Brussels, 07/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - The organisation of bilateral and multilateral summits attended by the European Union is no small task for the Spanish EU Presidency. After the disappointment of the aborted summit between the EU and the United States, the government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero slimly avoided a further glitch concerning the participation of several Latin American countries at the EU/Latin America summit to be held in Madrid on Tuesday 18 May. Several Latin American heavy weights, including Brazil, threatened not to attend the summit if Honduras' new strong man, Porfirio Lobo Soza, were there, as they do not recognise his election. They expressed this view at the beginning of the week during a summit of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Hoping to appease matters, the president of Honduras announced he would only take part at the bilateral EU/Central America meeting to be held on Wednesday 19 May. “If our presence in Spain at the invitation of the European Union causes conflict, then we shall not go”, Lobo said, as reported by AFP. Peru and Ecuador are the only two Latin-American countries to have recognised the legitimacy of the result of elections in Honduras last November. The former president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, who was removed from office in June 2009 by a military coup d'état, has been living in the Dominican Republic since January.
The Spanish Presidency is counting on the EU/Latin America summit to achieve tangible results while it holds the rotating EU presidency. On Monday 17 May, the European countries and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) hope to be able to relaunch their trade talks, with a political statement, within the wider cooperation framework (EUROPE 10133). It is also hoped that talks on a cooperation agreement with Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Salvador and Panama, as an observer) will be concluded - the last wrangling over the trade chapter of the agreement taking place this week in Guatemala. In March, the EU sealed free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru, which jeopardise the promotion of regional integration promoted by the EU itself, as talks were initially launched with all countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru). (EUROPE 10088). (M.B./transl.jl)