The European Union’s relations with the region have encountered obstacles due to the impossibility of reaching a comprehensive trade agreement with the “Mercursur” group, which includes four countries, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, in two decades.
Disagreements have also emerged with major regional powers such as Brazil over the Ukraine crisis and the repercussions of that war.
“Sometimes this partnership has been taken for granted and even overlooked,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
In July, EU leaders will hold a summit with their counterparts from Latin American and Caribbean countries, the first since 2015.
The decision to strengthen relations with the countries of the region comes under the impetus of Spain, which next month will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union for a period of six months, and which has established solid relations with parts of Latin America since the colonial period.
The EU executive’s new strategy is to push for a trade deal with Mercursur, release funds for infrastructure projects and hold more summits on a regular basis.
The European Union sees Latin America as a potentially important source of vital raw materials at a time when Brussels seeks to wean Europe from dependence on China.
“The war in Ukraine has also opened our eyes to the need to work with reliable partners and to diversify our supply chains,” EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.
But Europe has made strenuous efforts to confront Moscow’s Latin American propaganda of blaming Western sanctions, not the Kremlin-led war, for the supply chain crisis and diplomatic tensions.
Leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has angered Ukraine and his supporters by claiming that Kyiv bears part of the blame for the war and that the West is fueling the conflict.
Efforts to sign a trade deal with Mercosur spanned 20 years, during which Latin American countries resisted European Union efforts to get them to comply with its tough environmental and climate requirements.
The European Union is currently the largest foreign investor in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Last year, total trade between the two regions amounted to around 300 billion euros ($320 billion).
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