BOGOTA: Representatives of European, Latin American and Caribbean nations will meet Sunday in Colombia to try to strengthen ties amid divisions in the Western Hemisphere over the US military operation targeting alleged drug-carrying vessels.<\/p>\n
But the relevance of the two-day summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union has come into question, because of the absence of heads of state and senior officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/p>\n
Colombia\u2019s Foreign Ministry has attributed the issue to scheduling conflicts with a United Nations climate summit and has sought to downplay concerns by highlighting the presence of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez and Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva.<\/p>\n
Colombian officials have indicated that they will seek the signing of the Declaration of Santa Marta \u2014 the city hosting the meeting \u2014 on renewable energy, food security, financing and technological cooperation. Yet the deadly US military operation will likely become a key point of discussion as the host nation\u2019s leader, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, is among its strongest critics.<\/p>\n
The US strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific have killed more than 60 people since September. Petro has called the deaths \u201cextrajudicial executions\u201d and has identified at least one of the killed as a Colombian citizen. One of two known survivors of the attacks is also Colombian.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clearly a priority for several regional leaders,\u201d said Alexander Main, international policy director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research think tank.<\/p>\n
Main said that with the postponement of this year\u2019s Summit of the Americas, the gathering in Colombia is the last high-level multilateral summit to be held in the region this year. This could make it easier for governments to frankly address the central issue of military deployment, given that the United States isn\u2019t a party to the summit.<\/p>\n
Lula surprised observers Wednesday by announcing that he would attend the summit in Colombia, because Brazil is the host of the COP30 climate conference. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told reporters that Lula\u2019s decision to attend the summit in Colombia reflects regional solidarity with Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Brazilian Ambassador Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Thursday that addressing US President Donald Trump\u2019s threats of military action against Venezuela and recent boat strikes in the Caribbean would be a natural topic at the summit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the topic will come up, because the Venezuelan delegation will bring it up,\u201d Padovan said. However, she didn\u2019t tell reporters whether the gathering\u2019s final statement would include the issue.<\/p>\n
Lula has urged Latin American nations to help prevent conflict in Venezuela. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he had also urged Trump during their meeting last month in Malaysia to follow the example of former US President George W. Bush, who participated in efforts to pacify Venezuela following a 2002 coup attempt against then President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Trump that Latin America is a region of peace,\u201d Lula said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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