The image that exists in Europe towards Latin America is based on four prejudices that the facts do not prove, says a study from the Real Instituto Elcano, in Madrid, presented yesterday in Lisbon by researcher Carlos Malamud. Those preconceptions are that the region is a political disaster, that it is an economic failure, that China is replacing the European Union (EU), and that companies are leaving. On the eve of the summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which will take place in Brussels on 17 and 18 July, the idea is to change that image.
“It’s not about putting another story that the Latin American world is idyllic, that it’s the best of all worlds, but putting things in context,” the researcher told DN, after the event organized by the Institute for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (IPDAL) at the Representation of the European Commission in Portugal. Malamud, like everyone involved in the event, considers the EU-CELAC summit to be “very important”. But, he warned DN, “this doesn’t mean great results can be expected from the top. There won’t be any”.
The researcher recalls that these meetings have not taken place since 2015 and that, although the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of this year is seen as “a new opportunity”, the problems that led to the breakdown of the dialogue at the time are still in effect – namely the Venezuelan crisis. Moreover, “Latin America is a very fragmented region and it is impossible to find the minimum consensus on the regional agenda and that makes it difficult”. Similarly, there will be “frustration” on the European side if the final communiqué does not refer to the invasion of Ukraine or if that reference is “tasteless”.
But the most important thing, he defended, is “to create the mechanisms that will ensure that the dialogue continues after the end of the Spanish semester”. and not let the relationship go back to the “souvenir box” waiting for another chance. Because this is a relationship that, to quote the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, needs to be “unliberated”, in the sense of expanding beyond its usual partners – Portugal and Spain.
four prejudices
On a political level, the view that Latin America is a disaster is “partial and biased,” Malamud said, recalling that the continent “is no exception” to global trends and that democracy has been consolidated in virtually the entire region – where 68% of voters define themselves as centre, centre-left or centre-right. “The setbacks of recent years are more cyclical than structural and can be reversed if there are changes in the global context or if the region’s economy picks up again,” he said.
Economically, the region is not a failure either, as the EU seems to think. It may not have made progress in convergence with the per capita income levels of developed countries, but neither did most emerging countries. More, thanks to greater macroeconomic stability, “it went from being a major player – one in three global crises occurred in the region between 1974 and 2003 – to a secondary actor: only one in six global crises originated in Latin America” .
The idea that the EU and the US have left the region and China is taking its place also needs to be revised. Not only is the US central to the countries of North America beyond commercial ties – in terms of military and human ties – but the South is “more European”. The EU, unlike China, which only buys natural resources and sells manufactured products, is a major destination market for South American high-tech exports – hence its importance to the region’s reindustrialization strategy. And it is the largest inverter – 20 times more than China.
As for the idea of Spanish companies leaving Latin America, the numbers don’t prove it either. Between 2007 and 2020, of every hundred euros invested, 30 went to Latin America and 55 to the US and other developed countries outside the EU. And the money invested continues to yield above-average returns in developed countries.
Source: DN
