Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on Latin America and the Caribbean to act as a "guiding light" for multilateralism in a world increasingly troubled by division and unilateralism.

Petro on Wednesday appealed at the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

"We must decide whether we help each other or retreat into loneliness," Petro said. "We can either face the world alone, as in One Hundred Years of Solitude, or we can act as a united humanity and support one another."

The summit was attended by over a dozen heads of state and delegations from the bloc's 33 member countries. Honduras formally handed over CELAC's rotating presidency to Colombia, reports Xinhua news agency.

Additionally, Honduran President Xiomara Castro urged greater unity among Latin American and Caribbean countries to better respond to the United States' "exclusionary economic reorganisation" of the world.

Speaking at the opening of the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Castro said regional integration is now "more urgent than ever."

"We cannot continue walking separately when the world is reorganising itself without us," said Castro, warning that "the old neoliberal order is collapsing, and major powers like the United States are redrawing their economic map without considering those being left behind."

Castro urged CELAC members to unite in confronting shared regional challenges such as new US tariffs and migration policies.

More than a dozen regional leaders and representatives from CELAC's 33 member states attended the summit, where Honduras formally handed over the bloc's rotating presidency to Colombia.

Leaders are expected to adopt the Tegucigalpa Declaration, a roadmap for deeper political and economic integration across the region.