Few people want to take on Donald Trump directly in Santa Marta, Colombia, 3,000 kilometers off the coast of the United States and very close to the border with Venezuela. In Venezuela, the leader of the most powerful military on earth is threatening military intervention to end the regime of Nicolas Maduro. No one speaks explicitly about him, and the absence of Latin America and Europe’s loud presence at the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summits is a way to avoid conflict with him.
But in reality, Trump attended all the debates, and his attacks on Venezuelan ships, the killing of their crew on the pretext that they were transporting drugs, and the relocation of an aircraft carrier to a coast near Venezuela have had a major impact on the atmosphere at the summit. And in that context, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, one of the protagonists of the summit with Brazil’s Lula party, presented himself in Colombia as an anti-Trump leader who champions a world of multilateral cooperation and consensus, quite different from the American far-right.
Sánchez and Lula, with the support of other progressive Latin American presidents such as Chile’s Gabriel Boric and Uruguay’s Yamandou Orsi, and somewhat less support from Colombia’s Gustavo Petro himself, who is going through difficult times, are trying to find allies in both the United States and Europe against Trump and his imperial vision of a world dominated by bilateral relations with some presidents and dominated by the imposition of decisions by economic and military might. The most powerful being in the world. In his speech at the summit, Sanchez included references to a rules-based multilateral world rather than the one imposed by President Trump. “No country can face global challenges alone,” Sanchez said.
PSOE leaders claim that they succeeded in revitalizing the forum two years ago, during Spain’s EU Presidency, at a meeting in Brussels attended by almost all the relevant Latin American and European presidents. Although Colombian Petro has not had much success in its calls so far, Sanchez believes that it is precisely this kind of multilateral structure that needs to be maintained to sustain an alternative world to the Trump administration.
President Sánchez tried to ensure that the summit did not fail, and Sánchez himself made great efforts to reach Santa Marta de Belém. Large planes could not land at the Caribbean city’s airport, so two different planes had to be used. Other Spanish officials were also there, including Commission Vice-President Teresa Rivera (President Ursula von der Leyen was not present) and Commission Vice-President Teresa Rivera. EIB and former Economy Minister Nadia Calviño;
Sánchez is thus seeking to keep the EU’s ties with Latin America strong, especially as President Trump seeks to regain power on the continent by replacing Europeans and Chinese with new leadership of the Latin American far right.
“If two years ago the EU-CELAC summit was a political priority, today it has become a geopolitical imperative, because the challenges we face affect us all, including violations of international law in Gaza and Ukraine, attacks on free trade and the weakening of global governance,” Sanchez explained.
“The world has changed a lot since the last summit in Brussels. And in such a changing world, this alliance offers what is essential: trust. A relationship based on principles, mutual respect and a shared vision. Europe and Latin America can and must be a beacon of stability, prosperity and openness in these uncertain times, full of risks,” the Spanish President asserted.
Sanchez received applause when he proposed that the next UN Secretary-General should be a woman and a Latina. One of the most popular is former Ibero-American secretary general Rebecca Grinspan, but there are also former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and former Argentine prime minister Susana Marcora under Mauricio Macri.
The Spanish president is also using the forum to press for final ratification of the EU-Mercosur agreement, which Spain hopes to achieve by the end of the year, around December 20, when the next summit of countries in this group of countries in the southern Americas will be held.
France continues to resist, and Emmanuel Macron has apparently distanced himself from the EU-CELAC summit by not attending, but has remained in Mexico and worked to strengthen bilateral ties. The EU is also working to renew its ties with Mexico in an alternative to the Trump world in which Sanchez is the standard bearer. La Moncloa officials said Mr. Sánchez was confident it would be ratified by the end of the year, despite French resistance.
In the face of the United States and China’s expansion into the continent, Sanchez asserted that “Europe remains the main investor in Latin America, with Spain leading the way.” “In addition, our country is one of the largest contributors to the Global Gateway Agenda. Of the €9.4 billion we pledged to contribute by 2027 two years ago, we have already mobilized 5,300 people to operational and connectivity projects in the region, green and digital transition, health and sustainable infrastructure. From the Hispasat satellite in Central America to the electricity interconnection between Chile and Peru, this cooperation will create a common future,” he said. he claimed.
Sánchez also seized the opportunity to call for a renewed positive discussion on immigration in Colombia, where the issue is extremely sensitive as President Trump has been very aggressive in confronting Petro and implementing deportations. “The European Union and Latin America are not just partners, we are an intertwined family. Just as in the 20th century Latin America welcomed thousands of Europeans in search of hope, today millions of Latin American and Caribbean people contribute to Spain’s development. Our common history is a bridge that continues to grow on the best possible pillar: our people,” concluded Mr. Sánchez.
Although the Spanish president has stepped up his anti-Trump speeches, he has avoided direct conflict with President Trump and has never mentioned him. For Mr. Sánchez, as he pointed out in an interview with El Paz this Sunday, the big political battle of the coming years will be between those who are committed to multilateralism and science, and thus the fight against climate change, and Trump and his allies, who have abandoned multilateral forums and are intent on fighting the battle independently and according to the law of the strong.
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