Two of the world’s most important regions, in nearly 50 countries and centres, SpainHe offered to take advantage of the term presidency. European Union the bloc will undertake from mid-2023 to strengthen its ties. Latin America.
“Spain has six months to turn the EU’s eyes back on South America, but the real challenge will be to get that commitment beyond the six months that he has been chairing,” the Prensa group told EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA. Iberian, Mariano SabuncuPresident of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI).
“If that happens, if the European Union and Latin America don’t have a strong and more consolidated alliance after 31 December 2023, it will be a major failure. You can’t always rely on Spain’s efforts in this matter, it’s necessary to convince other partners,” he told the newspaper. explains Carlos MalamudPrincipal Investigator at the Royal Institute of Elcano.
Does Spain have enough influence in Brussels to convince the European Union that it should sign a grand alliance with Latin America? Are you tempted to bet the region on a deal on the other side of the Atlantic that the EU might lose interest in, as in the past?
“It’s a two-way street. Europe may be very interested in strengthening its alliances with Latin America, but if its interlocutor doesn’t think the same way, it’s very complicated. Especially if you want this new relationship or this reformulated relationship. Both are symmetrical, horizontal and not top to bottom, The thing is, the European Union doesn’t know very well what it wants from Latin America, and at the same time, Latin America isn’t very clear about what it wants from Europe. The European Union,” says Malamud.
It is not easy to discover it in a period like now. The occupation of Ukraine by Russia has focused the attention of the community bloc, and instability in other nearby regions such as the Middle East or North Africa over the past decade has underestimated the significant investment, geostrategic importance for 27, although Latin America remains a point.
“It is true that in recent years there has perhaps been a focus on other areas, but we must not forget that the European Union has invested more in Latin America than China, Russia and India combined,” says Malamud, who is also a professor. Department of American History at the National University of Distance Education (UNED).
“It’s a clear case of neglect, forgetfulness, but it seems that China’s entry into the region has set a red alarm light in both the European Union and Spain. We are losing our presence in a region that should be vital to us,” he criticizes Soapmaker.
on his behalf Chinesehasn’t lost any time in this regard for the last ten years. entered the trade war with United States of AmericaIt has found the perfect place in the region to expand its political influence globally, obtain the raw materials it needs to fuel its economic model, and influence a strategic region.
In the decade from 2008 to 2018, the trade volume between the European Union and the Latin America and Caribbean region barely increased from 185.5 billion euros to 225.4 billion euros. That’s when they go on the defensive. European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)The volume of trade with China has increased tenfold, and there are now 21 countries in the region that are part of the Chinese-promoted New Silk Road Initiative.
However, lately some Latin American countries may have grown weary of the kind of bilateral relations built around Chinese interests.
“Resistance to Chinese presence in Latin America is growing. It was seen as a huge opportunity years ago, because the reality is that doing business with and getting investment from China is starting to create contradictions,” explains Malamud. “Latin America is a great market for the export of raw materials, but the problem is that this results in very little added value, which puts Latin American economies in a difficult position. China is not interested in developing the South American industry to extract its resources”.
For its part, the first Government-related voices are already emerging in Spain, calling for a tremendous opportunity for the European Union and Latin America to achieve an alliance that can be completed at the Euro-Latin America Summit. It will be held in July 2023.
In this sense, Spain has a particularly well-placed name within the EU. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep BorrellHe went so far as to say, “If Europe wants to have influence as a geopolitical actor, it should pay more attention to what is going on in Latin America, and that could play a crucial role in setting foreign priorities for the community bloc.” Caribbean”.
For his part, the former President of the Government of Spain Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero During the presentation of the new Iberian-American-European Union Cooperation Agenda, he noted that “Latin America’s greatest hope for growth is to form an alliance with Europe, a path to integration and cooperation.”
On that agenda, it was predicted that the expected average growth of Latin American countries in 2022 was “low and insufficient”, with an average growth of 2.1% largely affected by the 5 million jobs that failed to recover after the crisis. The pandemic, especially in women and youth.