MEXICO CITY, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) demonstrated its usefulness and effectiveness in the fight against COVID-19, Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday.

Thanks to the cooperation between members of the regional bloc, Latin America was able to take several key steps to combat the pandemic, including launching a Mexico-Argentina initiative to assemble and package vaccines against COVID-19 in the region, Ebrard said.

"The pandemic showed us that, together, we have a better chance of getting ahead, of asserting the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean," Ebrard said at a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City that was also attended by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"If we had not organized, we would have been left out (of vaccine accessibility) because who else is going to care?" said Ebrard.

The Mexican top diplomat spoke in the run-up to the 6th CELAC Summit, which begins in Mexico on Sept. 18 with the participation of regional presidents and high-level officials.

So far 16 presidents have confirmed their attendance to the gathering, which will see Mexico, the bloc's pro tempore president, present the results of several of its proposals, such as creating a disaster fund to tackle the impact of climate change. Enditem

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