Latin American, EU Leaders in Lima

As concerns mount over rising food prices and the associated dangers for those in poverty, some 60 heads of state and government leaders met in Lima to address poverty alleviation, trade, and climate change. Peruvian President Alan García called for action to combat hunger in his remarks at the opening of the biennial summit, recommending that participating countries pledge to boost food production by 2 percent in efforts to bring down prices. As a new AS/COA update notes, between March 2007 and March 2008, prices rose 53 percent for corn, 74 percent for rice, 87 percent for soya, and 130 percent for wheat.

At the opening of the May 16 and May 17 conference, García made a call for unity and for governments involved to set aside differences. Yet squabbles between heads of state threatened to overshadow the summit’s proceedings. Days before the meeting, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez once again drew international media attention; this time for identifying German Chancellor Angela Merkel with “the same right wing that supported [Adolf] Hitler and fascism”  following her remarks that the Venezuelan leader did not speak for all of Latin America. However, as the summit opened, Chávez apologized and the two leaders shook hands.

But a more troubling source of tension could be the ongoing dispute between Colombia and its neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela. Tensions have run high after a Colombian attack in March just across the Ecuadorian border on a camp controlled by the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC). Bogotá alleges that files found on laptops at the camp link Chávez and Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa to the FARC. Interpol released a report on May 15 citing “no evidence of modification, alteration, addition, or deletion” of the files, supporting Colombia’s claims. Ecuador and Venezuela responded by disputing the validity of the report. In an AS/COA Online interview, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza said the OAS would assist with negotiations to resolve any disagreement between the Andean countries arising from news about the laptop files. Chávez, Merkel, and Uribe were among the leaders present in Lima.

Along with external matters affecting the EU-LAC summit, the major policy issues being addressed could also give rise to disagreements. Leaders attempting to find a resolution to poverty-related hunger and sustainable development handled the related topic of controversy surrounding biofuels. Critics have decried the use of ethanol, saying biofuels have driven up the cost of food and caused environmental degradation. However, Brazil has defended its production of sugarcane ethanol in contrast to corn ethanol produced in other countries. “I have always told my European friends that it isn't worth restructuring their well-organized agricultural systems to produce biofuel,” said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a recent interview with German magazine Spiegel. “We, and the Africans, can do a much better job of it.” 

The summit focus on the environment comes  shortly after the Lima-based Economic and Social Research Consortium (CIES) published an issue of its journal Economia y Sociedad outlining the effects of climate change witnessed in Peru. The area of the Peruvian Andes covered by glaciers has decreased by as much as 20 percent in the past 25 years, according to the CIES.

A Deutsche Welle analysis looks at what’s at stake at the summit. Leaders from both regions expressed interest in strengthening trade relations, though no agreements were reached during the summit. An analysis by New Europe describes the lack of full trade liberalization with Latin America as "Europe's next big missed business opportunity."

While disputes may bedevil proceedings, the fifth EU-LAC summit offers Lima the chance to showcase its thriving economy. A new AS/COA update examines Peru’s economic growth, which hit 9.3 percent in this year’s first quarter. A recent article by COA’s Eric Farnsworth takes a closer look at how Peru is repositioning itself in the global community.

Updated May 19, 2008.