, whether natural or technological in origin. Vulnerability is now firmly on the Iberoamerican agenda.

In its emphasis on sustainable tourism, transport and natural disasters, therefore; the Summit Declaration coincides with the focal areas of the Greater Caribbean Zone of Cooperation.

One criticism that has been made of past Iberoamerican Summits is the absence of follow-up. Countries have been reluctant to create a new bureaucracy in the form of permanent secretariat. However at Bavaro they agreed to set up a task force to study its feasibility, also to report at the next summit. The ACS experience can also be of value in this regard.

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