Have the EU’s Efforts Succeeded in Restoring Its Influence in Latin America?

For the past decade, the European Union has neglected its relations with Latin America, and there has not been a summit between the leaders of the two regions since 2015. As the European bloc was more focused on the problems of its closer neighbors, such as Libya, Syria, and Ukraine, at the present time.
With the outbreak of war again in Ukraine, it became clear that Latin American countries do not share European visions towards the war, which was evident in the reluctance of many of the governments of those countries to condemn Russia in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, in addition to their refusal to impose sanctions on Moscow, they declared their adherence to a position of neutrality in the face of the two sides of the conflict.
In light of this, the EU sought to reassert its influence in Latin America in the face of the growing Chinese and Russian presence through diplomatic initiatives, economic measures, and humanitarian aid.
Recently, EU leaders invited their Latin American and Caribbean counterparts to Brussels for discussions and improving relations, but the long dark colonial history of the European empires of many countries of the Latin continent overshadowed a large part of the summit.
This has led to the return of the ghosts of four centuries of European colonial rule, economic exploitation, and slavery to the forefront of the minds of the Latin guests and the European hosts.
While European leaders hoped to ease geopolitical tensions, their Latin American counterparts came to the table with a clear message: Defining relations today means addressing and rectifying past injustices.
Difficulties and Disputes
After 8 years had passed, the leaders of the EU countries met again with their counterparts from Latin America and the Caribbean on July 17 and 18, 2023, in Brussels to try to strengthen their relations despite the disputes between them over the war in Ukraine in particular.
This is the third summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). as the last summit dates back to 2015.
Disputes have emerged since the start of negotiations for a joint declaration, in particular because of the desire of the Europeans to mention the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The EU seeks to mobilize as much international support as possible against Moscow, but the 33-nation CELAC does not have a common position on this issue and does not want this topic to dominate the discussions.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sparked controversy by repeatedly speaking of joint responsibility for Kyiv and Moscow in the outbreak of the conflict, despite his condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a brief statement on the morning of July 17, the Brazilian president did not mention Ukraine and focused his speech on the climate issue and the fight against investment in the Amazon forest, while other countries requested that the final statement mention the issue of reparations related to the European slave trade.
On July 14, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena, who represents her country in Brussels instead of leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said that the summit would not be easy, recalling, in particular, a resolution passed recently by the European Parliament condemning the human rights situation in Cuba.
Likewise, the EU’s relations are tense, especially with the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, since the suppression of opposition demonstrations in 2018, as well as with Venezuela, since the re-election of Nicolas Maduro as president in an election that sparked much controversy.
On her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on July 20 that those who hope to sow discord between Russia and Latin American countries will not be able to do so, because relations between the two countries are getting stronger.
She stressed that the West is using the summit of the EU and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean not to discuss ways out of the Ukrainian crisis but to impose a Western point of view and force Latin America to join it.
Zakharova indicated that there is only one goal, which is to divide and create difficulties in communication between Russia and Latin America, in addition to showing their strength and ability to use violent methods.
Frustrating Summit
According to Politico in its July 18 report, the two-day summit was frustrating for everyone involved, particularly to the leaders of the EU’s newest member states from Eastern Europe, who have bitter memories of Soviet imperial rule and Russian aggression.
“It is actually a war of colonization,” Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said of the 16-month-old Ukraine conflict, referring to the fact that there is a former colonizer, Russia, and a former colony, Ukraine.
According to diplomatic sources and European media, the EU leaders intended to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the summit and initially prepared a draft final declaration with a large part of it dedicated to Ukraine.
However, Latin American leaders demanded the cancellation of Zelenskyy’s visit and the exclusion of paragraphs related to Ukraine from the final text after opposition from supporters of Russia (Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela).
Instead, the countries participating in the summit decided to express their deep concern about the ongoing war against Ukraine, while Nicaragua did not support the final wording.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, tried to please his guests when he said: “No one intends to lecture anyone. This is not how it works, we have a lot of respect for those countries, for the traditions, for the culture, and the idea is always to engage in a spirit of mutual respect.”
While the 27-nation EU wanted the summit to focus on new economic initiatives and closer cooperation to prevent China’s growing influence in the region, several leaders of the 33-nation CELAC have made longstanding accusations of colonialism and slavery.
Especially since the EU looks once again to the resource-rich region, this time to power its green transition, but this time through different authorities and policies.
Demonstrating a solution for European countries to get out of this impasse, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a small island country that heads the group of 33 countries, called for talks on economic reparations for colonization and enslavement.
“Resources from the slave trade and from slavery helped to fuel the industrial revolution that has laid the basis for a lot of the wealth within Western Europe,” Ralph Gonsalves told a small group of reporters on July 18.
Politico reported that Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, colonized much of Latin America starting in 1493 and, over the next 400 years, acquired vast wealth by exploiting its lands and people.
European Ambition
Indeed, trade talks between the EU and the MERCOSUR group of nations, which includes four of Latin America’s largest economies, have reflected broader tensions over what it really means for Europe to start over in a relation of equals.
Besides the quick reference to the MERCOSUR deal in the closing statement, talks with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay remained on the sidelines despite earlier hopes that the summit could inject new energy into negotiations for a trade deal.
But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the summit that “our ambition is to conclude the negotiations of these agreements no later than the end of this year.”
In contrast, the EU announced its commitment to spend more than €45 billion ($51 billion) by 2027 on investment plans in partner countries in South America and the Caribbean.
In turn, von der Leyen said the union and investment partner countries in South America and the Caribbean had agreed to prioritize sectors ranging from clean energy and critical raw materials to health and education.
Plans include expanding telecommunications networks in the Amazon region of Brazil, developing the 5G network in Jamaica, electrifying transportation in Costa Rica, and investing in lithium mines in Argentina and Chile.
Von der Leyen indicated that other financial funds will be allocated to enhance European investments in Latin America through the Global Gateway strategy, which is an initiative to link the European bloc with the rest of the world and counter the Chinese impact.
However, Europe came too late to the area where China had already expanded its influence.
Beijing increased its investments in the region by about 26 times between 2000 and 2020, and became the first or second most important trading partner for Latin American countries, which led to the displacement of the EU and the overtaking of the United States.
China has already overtaken the EU as a trading partner of Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela, and 21 of the 33 Latin American countries have joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Brazil is the largest exporter of strategic raw materials to the EU by volume, while the Lithium Triangle stretching from Chile to Argentina to Bolivia hosts about half of the world’s lithium reserves.
So Brussels and Chile, on the sidelines of the summit on July 18, signed a new memorandum of understanding on raw materials.
On July 17, the EU signed a memorandum of understanding with Argentina regarding basic raw materials, especially lithium, which is necessary for the manufacture of electric car batteries. It is a key mineral for the EU’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
In contrast, Bolivia announced at the end of last June that China and Russia would invest $1.4 billion to open two lithium mines in the country.
Sources
- EU struggles to reboot neglected Latin America relations
- Why Latin America still won’t condemn Putin’s war in Ukraine
- Relations between Russia, Latin America immune to outside meddling — diplomat
- Europe tries to win Latin America back from China
- EU’s Influence Push in Latin America Dented by Ukraine Clash