Strengthening Asian-Latin American ties through political parties

In October 2010, we travelled to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, following our trip to Buenos Aires two years earlier, where we explored ways and means of cooperation between our Asia-wide organization, ICAPP, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, and COPPPAL, the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean.

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ICAPP, which we founded and launched in Manila in September 2000, now represents 352 political parties from 52 countries in Asia; while COPPPAL is composed of 60 political parties from 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We were accompanied in this San Salvador trip by our wife Gina, who was then in her first term as representative of the 4th district of Pangasinan; Bonifacio 'Boy' Nakpil, our late brother-in-law and husband of Gina's younger sister Bechay; Ambassador Chung Eui-yong of South Korea, our ICAPP co-chairman and then secretary general; K.P. Sharma Oli, now prime minister of Nepal; and several other Asian political leaders.

Ambassador Chung later served as South Korea's national security adviser, then foreign affairs minister in the administration of President Moon Jae-in under whose leadership the historic meetings between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were held.

Our group met with Latin American statesmen Antonio Cafiero of Argentina and Gustavo Carvajal Moreno of Mexico, then chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of COPPPAL.