Latin American and Caribbean nations have agreed to form a new regional body excluding the United States and Canada. On Tuesday, leaders gathered in Mexico backed calls to form an alternative to the Organization of American States. Cuban President Raul Castro said the move would aid regional integration.

Cuban President Raul Castro: “Cuba proposes that conditions are set to advance quickly the constitution of a purely Latin American and Caribbean regional organization that would be formed and would represent the thirty-three independent countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.”