2013 CELAC summit

The I CELAC summit or 2013 CELAC summit was the first ordinary heads of state summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.^[1] It was held on 27 and 28 January 2013 in Santiago, Chile.

For broader coverage of this topic, see Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

I CELAC Summit
Host country	Chile
Date	January 27–28, 2013 (2013-01-27 – 2013-01-28)
Cities	Santiago
Participants	CELAC states except Paraguay  Antigua and Barbuda  Argentina  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Bolivia  Brazil  Chile  Colombia  Costa Rica  Cuba  Dominica  Dominican Republic  Ecuador  El Salvador  Grenada  Guatemala  Guyana  Haiti  Honduras  Jamaica  Mexico  Nicaragua  Panama  Peru  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Suriname  Trinidad and Tobago  Uruguay  Venezuela
Follows	2011 CELAC summit
Precedes	2014 CELAC summit

All CELAC member states participated except Paraguay. Following the impeachment of Fernando Lugo in 2012, Paraguay was excluded from Mercosur and Unasur meetings.^[2] While Paraguay was not officially sanctioned or suspended by CELAC, the government decided not to attend the summit, claiming that it had not been invited to it.^[3][4]

On 28 January 2013, the President of Cuba Raúl Castro succeeded President of Chile Sebastián Piñera as the pro tempore president of the CELAC.^[5] This was criticized by Cuban exile organizations Cuban American National Foundation, Cuban Democratic Directorate, Assembly of the Resistance, Cuban Liberty Council, as well as the Politically Persecuted Venezuelans Abroad (Veppex).^[6]

I EU-CELAC summit

On 26 January 2013, before the I CELAC summit, the I EU-CELAC summit was held. It was the 7th bi-regional summit and the first to have the CELAC as the European Union counterpart in Latin America and the Caribbean.^[7]