Summit of the Americas: President Boric of Chile and Latin American civil society organisations call to reform the international financial and tax system

In April different civil society organisations and trade unions from Latin America came together in Chile to observe the Constitutional Process in the country, meet local authorities and discuss regional opportunities. The organisations present at the meeting agreed on the importance of promoting a regional tax cooperation agenda and to seize key opportunities with the incoming government and regional meetings.

The work on the issue led the civil society organisations and trade unions from Latin America and the Caribbean publishing a statement in the context of the Summit of the Americas that took place on June 6-10 in Los Angeles, California (USA). Said statement highlighted the importance of reforming the international financial and tax system to finance a just and green transition for the region, and called on Latin American countries to articulate a common voice in pursuit of the following demands: 

- Support a Tax Convention within the framework of the United Nations to deepen reforms that seek greater equity in the final design of the global tax system. 

- To address wealth taxation with both solidarity and recurrent taxes, to curb the hyper-concentration of wealth and the extraordinary and disproportionate profits of some sectors. 

- Tackle financial secrecy through the implementation of a Global Asset Register that links all assets to the people who actually control the wealth (beneficial owners).

The statement was a collaborative effort among leading regional organizations, including GI-ESCR, Public Service International, Oxfam, CELS, CESR, Fundar, INESC, DeJusticia and ACIJ.

Furthermore, GI-ESCR and partners seeked audiences with members of the newly appointed Chilean government, including secretaries of state and ambassadors of the permanent missions at OAS and UN, highlighting the importance of the issue and the opportunity for regional leadership.

Notably, Chilean President Gabriel Boric echoed the statement in his keynote address to the summit leaders, calling to advance towards a global convention against tax havens. Similarly, the presidents of Chile and Argentina expressed their intention to advance in the articulation of a regional strategy on international taxation.