European leaders' fear of Trump causes the summit with Latin American countries to fail

BrusselsEuropean leaders once again bow to Donald Trump. The European Union is struggling to avoid angering the US president, and, determined to prevent another outburst from the Republican leader, the vast majority of heads of state and government of the bloc are deferring. They will not attend the summit with CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) meeting taking place this Sunday in Santa Marta, Colombia. This move comes after pressure from the White House to sabotage the meeting and The discussion between Trump and Gustavo PetroThe President of Colombia and host of the summit.

Initially, it was a key high-level meeting to strengthen ties between the two regions. Since the EU has sought to gain autonomy, especially from the United States and China, it has set itself the goal of increasing trade relations with, for example, Latin American countries. The initiative was driven primarily by the former head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the Spanish government when it assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU during the second half of 2023. Therefore, Pedro Sánchez will be one of the main European leaders participating.

However, at the last minute, several European leaders have declined to attend the summit, and only 12 of the 27 leaders are expected to be present. Given these absences, which include those of Germany's Friedrich Merz and France's Emmanuel Macron, the President of Colombia will also not be traveling to Colombia; just a few days ago, she had indicated that this summit was crucial.

The newspaper Financial Times Bloomberg has reported that in the days leading up to the summit, the White House pressured European and Latin American leaders not to attend. "Forces external to peace in the Americas wanted the CELAC-Europe summit to fail," the Colombian president stated on X. The pressure also had an effect on the Latin American side. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Peruvian President José Jerí, and Argentine President Javier Milei, among others, will also not be attending. Thus, although Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is maintaining his commitment and will attend, the EU-CELAC meeting, which was meant to boost relations between the two regions, will be rather lackluster.