Madrid, 9 years old (European Press)
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Callas, this Sunday asserted the “clear position” under the protection of international law of the European Union’s defense in the face of US attacks on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
Mr. Callas is in Santa Marta, Colombia, to participate in the IV Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union. The conference will be attended by heads of state and government and representatives from more than 40 countries, including 20 international organizations.
Delegates are working to finalize a final declaration through discussions on possible responses to the U.S. military attack, which has been condemned by the United Nations and numerous humanitarian groups, who have described the bombing of the alleged drug ship, which has already killed about 70 people, as an extrajudicial execution.
On this point, Karas asserted: “The EU’s position is clear: under international law, force can only be used for two reasons: in self-defense or in compliance with a UN Security Council resolution.”
Generally speaking, he recalled that the assembled delegations were preparing to address a number of issues, from climate change to national security and the fight against organized crime, including climate change and the protection of the rights and freedoms of the peoples of the countries attending the meeting.
“We are miles apart, but we share the same values. We believe in international law. We believe in a rules-based order. We believe in the rule of law and democracy,” he said.
Callas finally downplayed the absence of heavyweights from the Santa Marta summit, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron. “We have to ask those who were absent, but we have a saying: let’s thank those who attended.”
Colombian President and summit organizer Gustavo Petro blamed “forces other than peace” for “failing” the EU-CELAC summit. “In a new fossilized and undemocratic geopolitics, the aim is to prevent people who seek freedom and democracy from coming together,” he said in a recent message on social networks.
Earlier, Colombian authorities had indicated that 12 Latin American leaders and seven foreign ministers would attend the international summit.
The talks in Santa Marta come amid full-on tensions with the United States, following a Pentagon operation against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, and after President Donald Trump has amassed naval and air resources at various bases in the region every time he threatens to intervene militarily in Venezuela to remove President Nicolas Maduro, who is on the verge of death.
Ideological divisions within the Americas have also not helped, exemplified by the Dominican Republic’s move to “postpone” the Summit of the Americas, which was scheduled to be held in Punta Cana this week, until it can be held in a “productive” manner in 2026. Dominican authorities decided not to invite Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, claiming that doing so would increase attendance, but countries such as Mexico and Colombia also ruled out participation as a gesture of solidarity.
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