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Crónica de la XV Cumbre Iberoamericana, celebrada del 14 al 15 de octubre en Salamanca., IBEROAMERICANA, Vol. 6, Núm. 21 (2006)

IBEROAMERICANA, Vol. 2, Núm. 5 (2002)

IBEROAMERICANA, Vol. 1, Núm. 1 (2001)

Delegations from 58 Latin American countries, the Caribbean and the EU met on the 28th and 29th of May in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was the third inter-regional summit since 1999 and the first following the eastern enlargement of the EU. Two topics were at the center of the diplomatic event: Multilateralism and Social Cohesion. Beyond the usual declarations of intent, the announcement that the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement, negotiated since 1999, would be signed in October, was the most important result in the field of cooperation. On the political level, the joint declaration to strengthen multilateralism within the framework of the United Nation reflected a European-Latin American consensus of values that favors a closer partnership in international politics. The results of the summit were not spectacular, but on the whole satisfactory. (SWP Comments / SWP)

With a majority of 59 percent of the votes, Hugo Chavez was confirmed as the President of Venezuela for the third time since 1998. The opposition, which had pushed through the removal from office referendum after a long legal battle, suffered a clear defeat. However, instead of accepting the result, it now speaks of electoral fraud and provokes new protests. The confrontation between the opposition and the government could therefore continue and paralyze the oil state for an indeterminate period of time. An equally negative scenario would be the further concentration of power in the hands of the charismatic populist and former military Chávez. The most favorable scenario for a solution to the conflict would be the end of the face-off between the political camps, which would, however, require constructive engagement from outside. Such an engagement appears desirable, not least in light of an increasing price of oil. (SWP Comments / SWP)

If everything goes as planned, 34 states in the Western Hemisphere will sign a free trade agreement in less than a year and half. With a 13 trillion dollar economy (40% of the world's GNP) and 820 million potential consumers, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) would be the world's largest trading block and an FTA of continental dimensions. Although negotiations are continuing - with the US and Brazil serving as co-chairs since November 2002 -, thirteen years after the initial launch of the project, doubt, in the US and Latin America, is growing that a free trade zone stretching from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska will ever exist.(SWP Comments / SWP)