Opening session of the EU–CELAC summit. Photo: European Union.
Following the European Union’s announcement that it had approved an alleged investment of €45 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean, members of Venezuela’s National Assembly (AN) expressed their reservations as to the real objective pursued by the European bloc since, among other hypotheses, it was suggested that this would lead to the indebtedness of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) countries with fewer resources and “tie them up” in the classic style of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Another theory suggests that the investment will increase the degree of economic influence in the region and, in turn, curb the influence of nations such as Russia, China, and Turkey, traditionally not aligned with the interests of the United States and its Western satellites.
The deputy of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Roy Daza, who is a member of the Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament, stated that the alliance with the European Union is unreliable, since the EU has traditionally been subordinate to the interests of the United States. “The best proof of this is [the EU] having supported the criminal sanctions applied not only to Venezuela, but also to countries of the region such as Cuba and Nicaragua,” noted Daza.
However, after the role played by Venezuela in the recently concluded third CELAC–EU summit, held in Brussels, Daza pointed out the need to reach agreements “in order to solve the problem of inflation and the problem of the breakdown of the international financial system,” a key element for the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean.
He added that the war agenda that radical right-wing sectors tried to impose in Brussels failed and, therefore, from now on, conditions can be created to reach agreements between the two alliances.
EU means interference
The Patria Para Todos deputy Ilenia Medina, who is also a member of Venezuela’s Parliament, stated that this announced investment contribution must be viewed with caution and she said that “the EU has a long history of interference and colonization policies.”
Medina was categorical in expressing that “Venezuela does not need their financing; what Venezuela needs is for them to return our money, which is illegally frozen, some of it in the form of gold sequestered in the United Kingdom” (in the Bank of England).
The parliamentarian stated that Europe “has never believed in North–South dialogue, Europe has never fulfilled its commitments.”
She added that European history “is the history of constant aggression and constant war among them, but that, after a time, they united to attack the countries of the South together.”
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She pointed, as an example, the role of NATO, which has been an element employed by the United States to use Europe as one of its tools to defend US interests at the military level and “to consolidate its status as ‘policemen of the world’ and also to develop weapons of mass destruction. We have all seen what is happening in Ukraine, where they have not the slightest interest in achieving peace.”
Finally, she said that at least the investment announcement “opens the floodgates and creates expectations.”
€45 million
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Monday that the continental coalition will invest €45 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We are not only interested in investing in the extraction of raw materials,” said Von der Leyen. The EU also wants to partner with nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The comments were made at the opening of a round table with political and business leaders before the start of the CELAC–EU summit. She highlighted the potential of Latin America and the Caribbean in the growing wind and solar clean energy sector and proposed that “the natural next step is to transform that clean energy into clean hydrogen.” She added that Europe “aspires to be the partner of choice for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Many in Latin America and the Caribbean are reluctant to believe promises coming from Europe, as the EU has demonstrated a long history of empty promises and a lack of real commitment in supporting the true development of the Latin American and Caribbean region.
(Últimas Noticias) by Reinaldo Linares, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL/BLA
