GCAP Peru position paper on the V Europe-LAC Summit, 13-16 May 2008, Lima

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Background

1.    Europe and Latin American are connected by 600 years of history. Since Colón has arrived at the Caribbean Sea, American natives have played a crucial role in the provision of precious metals and resources for the luxury of European aristocrats and merchants. At the time, these individuals were also exploiting their own populations, which lived in a state of misery comparable to the situation that they created in America. Poverty did not exist in the pre-Columbus America; it existed in Europe, was brought to America and then extended through European exploitation.

2.    In Europe, inequality was a reality. While the privileged classes enjoyed an increasing and excessive luxury, the people lived in a condition of extended and endemic poverty. Africa has contributed to the luxury of these privileged classes with ivory, precious woods and slave work. India has contributed with seasonings; China with silk, porcelain and technical advancements such as the compass, paper money and bookmaking. Chinese models were copied in order to produce the first industrial products in England, France and the Netherlands, and these products were then traded and exchanged for money. The intellectual property of their true authors was never recognized.

3.    Indigenous America suffered with the destruction of its great civilizations, the smelting away of its marvelous jewelry, the prohibition of its gods, the neglect of its history and the proscription of its ancestral medicine.

4.    The servant work imposed on the American peoples followed the conquest by the Europeans. Africa was brought to chains and exploited through slavery, and China was humiliated at the Opium War. Products used by Asian, African and American peoples for well-being and pleasure, such as hashish, cocaine, tobacco and opium, were converted into goods and used by European traders to induce an addiction process, which, on its turn, served the goal of bringing human beings into slave through addiction.

5.    Europe never apologized to the American peoples for such exploitation. The British Parliament, during the Tony Blair government, has recently denied accepting the English share of guilt for slavery, stating that the present generations are not responsible for the acts of past generations. The uttering ‘why won’t you be shut?’ by the Spanish King in relation to Venezuela’s President Hugo Chaves expresses that European colonialism is not a reality of the past, but an element of the present that generates concern.

6.    The prosperity of Europe cannot be historically explained without taking into account the plundering of American minerals, the servitude of American natives, and the enslavement of Africa, which took place between the 16th and 19th centuries. The myth of European development as consequence of an alleged racial or cultural superiority must be for ever abolished. Millions of European workers, American natives and African slaves were forced to dedicate their lives erecting a life system that has proved itself ethically condemnable, socially unjust and environmentally untenable.

7.    On a positive side, Asian, African and Latin American products have changed the harsh way of life of Medieval Europe and became a catalytic element for its steps towards societies of comfort and well-being. Regarding the ideological aspect, originary peoples and American civilizations served as a model for the European Enlightenment utopias, and for collective dreams of societies free from exploitation. Without America, there would have been neither a French Revolution nor Socialism.

8.    On its turn, England has financed the conquerors that founded the republics of Central and South America, whereas France, Germany and England itself have imposed ideals and political models onto the newly born republics governed by their criollo heirs. If, on the one hand, it was the American collectivism that inspired the Enlightenment utopias, on the other it was Enlightenment that inspired the values and rhetoric of criollo elites in Latin American and the Caribbean. Countries in Latin American and the Caribbean have incorporated much from Europe, as well as Europe has incorporated much from Latin American and the Caribbean. We are united by a tragic past, but also by shared utopias and projects of human liberation.

Dialogue must be intercultural, and not only political

9.    After a complex history of relations, dialogue between both regions restarted to be systematic in the 1970s, when the progressive governments of Allende, Cámpora and others understood the examples of Simón Bolívar, Mariano Moreno, José Faustino Sánchez Carrión, José Ingenieros, José Vasconcelos and other precursors and ideologists, inasmuch as Latin America needs Europe as a reference point to counterweight North-American domination.

10.    Thus, in the 1980s, relations between Latin America and Europe contributed to avoid a USA-led war in the entire Central America, and also to avoid that the North-American empire extended its intervention in Sandinist Nicaragua by the ‘contras’, which were financed by narcotraffic and directed by the CIA. And starting in 1984, bi-regional dialogues have contributed towards the institutionalization of the Rio Group, an instance that managed to overcome the OAS’ colonial conduct. An ambitious proposal was made to create a Strategic Association between Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), on the one hand, and the European Union (EU) on the other.

11.    Since then, relations between the EU and LAC have become a part of their political agendas, of their cooperation and trade. It is paramount that these three axes of EU-LAC relations can be closely interconnected. Dialogue cannot and must not be limited to the themes of investment and trade, as propose the European and Latin American right wings: instead, it must be aimed towards improving the inner links of these three aspects. For its goal is far more than trade and investment: it is a matter of social development.

12.    A complex set of treatises, memoranda, declarations and negotiations in several levels (economic, parliamentarian and inter-governmental at foreign offices) became since then part of the relations between the two regions. It is now convenient to convert this rhetoric into reality.

