Spain will seek to highlight the importance of maintaining sound relations with Latin America when it takes up the EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2023, Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela, told EFE in an exclusive interview.
EURACTIV’s partner EFE met with Cancela in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the 15th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Spain would not be Spain if it did not have this identity or this shared path with Latin America”, Cancela told EFE.
“It is time to also highlight the importance of Latin America,” said Cancela, recalling the importance of keeping strong relations between the EU and Latin America, as both sides have many shared interests.
International cooperation in countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile, which are considered high-income countries, “should have a more regional, all-encompassing focus on the four countries and with an approach to development in transition,” she said.
This is why Spain is carrying out a “reorientation of resources,” said the secretary of state, noting that it is now time for an exciting change.
Inequalities and structural problems in the region are not excuses for failing to analyse and combat problems such as gender violence or human trafficking in the region.
The EU and Latin America still have many challenges to tackle, including trade issues, Cancela recalled.
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis recently expressed his hope that the victory of Brazilian left-wing candidate Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva in the South American country’s election would boost negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European bloc and Mercosur.
(Concepción M. Moreno | EFE)
Source: euractiv.com
