LATIN AMERICA: New EU promises to Latin America mask old business agenda

Leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet next week in Brussels for the first time in almost a decade.

Ahead of the EU-CELAC summit, Hernán Saenz, Oxfam’s EU-LAC expert, said: 

“The EU’s supposedly new agenda for Latin America masks old intentions. Europe continues to chase trade and investment and sidelines people living in the world’s most unequal region. It is simply the same old business agenda with a brand-new name: the 'Global Gateway'.

“Six out of ten people are struggling to make ends meet while six percent of regional GDP is lost every year due to tax evasion and fraud. At the same time, 91 billionaires have amassed a combined wealth greater than Colombia’s GDP.

“If the EU wants to make it about people, it must bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and hold business accountable for damage done to people and the planet. It must stop putting private investment above people and instead support initiatives like the first regional tax summit to make fair tax policy. And the EU must listen to the people of Latin America and the Caribbean instead of making one-sided trade deals and extracting raw materials.

"As it stands, this plan will do little for most people in the region and risks increasing the power of the already powerful few.”