CELAC-EU Summit: Opening candles?
The CELAC-EB summit held in Brussels on 17 and 18 July reached the 8 years of the last summit, following the (ultra)right offensive, with the energy recovery by CELAC. The current correlation of forces, which is much more biased towards social democracy, has made it possible to present this macroregion with a more unified voice and greater solidity in relation to the former colonial Europe. The EU reached this very impoverished summit in the light of the need for energy and raw materials that the Ukrainian war has accentuated.
The EU fails in its attempt to support the Ukrainian regime and to involve CELAC in legitimising Russian isolation. In fact, the alignment of the EU with the reading of history and reality written in Washington (let us never forget that expression "Fuck the EU" of the European affairs ambassador of Victoria Nuland) has no translation in most parts of the world, even though the mass media show this. CELAC does not fall into hypocritical and interested reproaches. In the Summit statement (not signed by Nicaragua), following the changes proposed by Cuba and Venezuela, they expressed their concern and supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a just and sustainable peace.
In addition, the show designed for Zelenski to be surrounded by authorities in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean met with a strong response against several participants. The old Europe, while affecting the region, cannot regard its former colonies as dependent.
The Summit particularly reflects the need for Member States to regain their influence in areas where their colonies were and to reach sources of energy and raw materials. The drastic reduction in the supply of oil and gas in Russia, the high cost of liquefied gas in EE.UU. and the uncertain future of conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world force European states to obtain energy sources in other areas. Renewable energy production and new technologies (hydrogen…) are not enough to cover the enormous volume of energy that underpins the economic development of European capitalist societies. The transition to new forms of energy with a greater technological component also requires few chemical elements located in specific areas of the planet.
Latin America has everything in large quantities. Laura Richardson, head of the United States Southern Command, commented in a more illustrative way on the lithium triangle (Argentina-Bolivia-Chile), oil from Guyana and Venezuela, the reserves of minerals, rare earth and fresh water from the Amazon and Latin America. It is estimated that this territory has about 63 per cent of global lithium reserves, 33 per cent of copper reserves, 32 per cent of nickel and silver reserves, and a high potential for generating green hydrogen. Richardson confirmed 200 years later the strength of the Monroe doctrine with a hotsane phrase: "We have a lot to do. This area is important. It is intimately linked to national security and we must increase our game." Events such as the 2019 Bolivian coup or the suppression of the government of Castillo in Peru cannot be separated from the struggle for control of strategic minerals.
In competition for energy and raw materials, the EU also needs this territory. In the 21st century, competition to maintain or recover these areas of influence is also exercised against other powers (China, Russia, Iran...). Europe is currently a small guest. The weakness of the EU (also of the US) is partly due to the integration process launched by Chavez and Fidel. In addition, Latin America has as its reference a multipolar world in which the dependence of Europe and EE.UU. is declining, with a strong trade relationship towards the BRICS group and the strengthening of trade relations between the states of the area (best example is Mercosur). In addition, the EU is interested in investing in certain specific economic sectors, concluding a free trade agreement with Mercosur and "modernising" those with Mexico and Chile.
The Global Gateway strategy and the investment of EUR 45 billion announced by von der Leyen up to 2027 in support programmes for renewable energy, public health, education, infrastructure or digitalisation are all part of these market-oriented pretensions, with a strong neo-colonial odor. CELAC members are aware of the shortcomings in raw material extraction and processing technologies. It is clear that an economy based on estractivism does not guarantee the future of a country. The EU offer is intended to replace the deployment of the new China Silk Road. It therefore expresses its desire to go beyond the extraction of raw materials, addressing the development of the local industry and the training of workers to transform it (concerning the production of lithium von der Leyen batteries and electric vehicles). The European offer is now beautified by paternalistic language: "I don't come to buy your fish, but to teach you to make cane and I want to do it with you."
Competition between powers focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, and CELAC knows that. It is also known that divisions among Latin American States, motivated mainly by the particular interests of local oligarchies, have been and continue to be one of the major obstacles to regional endogenous development.
What happened in Brussels shows that CELAC has been strengthened in the world as an organisation of a plural and contradictory area. The internal tensions between the different actors in Latin America, imperialist interference, relations with other world powers and the formation of the working class will mark the future of CELAC and the region. The need to strengthen relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and the declaration of the summit that fell short of its intentions have confirmed the weakness of the former imperial metropolis, more inclined to the interests of the warring sectors. The peoples of Europe, beyond the multipolar worlds of capitalist states, have an urgent need to build relations of solidarity with the other peoples of Europe and the rest of the world, moving away from the scant interests of the elites governing the EU.
Iñaki Etaio, Liberation Militant
Bidali zure iritzi artikuluak iritzia@argia.eus helbide elektronikora
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