Overview
- Only nine heads of state and government are attending after late changes to the list, with Spain’s Pedro Sánchez and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva present and several countries represented by ministers or deputies.
- European representation is scaled back, with European Council president António Costa on hand and foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas standing in for Ursula von der Leyen, while leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz are absent.
- The meeting has been compressed to a single main day, and delegations are working to approve the Declaration of Santa Marta focused on renewable energy, food security, financing and technological cooperation.
- Colombia’s foreign minister, Rosa Villavicencio, said the draft is progressing and will reflect a rejection of war and violations of sovereignty, as negotiators contest language on condemning unilateral military actions.
- Host president Gustavo Petro used the opening to call for a democratic “beacon” across the regions, reiterated his denunciations of U.S. naval strikes he says have killed about 70 people, and accused Washington of pressuring leaders not to attend.