‘Latin America can feed more people,’ declares top EU official
JOSEP BORRELL VISIT
Latin America, one of the main breadbaskets in the world, can “feed more people” in the wake of the global crisis created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declared EU High Representative Josep Borrell on Tuesday in advance of meetings with foreign ministers from the region.
Representatives from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a regional trade bloc comprised of 36 countries, met in Buenos Aires this week to discuss opportunities for multilateral cooperation on key global issues, including energy and food security.
“In light of the war in Ukraine and the shock waves on food and energy prices, Latin America can also give energy, and we can supply them with technology,” Borrell remarked. “Argentina is a country that supplies many necessary goods to the world due to its enormous production capacity for agriculture.”
Borrell went on to emphasise the importance of working side-by-side with Latin American states through investment initiatives, and noted the capital being sent south from the member countries of the EU.
“Many problems we can solve better together. Europe has invested more in Latin America than in Russia, Japan, China and Russia together. You can get an idea of how many eggs we have put in the Latin American basket,” he said at a press conference in the Palacio San Martín, ceremonial seat of Argentina’s Foreign Ministry. “In politics and economics, the gaps are filled. China is the main trading partner of all Latin American countries, but we (the EU) invest more,” he added in a jab at the Asian power.
Borrell also spoke about the negotiations to close the long-awaited free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU. The two must undertake a joint effort “between now and the end of the year” to conclude their FTA, he added, stressing that, “it is a pending issue. It is an agreement of strategic importance. The problems that still exist must be identified.”