Four years have passed, a pandemic and a war in the heart of Europe since the last meeting. This Thursday, Buenos Aires received 54 delegations from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the European Union (EU) at a summit marked by the global impact of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the economic recovery after covid -19, the effects of the new European green agenda on trade with Latin American countries and human rights.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revalued the strategic nature of Latin America, a continent with enormous energy and mineral resources and without armed conflicts. A trade agreement between the European Union and Chile and another between the European bloc and Mexico is well advanced, while Spain is pressing to unblock the talks between the EU and Mercosur, now stalled by new environmental demands from Europe. “It’s been more than two decades since we started negotiating. It is normal that our Latin American brothers do not understand why it does not enter into force. If it were up to Spain, it would already be in force tomorrow,” said the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares Bueno.
“I always tell my European colleagues in Brussels that this is the most compatible region with Europe. They speak our languages, because a part of the population comes from Europe and because a good part of the population of Latin America has moved to Europe and vice versa, but, above all, because we share some values and at this time it is fundamental. Europe and Latin America believe in peace, we believe in multilateralism, in international legality and in the abolition of war as a way of resolving conflicts”, added Albares Bueno.
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has summed up the meeting as a “reunion” that should not be seen as “a mechanical consequence of the needs” of Europe in the midst of the war in Ukraine, and has insisted that “the feeling has been incubating for some time now that Latin America and the Caribbean are not high enough on the European political agenda.” Borrell has set his sights on the second half of 2023, when Spain assumes the temporary presidency of the Council of the European Union: “It has to be the year of Latin America in Europe and of Europe in Latin America.”
The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, has made it clear that the interest is mutual, but he has demanded that Europe understand the need for Latin American countries to guarantee the food and energy security of the population and have access to European technology that favors regional industrialization . “Missiles are fired in the north, but in the south we go hungry. There in the north they compete for gas, but here in the south we lack the energy to be able to develop”, said Alberto Fernández upon opening the meeting in his capacity as annual president of CELAC.
The agenda of the international meeting has sought to establish a common agenda to strengthen multilateralism. It is clouded by human rights violations in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua and the tension between the latter and the EU, which has expelled its ambassadors in recent weeks. “We are 54 countries that cannot agree on everything and we certainly do not agree with some,” Borrell said at a press conference, where he defended the European sanctions on the Nicaraguan regime because “they do not affect citizens”, compared to the “American blockade against Cuba” which the EU opposes.
Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero has highlighted a multilateralism that promotes “an area where differences are exalted.” “It is about holding meetings where imperialism is not imposed from a single thought”, he has defended.
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Brazil has been the great absentee from the summit by decision of its president, Jair Bolsonaro. Even so, the second electoral round on Sunday in the Latin American giant is closely followed by all the participating foreign ministers. Former President Lula da Silva has a narrow advantage over Bolsonaro, the target of criticism from various European countries for the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and his lack of environmental commitment. A change of government would reduce the reluctance of the European partner in this matter to reach an agreement with Mercosur.
“[El acuerdo UE-Mercosur] It’s not going to be for tomorrow”, admitted Borrell. “We Europeans have to specify what our demands for environmental protection are. This will allow us to protect global public goods.” “We have been working on the aspects in which we can make progress,” said Cafiero.
The paralysis suffered by this multilateral agreement contrasts with the speed at which the EU’s bilateral agreements with Chile and Mexico are advancing. The first could be signed before the end of the year and the second at the beginning of 2023, according to community sources. With Argentina, the European bloc is negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding on energy issues.
“Argentina is a budding energy power, especially in gas,” admitted the High Representative of the EU, referring to the bloc’s interest in seeking alternatives to Russian gas. Borrell has pointed out that the main problem of the South American country is that it has large reserves —especially in the unconventional hydrocarbon formation of Vaca Muerta— but it needs infrastructure to transport the gas. Official sources point out that the high price of hydrocarbons on the international market can attract investment, but macroeconomic stability, which Argentina currently lacks, is also necessary.
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