TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Wednesday urged greater unity among Latin American and Caribbean countries to better respond to the United States' "exclusionary economic reorganization" 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 reorganizing 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 U.S. 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. ■