The return of Donald Trump to the White House, the Venezuelan crisis, security and the fight against organized crime have been topics on the regional agenda that have marked the conversation – public and private – of the participating delegations to the XXIX Ibero-American Summit which concluded this Friday in Ecuador, without an official declaration due to lack of consensus and, for the first time, without the attendance of Latin American presidents, except for the host.
Under the motto ‘Innovation, inclusion and sustainability’, the event sought to achieve agreements on gender equality, actions to fight climate change and the promotion of the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), among other issues. . But the difficulties that the continent faces more imminently also occupied part of the conversations between the delegations.
Bilateral tensions, diplomatic crises and a growing political polarization between Latin American countries hindered negotiations to move towards a joint declaration agreed upon by the 19 countries attending (all of the community, except Mexico, Venezuela and Nicaragua) and reflected the conflicting positions of the region on its main challenges.
“The next United States Government has the challenge of getting closer to Latin America and overcoming immigration policy,” told the news agency EFE the Uruguayan vice chancellor, Nicolás Albertoni, who admitted that the future presidency of Donald Trump has been a recurring topic of discussion among the delegations.
“There is a strategic, commercial and cooperation policy. “We are part of a much broader America,” reiterated the Uruguayan representative, for whom the Ibero-American community has “a positive expectation” of the new scenario and that is why “There is no need to anticipate” or predict “fear or crisis.”
Despite Trump’s promises to increase tariffs on imports, the Chilean Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Gloria de la Fuente, was convinced that there will be no changes in the ties between both countries: “We have had a free trade agreement for a long time. more than twenty years and we have no expectations that this will change.”
Also the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, aimed to maintain the “close” historical ties with the United States, its main trading partner, “to advance the bilateral relationship.”
“We are destined to understand each other no matter who governs In both countries, we have many points of agreement that transcend one administration or the other,” he added.
The scenario in Venezuela from next January 10, scheduled date for the inauguration of the presidentwas approached “with concern” by the attendees, according to the sources consulted by EFE.
According to Martínez-Acha, different “sensitivities” regarding the crisis in Caracas were revealed in the forum, from those who consider the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia the winner, to those who do not recognize Nicolás Maduro, to those who do not know both.
“For us, Maduro is the losing and defeated candidate,” said the head of Panamanian diplomacy.
Panama along with Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru and Costa Rica recognize the Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as winner of the elections held on July 28.
“It is difficult to talk about a strategic agenda, innovation and sustainability, when before our eyes we have countries that exercise clear violations of human rights,” replied the Uruguayan vice chancellor.
“Sometimes, in this Ibero-American space, this issue is not at the center of the debate, but we are going to mention that the defense of democracy and human rights has to be in the conversation,” stressed Nicolás Albertoni, who maintained that if Edmundo González does not assume the presidency on January 10, Venezuela will become a dictatorship.
Meanwhile, Chilewhich in recent months has experienced several episodes of diplomatic tension with Caracas related to the management of migration and organized crime, reiterated its position of not recognizing any of the candidates.
“We have to wait for how the events unfold between now and January to take our position on the matter”insisted the Chilean Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Gloria de la Fuente.
By Meritxell Freixas (EFE)
