Bogotá -The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has called on the international community to work together, without exclusions and to set aside political differences to mitigate the forest fires that are affecting the Amazon.

“How is it possible to be distanced because of ideological differences… the rights of Mother Earth are above everything(...) Let's face all this problem without any exclusion”, said the president when he intervened in the summit for the Amazon, held in the city of Leticia, in southern Colombia on Friday.

Morales was making reference to the exclusion of Venezuela from the summit, an action considered by many countries as a political decision by some regional governments.

At the end of the encounter, the attending countries of South America’s Amazon region announced they will increase cooperation against causes of deforestation, such as illegal mining, illegal clearing of forest for agriculture and drug trafficking,

The pact approved also includes creating an information network to prevent disasters; increased monitoring of deforestation by satellite; promoting research and education; and increasing the participation of indigenous people to favour the sustainable use of the rainforest.

Bolivia’s president called on the other countries to allow crisis-hit Venezuela, which had not been invited, to join the pact that was approved.

Morales supported the proposals and warned that Mother Earth is threatened with death, which is why he stressed the need to seal an alliance for the Amazon based on principles of multilateralism, the non-marketing of forests and mitigation.

The summit was attended by Bolivian President and his counterparts from Colombia, Iván Duque, Peru, Martín Vizcarra and Ecuador, Lenín Moreno.

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, participated in the meeting via videoconference and was represented by a delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Henrique Fraga.