Lima, 05/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Closing only its second plenary session since it was formed, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), on Thursday 1 May, sent a message to Latin American, Caribbean and European Union heads of state and government who are due to meet in Lima in mid-May. The message reiterates the fundamental principles on which relations between these two geographical blocs are based, calls for the swift conclusion of the association agreements which are currently being negotiated, and makes specific recommendations on the two issues on the agenda for the Lima Summit - social insertion and combating poverty and inequality, and sustainable development and combating climate change. It closely resembles a previous resolution adopted by the EuroLat in December and the EP resolution on EU-Latin American relations adopted last week (see EUROPE 9569 and 9650). The next plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Assembly will take place in Europe in 2009.
“I hope that our voice will be heard loud and clear,” said EuroLat joint chairman José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (EPP-ED, Spain). “The message is unreserved support for the Lima Agenda,” he added. The other joint chairman of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, Chilean Senator Jorge Pizarro Soto, said he hoped that European and Latin American heads of state and government “will listen and, even more importantly for the people, will put into practice what we recommend”.
Salafranca acknowledged that there were still “absolutely unacceptable levels” of poverty, despite progress in a number of Latin American countries. Pointing out that the EU is the largest development aid donor, he said, nonetheless, that “it isn't about funding, or giving charity, but creating opportunities”. These opportunities, he said, were linked to the association agreements currently being negotiated between the EU and the Andean Community of Nations (ACN), on the one hand, and the Central American countries on the other. “This is the best way to transform words into actions,” he said, adding that the EU ought to open its education and training schemes to the Latin American and Caribbean countries. With regard to the scourge of corruption which afflicts both Europe and Latin America, Salafranca said that “just as we have honest business people, teachers and workers, so we should have honest politicians who serve the common interest and do not use the common interest to serve their own”. Pizarro Soto acknowledged that, with the exception of Chile, Latin America had fallen behind on the Millennium Development Goals, with 200 million Latin American citizens still living in poverty. Speaking about combating climate change, he said that “pressure has to be brought to bear on the most developed, biggest and most polluting countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol”. He expressed his deepest wish that those who emigrate from Latin America to Europe “seeking better economic and social conditions” are treated with respect.
On behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Ambassador to Argentina Auguštin Vivid received the message for the Lima Summit from the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly joint chairmen. He highlighted the importance of investment particularly in “primary and vocational education” as a means of combating poverty. Despite recent progress, he said, the Peruvian educational system was facing more serious difficulties than its neighbours. With regard to climate change, he said he thought that doing nothing would be more costly than action to prevent the upheaval forecast. “It is the most vulnerable who will be most affected,” he stressed, calling for protection for the “interminable list” of Latin American natural treasures. European Commission representative in Peru Antonio Cardoso Mota expressed his wish for Latin Americans and Europeans to work together to meet global challenges. He said that regional integration was a “key element” in the EU's support for Latin America. Integration could not be decreed, he said, but was achieved step by step and its character and speed would depend on the will of the Latin American countries themselves.
Andean Community of Nations Secretary General Freddy Ehlers Zurita spoke of Símon Bólivar, the great figure in the freedom of the Spanish Latin American colonies. “Over time, his message has been forgotten: we have concentrated on increasingly unbridled economic growth that will perhaps lead humanity to its doom,” he said, opining that the Lima Summit's two themes illustrate current problems perfectly. Referring to the work of French philosopher Edgar Morin, he said that there were three possibilities: “implosion”, bringing the collective suicide of humanity, “explosion”, which would bring about the destruction of humanity, or “change”. “We have come to the end of the road. We have to change,” he argued. If we do not, the price of the barrel of oil and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere will continue to increase. The press, said Ehlers Zurita, a former journalist with Ecuadorian television, repeats the “lie” of an impossible model of a hyperconsumer society.
Message to the Lima Summit. The EuroLat Assembly reaffirmed the principles and values that underlie the strategic partnership uniting the two geographical blocs: multilateralism in economic affairs and international policies, and regional integration within the geographical blocs themselves. It recommends that negotiations on EU-Central America and EU-Andean Community partnership agreements be concluded “by mid 2009 at the latest”, that talks on an EU-Andean Community partnership agreement be concluded as quickly as possible, and that the application of specific agreements linking the EU to Chile and to Mexico be deepened. Also proposed is a feasibility study on a comprehensive inter-regional partnership agreement for 2012, and a Euro-Latin American Peace and Security Charter.
The Euro-Latin American Assembly highlights the urgency of taking action against food shortages and price increases. This issue was, strangely, barely discussed during the EuroLat meetings. Latin American and European parliamentarians also called for systematic dialogue on migration, whether legal or illegal, to ensure that fundamental rights are protected and to enhance cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination. They felt that joint rules to facilitate the free movement of persons should be considered by 2012. An observatory to monitor issues related to migratory flows in the Euro-Latin American region should also be set up.
Political situation in the Andean region. The EuroLat Assembly also adopted declarations on the political situation in Bolivia and on relations between Colombia and Ecuador. The declaration on Bolivia presses Bolivian authorities and society to find the way, “through dialogue”, to resolve the current conflict, restore institutional and democratic order and reinforce national unity. Bolivia is experiencing a serious political crisis, with a referendum being held on Sunday 4 May on autonomy for the well-off Santa Cruz province. On Thursday 1 May, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that several energy and telecommunications companies were to be nationalised. The declaration on relations between Colombia and Ecuador supports the commitment of the governments of the two countries to re-establish diplomatic relations “without delay” and to make progress on peace and stability in the Andean region. Peru has agreed to act as mediator to facilitate contact between Colombia and Ecuador. Tension between the two Andean countries culminated in the incursion by the Colombian army into Ecuadorian territory to kill a leader of the Colombian Armed Revolutionary Forces - the FARC (see EUROPE 9619): Quito, however, failed to inform Bogota. “In this region, we are going through a difficult period,” said Ivonne Juez de Baki, Speaker of the Andean Parliament. She spoke of the troubles caused by “microphone politics” which creates more problems than it resolves. In situations like this, “it's the people who lose out,” she said, because, if there is no peace, it is impossible to move forward on all the issues discussed at the second EuroLat meeting. (M.B.)