The French president, Emmanuel Macronbegins a tour of Argentina, Brazil and Chile on Saturday to relaunch cooperation with Latin Americaunder pressure from its agricultural sector to block the trade agreement between the UE and the Mercosur.
“There is a Latin American moment”the French presidency stressed on Thursday, when detailing this second trip of Macron a Latin America in 2024, after Brazil in March, which seeks “relaunch cooperation” with this region.
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Since coming to power in 2017, Latin America has never been among the priorities of the French leader who, before 2024, only traveled to Buenos Aires in 2018 for a summit of the G20but interest has increased in the last year.
“The situation of the war Ukraine and its consequences, the geopolitical transformations, the rivalry between China y USA and changes in global value chains bring America Latina to the center of world attention”Gaspard Estrada, a political scientist at the London School of Economics.
For this expert on the On Globalthis region may be a “key actor” in the critical metals necessary for the energy transition, food as “great exporter” of raw materials and the environment, and powers such as Germany They have already started to get closer.
Proof of this renewed interest, Macron plans to unveil on Thursday before the Chilean Parliament in Valparaiso his vision for the relations between the second economy of the European Union and Latin Americain his first speech about the region.
Your visit to Argentina and Chile It will also seek to promote commercial relations and bilateral investmentsespecially in the fields of critical metals such as lithium or copper, defense, green hydrogen and transportation.
However, France’s opposition to the trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and Mercosur –block formed by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Boliviaalthough the latter does not participate in the pact– was also invited to the visit.
“The topic will be addressed effectively during the trip (…) The authorities French authorities have made it very clear on numerous occasions (…) that this agreement is not acceptable in its current form“, indicated the presidency.
Attract Milei
The center-right president, weakened in his country since the early legislative elections mid-2024, is under pressure from its agricultural sector, which organized strong protests in January.
Faced with an imminent signing of the trade agreement between the UE and the Mercosurthat the European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the Twenty-seven, seems determined to conclude this year, French farmers are preparing new mobilizations starting Monday.
The protests will coincide with the G20 summit in Brazil, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday and in which they will meet with leaders of the group of emerging countries BRICS+, such as the Chinese Xi Jinping, the South African Cyril Ramaphosa and the indian Narendra Modi.
Before the summit, Macron will seek Saturday and Sunday in Buenos Aires to attract the ultraliberal president, Javier Mileyto the “international consensus” on global challenges such as climate, after Argentina withdrew from the 29th conference on climate change of the HIM (COP29), which is held in Baku.
His Latin American tour, six decades after the historic three-week visit to South America by then-president and World War II hero Charles de Gaulle, will also have a memorial aspect.
On Sunday, he will remember the “twenty” French people who disappeared and were murdered in the first years of the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983), as their relatives claimed, the presidency indicated, but hinting that he will not talk about them with mercyas they also requested, to “not interfere in domestic politics.”
In Chile, where it will be Wednesday and Thursday, Macron will meet with his leftist counterpart, Gabriel Boricwill visit the house of the poet Pablo Neruda in Santiago and will highlight the role of the Church in protecting opponents during the Chilean dictatorship (1973-1990).