“I was Prime Minister in 2004 and the Mercosur treaty with the EU was almost an old issue. It seems to me that it is like raising the cost to 8,000”, Zapatero said in an interview with international media, within the framework of the seventh meeting of the Puebla Group in Mexico City.
However, he pointed out that this treaty should be streamlined and estimated that at this political moment the EU, thanks to the impulse of the Government of Spain, is going to look more towards Latin America and try to strengthen ties.
In that sense, he referred to the process of strengthening the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) led by Mexico and pointed out that it could be a “new time” in that aspiration that is also very veteran of the Latin American union.
“All this leads us to accelerate regional agreements and have more possibilities in the near future, even with Mercosur,” he explained.
He also stressed that next year elections will be held in Brazil and “everything indicates” that there will be a change of government, with a probable return of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In his opinion, going from a government of Jair Bolsonaro to one of Lula will represent “a lot of change” for the region in political and commercial terms.
“And not only for the region, but for the multilateral system. Latin America is important when there are countries like Brazil and Mexico, due to their strength, that carry out multilateral politics and towards the whole of international society.”added.
Asked about the influence of the extreme right in the region, the socialist leader who ruled Spain between 2004 and 2011 declared that he does not see “any favorable prognosis” for this force in Latin America, but he does see progressives who, he considered, have the challenge to lead Latin American integration.
“Chile’s lesson is very important. I think the extreme right will not win there. I think Bolsonaro will lose, all the polls say so, and perhaps even in Colombia, where there is also a very right-wing, there may be a change, “he stressed.
The former Spanish president evaluated that the map of the region gave “a clear yes to progressive, inclusive, diverse and social democracy”, while rejecting the reductionist democracy of the right, which he linked to the phenomenon of Donald Trump and the happened with the American right in the last 20 years.
In addition, she pointed out that whenever there are profound changes – such as those promoted by women and minorities in this century – reaction movements historically take place.
“We notice that there is a reaction, but the story does not stop,” he said.
Another issue addressed by Rodríguez Zapatero during the meeting was the dialogue that has been taking place in Mexico between the opposition and the Government of Venezuela, which he described as “a fundamental and necessary step.”
“It is the only way for Venezuela,” he said.
He urged the resumption of the dialogue between the two parties, which was suspended several weeks ago after the extradition to the United States of Colombian businessman Álex Saab.
“Dialogue should be resumed to advance in what seems to me to be the most important in the background, which is to recover the basic consensus, the spirit of coexistence and the recognition of one party towards the other”He opined, at the same time that he spoke out against impositions and actions outside of what this negotiation mechanism is.
Source From: Ambito
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