Investments of between 3,400 and 8,000 million dollars are considered a “strategic” tool, explains El País, and seek to achieve a “maximum impact” in their relationship with the region. The initiative would be announced during the Spanish presidency of the bloc, between July and December of next year.
Always according to El País, the plan to counteract the influence of China –through the New Silk Road project– and Russia in the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean will be presented in October in Buenos Aires. That first step would continue with a great summit of heads of state and government.
Dead cow and lithium
Argentina has a relevant place in the initiative, given that the document highlights its large reserves of unconventional gas and oil from Vaca Muerta and lithium. In that period, European interests in Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and Bolivia also entered.
“The credibility of the EU and its power and ability to leverage on the international scene are at stake,” said the vice president of the EC, Josep Borrell, who repeatedly defended the idea that Latin America should be a priority for Europe.
The Community Executive’s document refers to the recent changes in government in countries such as Honduras, Peru, Colombia and Chile, while pointing out the possibility that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will return to power in Brazil.
The EU considers that these leftist administrations are embodied in “anti-establishment candidates” and, therefore, less in tune with Atlanticist policies, while finding greater affinities with China and Russia.
“The EU needs to systematically promote its multilateral commitment with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in view of the increased competition from China, Russia and others to win votes in multilateral forums,” indicates the report cited by El País.
geopolitical value
This reference also points to the importance of the region in the geopolitical balance due to the importance of its votes in international organizations, especially in a context like the current one, given by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the tensions between China and the United States. for the status of Taiwan (see page 17).
According to the socialist MEP Javier López, there are three elements that make it necessary to relaunch relations between the EU and Latin America. “First, the war, because the EU needs to find allies; second, the European need to seek suppliers of hydrocarbons and raw materials, abundant on the other side of the Atlantic; and third, the Spanish presidency of the EU, which gives a horizon of 18 months to program an ambitious agenda”, he told El País.
An EU-Latin America summit has not been held since 2015, a time in which the bloc focused on its relationship with the Mediterranean basin. Meanwhile, between 2000 and 2020, China multiplied its production by 26, which made the Asian giant “the first or second most important trading partner of Latin American and Caribbean countries, displacing the EU” and also leaving behind, in some cases to the United States.
Source: Ambito
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