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| AP |
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European Union leaders will meet Friday and Saturday in Madrid with
their counterparts from Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting comes
against a backdrop of resurgent political and economic instability in several
Western Hemisphere nations. Spain is calling the summit the biggest gathering
of heads of state and government ever held in the European Union.
Forty-eight presidents and prime ministers are expected to
attend the summit, the second of its kind since European and Latin American and
Caribbean leaders first met in Brazil three years ago.
In the 1990s, Latin America was seen as having a bright and
prosperous future, as democracies replaced dictatorships and governments opened
up their once protected economies.
But optimism has dimmed in recent months, following the virtual
collapse of Argentina's economy, a failed coup in Venezuela, and the breakdown
of peace talks in Colombia between the government and communist
guerrillas.
Some Western Hemisphere leaders are expected to ask for more
aid from the Europeans. Others will plead for the European Union to open up its
markets to their exports, especially agricultural goods. But Latin American
diplomats and officials at EU headquarters in Brussels acknowledge that they do
not expect much more than pledges of more cooperation from the two-day
gathering in the Spanish capital.
Despite the downturn in Latin America's fortunes, Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose country currently holds the rotating EU
presidency, is determined to push for closer ties with the
region.
He says Spain's political, economic, and cultural links with
Latin America compel it to play the leading role in strengthening relations
between Europe and the region.
The European Union plans to sign a free trade accord with Chile
at the summit, two years after signing a similar agreement with Mexico. EU
officials hope to negotiate a trade pact with the Mercosur bloc, comprised of
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, but negotiations are stalled over EU
import restrictions on agricultural goods from the area.
The talks will also deal with political issues such as
terrorism. Mr. Aznar, whose government arrested two alleged members of the
violent Basque separatist group ETA on Tuesday on suspicion that they were
planning an attack on the summit, says fighting terrorism is essential to
preserve democracy.
He says that, following the September terrorist attacks in the
United States, the summit provides a good opportunity to show that democracies
are resolved to defend themselves against terrorism.
Colombian President Andres Pastrana has complained that the
European Union failed to include Colombia's communist guerrilla group, known as
FARC, on its list of terrorist organizations. Some EU governments say doing so
would risk any revival of peace talks between the government and the
guerrillas. But Mr. Aznar says that omission should be corrected.
He says he is in favor of including FARC on the terrorist list
because it is a terrorist group.
Mr. Pastrana and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo are also
expected to ask the Europeans for more aid to fight drug
trafficking.
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