pacts, tension on behalf of Ukraine and cooperation commitments

The III Summit of the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) brought together leaders and dignitaries from 60 countries in Brussels at a key moment in the relationship between the two regions, who staged a meeting described as successful although not without setbacks.

From the difficulty of adopting a common position in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the historical claims of Latin Americans to the Europeans, to the celebration of collateral events and condemnations of the participation of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, the two days of the summit they have been eventful.

Made up of 33 countries, CELAC was established in 2011. Among its main promoters were the then presidents Hugo Chávez, of Venezuela; the Argentine Néstor Kirchner and the Bolivian Evo Morales.

Brazil left the mechanism in 2020 during the government of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, and returned in January of this year, after the return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to serve his third term at the helm of the country.

Although the 60 leaders of the member countries of the two blocs were invited, the presidents of El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela did not attend and instead sent their foreign ministers.

Criticism from Cuba and Venezuela

With harsh words, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, denounced a week before the “lack of transparency” and the “manipulative conduct” of the European Union during the preparations for the event.

“The conduct of the European Union jeopardizes the possibility of reaching final agreements at the summit,” said the Cuban foreign minister through a video on Twitter.

Venezuela, a strong ally of the Caribbean island, joined the claims. The main reason for the protests were the parallel events to the summit, in which members of civil society from the invited countries would participate. Havana and Caracas criticized above all the way in which the EU chose Latin American representatives, many of them human rights activists and opponents of their governments.

At the summit, “it is intended to carry out a series of parallel events, without due coordination with our countries, whose conclusions could be instrumentalized to feed the agendas of political groups contrary to the objectives that summon us to this important meeting,” insisted the president. Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro.

alternative summit

The so-called Summit of the Peoples started as a parallel event to the main event and for two days it brought together representatives of some 160 organizations that led debates and also participated in demonstrations in front of the European Council and Parliament buildings in Brussels.

Activists from both sides issued their reasons, some in favor and others against the presence at the EU-CELAC Summit of governments such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. In addition, forums were held on topics as varied as decolonization, the energy transition and development, migration and the need to maintain a relationship based on equality and non-interference.

Left-wing presidents such as the Colombian Gustavo Petro and the Cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel, or the Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena intervened in this parallel event, which according to its organizers see “peace and dialogue” as the only possible “guiding axes”. at a time of “great geopolitical stress”.

Parallel negotiations on Venezuela

The presidents Emmanuel Macron; from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva; from Colombia, Gustavo Petro and from Argentina, Alberto Fernández, met in parallel with negotiating delegations from the Venezuelan government and the opposition, with the purpose of seeking “durable solutions” to the crisis in the South American country.

The meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, served to “re-acclimatize a process that allows a democratic agreement to be reached through dialogue between the different factions of Venezuelan society,” Petro explained about the negotiation process installed in Mexico.

“We are willing to make space for a democratic dialogue in Venezuela,” said the Colombian president.

The delegation of the Democratic Unitary Platform in the dialogue with the government in Mexico, suspended since November of last year, ratified the “need” to resume negotiations and reiterated its demand for guarantees and “truly free and competitive” elections, respecting the primary elections and the “urgent” release of all political prisoners and the end of political persecution.

In addition, the delegation of the opposition bloc reiterated the need for an agreement on political and social guarantees that “allows alleviating the suffering of Venezuelans.”

It is expected that meetings will be repeated in the coming months to address issues related to political negotiation in Venezuela, Macron assured representatives of the press on Tuesday.

EU as an alternative to China and Russia in Latam

The III Summit between the EU and CELAC was held with the aspiration of reinforcing and modernizing the bilateral relationship between the two regions, in addition to strengthening cooperation in a scenario that has changed since 2015, the date of the last meeting of this type.

For European leaders, it now stands out as a priority to prove their worth as powerful partners in the face of the growing influence of Russia and especially China in Latin America.

“The world we live in is more competitive and conflictive than ever. Still reeling from the high price of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is suffering a severe impact from the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the president of Ukraine said on Monday. the European Commission, Úrsula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen added that “this happens in the context of China’s growing assertiveness abroad” and announced that the EU plans an investment of 45,000 million euros in the region within its Global Gateway program, seen as a rival to the scheme. investment in infrastructure of the Silk Road.

Invest in sustainable development

Within the Global Gateway, the EU wants to support Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of infrastructure for the digital transition and the development of green policies, in addition to investing in vital fields such as transport, energy, health and education.

Within this III Summit, the bloc signed a memorandum of understanding with Chile for cooperation in the area of ​​”critical” raw materials for the development of clean energy and the digital transition of both parties.

“We will share knowledge, we will promote skills, we will respect the highest environmental standards,” said Úrsula von der Leyen, who witnessed the signing together with Chilean President Gabriel Boric.

In the final statement of the meeting, the signatories insisted on “the importance of fulfilling the commitment made jointly by developed countries to quickly mobilize USD 100,000 million per year to finance the fight against climate change in support of developing countries, and to double financing for adaptation to climate change by 2025”.

The IDB bets on a European strategy with Latin America

The president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Ilan Goldfajn, sees the investment commitment of the European Union in Latin America as key, which will help reinforce the objectives of the regional bank on crucial issues such as climate change, the preservation of biodiversity and insecurity food.

The head of the multilateral organization said this Tuesday in Brussels – after the meeting of the old continent with the presidents of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) – that the European commitment “will revitalize political and economic ties” when the region is sees it as “key” for the transition to clean energy; Currently, 30% of the energy supply in Latin America comes from renewable sources.

The head of the IDB believes that “by working more closely, the public and private sectors of Europe and our region can turn this opportunity into a reality (…) This investment benefits not only Latin America and the Caribbean, but also the Union European Union, at a time of many shared priorities”, pointed out Goldfajn.

Ukraine as a challenge to achieve unanimity

The position against Russia’s war in Ukraine It was the issue on which the participants in the summit found it most difficult to agree.

While the European bloc unequivocally condemns Moscow’s invasion of Ukrainian territory on an almost daily basis, CELAC countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are strong political and economic allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The EU expected a strong statement against Russia, the temporary president of CELAC, the premier of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, pointed out that the meeting should not become “another useless battlefield for speeches on this issue, the which has been and continues to be addressed in other more relevant forums”.

Finally, in the final declaration, the parties expressed their “deep concern” over the conflict in Ukraine, which “continues to cause immense human suffering and is aggravating already existing weaknesses in the world economy” for which they support “the need for a just peace and lasting” and support the Black Sea Grain Initiative, now detained by russia.

In an aside at the end, it is clarified that a member country did not sign the text because they did not agree with one of its points, without specifying the name. Nicaragua was the only nation that remained against a pronouncement against Russia at the end of the negotiations.

Despite this, the interim Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, called the summit “a complete success” by insisting that achieving a unanimous position among 60 countries was very difficult.

[Con la colaboración de los periodistas de la VOA Carolina Alcalde y Tomás Guevara, e información de Reuters y The Associated Press]

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram.