Puebla, Mexico, March 10, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro welcomed Thursday the Association of Caribbean States decision to appoint Venezuela head of the regional organisation.

"We have just been unanimously selected as president of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) to lead it in the next few years,"Maduro said.

The president praised the ACS’s decision as a validation of Venezuela’s proactive role in the region.

Venezuela was voted to head the regional body during the ACS’s summit, held in Havana, Cuba.

The summit was attended by over 100 representatives from member states, observers and other international groups, according to Cuba’s Prensa Latina. Talks this year were dominated by concern over climate change, and how it will impact low lying Caribbean states.

“Climate change directly impinges on tourism, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, transport, and trade environments, through its impacts of sea level rise, augmented vulnerability to natural disasters, warming ocean temperatures and other related phenomena, such as bio-diversity loss,” said ACS Secretary General Dr. June Soomer.

“We are convinced that results-driven cooperation to protect it will not only ensure the physical and cultural integrity of our Caribbean Sea, but also our Caribbean civilisation,” she stated.

Comprising 25 full members and 12 associate members, the ACS is aimed at promoting cooperation and integration across the Caribbean region. The organisation was founded in 1994, and is today one of the most influential regional bodies in the Caribbean.