The third summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) begins next Monday in Brussels, after eight years of frozen relations. The heads of state and government will meet to seek greater cooperation between the regions. Although there are many expectations for the meeting, the political disagreements are causing tension.
“Throughout all these years, the Latin American and Caribbean region tried to keep the channels of dialogue alive, but the Europeans were just too busy,” a Latin American diplomat told AFP.
This is one of the possible explanations for the silence that has dominated diplomatic relations between the EU and CELAC since 2015. Two days before the summit that will open the dialogue between the regions, various Latin American heads of state and government have expressed their reservations.
The planned agenda focuses on building alliances to tackle climate change, economic and security challenges, and the energy transition. For the European Council chaired by Spain, this is a “major political milestone”.
One of the most sensitive items on the agenda is the position of the CELAC countries on war in Ukraine. While the EU hopes to include this in the text of the conclusions, a South American diplomatic source told AFP that the panel should understand the different positions of Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced the EU’s “lack of transparency and manipulative behavior”. Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry supplemented its statement, adding that “the EU’s decision to impose its own format on the summit” jeopardizes the negotiations.
In addition to criticism of its organization, the summit generates tensions due to the opposing positions of the EU and some autocratic states in Latin America. The status of EU-Mercosur relations on the terms of the trade agreement, particularly as regards environmental protection, also needs to be clarified.
The EU condemns human rights violations in Cuba
The European Parliament condemned this Wednesday “systematic violations and abuses of human rights in Cuba” and called for sanctions against President Miguel Díaz-Canel. The organization calls on Cuba to release the demonstrators detained since July 11, 2021 and asks the Cuban authorities to authorize a European delegation and independent NGOs to conduct trials of “people who remain detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression “ to watch and assembly.
For MEPs, the summit represents an opportunity to “defend the principles of the rule of law” and they believe autocratic regimes should not take part.
Cuba’s response came in a statement the same day. “The European Parliament lacks the moral, political and legal authority to judge Cuba,” declared the National Assembly of People’s Power. It also “strongly” opposed the Parliament’s resolution, accusing the sanction of “interference” and defamation.
Miguel Díaz-Canel visited Portugal on Friday at the invitation of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, before leaving for Brussels. On Twitter, he showed a conciliatory attitude.
“Then we will attend the CELAC-EU summit. #Cuba, which considers CELAC as the united voice of Latin America and the Caribbean, will approach this meeting with a constructive spirit and will help to further strengthen the ties between both regional blocs on the basis of equality and respect,” he said on his Twitter -Account.
High expectations for human rights defenders in Nicaragua
A group of 160 persecuted politicians from Daniel Ortega’s government in Nicaragua sent a letter to Colombia’s Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva, calling for action to be taken in response to the humanitarian crisis the country is going through.
Colombia has already been chosen as the next Celac President. The letter was signed by 29 national and international organizations working for human rights.
Some 222 prisoners were “unilaterally” released in Nicaragua and airlifted to the United States. Photo from April 25, 2018. © Alfredo Zuniga /AP
Nicaraguan intellectuals and journalists, including writer Gioconda Belli and former Vice President Sergio Ramírez, are calling on Latin American and European leaders to set up a “Group of Friends of the Nicaraguan People” “to contribute to a democratic transition,” the document said , to which he had access from the Spanish media “El País”.
Amnesty International also sent an open letter to the participants of the summit on Thursday. “With its many complex human rights challenges, this is a critical time for Latin America and the Caribbean. (…) This summit is an opportunity to bring about a significant change. “Regional leaders need to work with their European counterparts to find solutions,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, the organization’s Americas director.
Tensions over a not yet ratified EU-MERCOSUR agreement
The summit will be an opportunity to present the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay). The agreement announced since 2019 has not yet been ratified.
European countries were demanding greater commitments from Mercosur to protect the environment, particularly in the context of the Jair Bolsonaro government.
In his victory speech on Sunday October 30, Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged to reverse increasing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. © Raimundo Pacco/AP
Now Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva considered the green protocol “unacceptable” and criticized its sanctions. Last Wednesday he declared that “distrust” could not guide the negotiations on the trade agreement. “There must be a premise of mutual trust, not distrust, between strategic partners,” Lula said.
The Mercosur countries describe the agreement in its current state as asymmetric and claim that Europe did not take into account the different rates of development between regions when setting its terms.
A strategic alliance
In the context of the climate and energy crises, Europe is striving for independence from fossil fuels. 60% of the world’s lithium reserves, a vital mineral for electric car batteries, are in Latin America. Argentina, Bolivia and Chile make up the Lithium Triangle with 56% of the reserves, according to ECLAC data.
The European Commission announced on Friday 14 July the disbursement of 43 million euros in humanitarian aid to Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the European Investment Bank is expected to formalize a €800 million loan to Argentina, Brazil and Chile to finance environmental projects during the summit.
With EFE, AFP and Portal