- The Senate unanimously ratifies Mexico's accession to the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE)
- Foreign Secretary Ebrard thanks the Senate for supporting the regional cooperation project
- The space agency will encourage the growth of a self-sustaining space industry with competitive technological capacity
With 97 votes in favor, the Senate today unanimously approved the Constitutive Agreement of the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE), an international organization that will coordinate space activities in the region.
The agreement, promoted by Mexico, was opened for signing in Mexico City on September 18, 2021. To date, 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed it. It will enter into force when eight more countries ratify it. Mexico is the fourth country to do so.
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon thanked the Senate for supporting the Foreign Ministry in promoting this major program for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The ALCE, as a regional cooperation initiative, will coordinate exploration, research, space technology and applications that contribute to and strengthen the comprehensive and sustainable development of a space program in the region that benefits the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, with special emphasis on their protection and security.
The agency will help combat climate change by enhancing the region's capabilities in Earth observation systems for use in agriculture, natural disasters (droughts, floods, fires, hurricanes), security and surveillance, oceanography, meteorology, exploration of natural resources and urban intelligence and cartography.
The ALCE will provide benefits such as improvements to satellite communication systems and the creation of maps of strengths, opportunities, threats, risks and vulnerabilities, which are of particular importance for combating climate change.
The space agency will also encourage the growth of a self-sustaining space industry with competitive technological capacity. It will seek ways to promote production chains that link the industrial sector with the academic and service sectors to increase the region's competitiveness.
The countries that have signed the ALCE agreement are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela.
