EU-Mercosur reach deal
Dec. 6, 2024
The Mercosur trade bloc cinched a long-negotiated trade deal with the European Union, earlier today. From Uruguay, where the Mercosur summit took place this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the deal as a “truly historic milestone” at a time when global protectionism is on the rise, reports the Associated Press. (See yesterday’s briefs.)
Talks between the two groups have been going, on and off, for 25 years. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s intervention has been critical to advancing with the final agreement, reports El País.
If ratified, the agreement would lift tariffs on products including meat, cars, wine and chocolate.France has strongly opposed the agreement, but Paris does not appear to have persuaded enough other European countries to vote against it, reports the New York Times.
European officials and proponents of the deal say that it offers a way to reduce reliance on trade with China as well as insulating EU nations from the impact of likely trade tariffs being threatened by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, report Reuters.
More Regional Relations
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian Gustavo Petro visited former Uruguayan President José Mujica and bestowed upon him the highest distinctions from each of their countries. (El País)
Panama became the first Central American country to join Mercosur as an associate member, this week. El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are considering doing the same. “Currently, Latin America’s interregional trade ranks among the lowest in the world,” notes Catherine Osborn in Foreign Policy.
“In a world with active conflicts in multiple other theaters, the Trump administration is still poised to pay lots of attention to Latin America. Its legacy in the region could—and should—be placing the United States on a more competitive path with China in Latin America through the development of a U.S. strategy for China in the region,” argues Ryan Berg in the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Paraguay expelled a Chinese envoy for allegedly interfering in its domestic affairs and urging the South American nation to break off ties with Taiwan, reports the Associated Press.
Colombia
Enforced disappearances are not a phenomenon of the past in Colombia, “the people we interviewed conveyed the image of a society overwhelmed by the phenomenon of disappearances, which continue to occur daily throughout the national territory,” according to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances. (EFE)
“Progressive governments in Latin America are doomed to fail unless they ensure macroeconomic stability, according to Colombia’s new finance minister” Diego Guevara, reports Bloomberg
Brazil
Footage of a São Paulo state police officer throwing a motorcycle delivery driver off a bridge as sparked outrage across Brazil and become the most harrowing example yet of how the state force has grown increasingly violent since the start of last year, reports the Guardian.
Migration
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will ask incoming U.S. president Donald Trump to deport non-Mexican migrants directly to their home countries, rather than leaving them at the Mexican border, reports the Associated Press. (See yesterday’s briefs.)
The governments of The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos say they are opposed to any effort by the incoming U.S. Trump administration to turn their countries into dumping grounds for migrants from other countries, reports the Miami Herald. Both countries issued statements on Thursday after reports that Trump aides were preparing a list of countries to where the government might ship migrants rejected by their home countries. The news report specifically mentioned Panama, Grenada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British dependency.
The U.S. Biden administration has, for the past year, been in the process of extending contracts for private sector immigration jails across the US and exploring options for expanding detention capacity, according to a Guardian investigation.
Mexico is unprepared for the migrant crisis that will come with the U.S. Trump government in 2025, writes León Krauze in the Washington Post.
Venezuela
Venezuelan authorities cut off the the Argentine embassy’s residence’s access to electricity, water and food, “a ratcheting up of antagonistic measures by the autocratic government that analysts say is meant to deliver a clear message that Mr. Maduro, who is scheduled to be inaugurated next month, intends to stay in power,” reports the New York Times.
A viral song by a Venezuelan band — reclaiming a pejorative term used for Venezuelan migrants — has attracted criticism from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, reports the Washington Post.
Argentina
A year into Argentine President Javier Milei’s mandate the fiery libertarian has defied expectations, writes Benjamin Gedan in Americas Quarterly. Nonetheless, the situation remains volatile: “Many of Milei’s accomplishments are easily reversible and his divisive brand of politics makes it tough to build a durable coalition with the center-right, let alone recruit moderate Peronists.”
Regional
In a context of democratic crises, Michelle Bachelet points to the relevance of gender in politics: “Gender isn’t the only example of the disconnect between politics and people, but it is a particularly stark one: how can our system of representation neglect half of the people it is meant to represent?” (Guardian)
Haiti
Nearly 20 of the roughly 400 Kenyan police officers serving in Haiti on a U.N.-backed anti-gang force have submitted letters of resignation from the mission over the past two months because of pay delays and poor conditions, reports Reuters.
Haitian theater persists amid political crisis and violence - Guardian