13.    With an integration-spirit regarding social and economic problems, the 1st Summit between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union took place in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, and agreed to institutionalize such mechanism to promote and develop a strategic association between the two continental blocs. Its next meetings took place in Madrid (May 2002), Guadalajara (May 2004) and Vienna (May 2006).

The present situation

14.    However, in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, the situation has changed. The European right wings abandoned the project of the Welfare State, which had demonstrated for fifty years that it is possible to overcome poverty with social justice, and put the fight against terrorism before social development. Economic liberalism, which is nothing but egoism and social Darwinism, is now dominant in European universities, technocracies and public policies. The European governments are now working for the empowerment of their private enterprises at the expense and impoverishment of their own national peoples.

15.    Europe has been incorporated as a minor partner to the North-American war in Iraq, Iran, the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Europe now threatens Iran, conspires against China and is indifferent to the fate of the Palestine people, as the latter bears its martyrdom under the extremist groups that now govern Israel. Its attention has shifted towards the East as a priority cooperation area (which is nothing but a new form of economic expansion) and towards Africa for humanitarian assistance. Signs of fatigue can be felt in the European expansion, along with a movement towards the right wing in European governments and political parties, including social-democracy. With the expansion to the East, the center of gravity of the European Union lies now on Central Europe.

16.    As a consequence of this, a high percentage of European citizens no longer trusts its Brussels government. This fact could be seen in the non-approval of the new European Constitution. The European Union falls increasingly short of legitimacy among its own peoples.

17.    Non-governmental cooperation among the civil societies of Europe and Latin America is now, in truth, a form of intergovernmental colonialism. European non-governmental organizations have lost their independence vis-à-vis their governments due to their economic dependency; they have strengthened their paternalistic ties and have abandoned their critical role towards their own societies. Solidarity has been replaced by a results-oriented demand subject to policies and priorities that are established by the European counterpart. Horizontal dialogue – if it has ever existed – has been replaced by vertical and unilateral demands, and by the lack of transparency in the definition of cooperation policies. On their turn, Latin American non-governmental organizations have feared losing the little financing funds that are left to them, and have not been able to assert the truth to their European counterparts.

18.    Having as goal the empowerment of their own economic groups, European governments support their companies just like 16th century kings and queens supported their pirates and corsairs, thus characterizing a situation of neomercantilism. Companies such as the Spain-based Telefónica have been an accomplice to dictatorships such as Fujimori’s, by helping intervene in matters related to private telephone systems, and other companies, such as Techint and Repsol, have harmed the environment and the ancestral property of America’s originary peoples. Furthermore, they exert a domination of the market through unconstitutional monopolies and practices. Other companies contaminate the environment and seek to keep their tax privileges.

19.    In Latin America, a new force-correlation has been formed at the government level, reflecting a progressive increase in consciousness by its peoples and the economic and ideological failure of neoliberalism. In countries as Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, new political processes have been ignited in search of autonomy against North-American pressures, and seeking to coordinate the exploration of energetic resources, and the execution of governmental and financial policies towards a role of integration. Whereas Europe has shifted to the right, Latin America has moved to the left.

20.    However, as the UE promotes a paternalistic conduct towards Latin America, and in spite of all the above-mentioned political shifts, Latin America is still the stage of positions that are distinct, contradictory and, in the conservative governments of Peru and Colombia, influenced by the neoliberalism that flows from the United States.

21.    After the war in Iraq, the United Nations Organization has lost legitimacy and influence. Europe, on its turn, has not managed to become a trustworthy partner alongside the more progressive governments in Latin America, and is seen only as a possibility of trade and investment by the most conservative.

22.    Under such conditions, the greatest challenge for governments of both regions is to reach a political dialogue that reflects the interests, concerns and rights of men and women from both continents. To be realistic, it is difficult to imagine that this goal can be reached, as governments insist to hold on to conservative positions.

23.    Civil society organizations must now speak out and say the truth. Hypocrisy and half-words must come to an end. Political dialogue between the European Union and Latin America must seek to solve the problems related to poverty, inequality and exclusion that affect both societies, so that European welfare can be regained, Latin American poverty can be overcome and citizenship can extend itself towards the ninety million individuals that now find themselves in a situation of poverty in both regions. Latin America and Europe must take into account the demands of men and women. To achieve them, both regions must abandon the neoliberal ideological framework that has concentrated wealth, harmed the environment and generated greater levels of poverty.

DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLES TO THE EU – LAC SUMMIT

Migrations

24.    Europe must understand the fact that migrations have always been part of its history, as well as of Latin America, the Caribbean and other continents. All European nations without exception are a result of the work of immigrants. The migration of intellectuals, traders and industrial workers has allowed the construction and the organization of countries around the entire world. On their turn, Europeans have also massively migrated towards America and other regions. None has invited them to America; no one has asked them for visas or photos, nor requested their fingerprints. And they entered not without arms across the borders of then, but, instead, armed to the teeth in order to plunder and enslave.

25.    The Latin American immigrants and their families execute in Europe the tasks that Europeans do not wish to execute. They are new elements in old societies, and if they were integrated in fair conditions to the European development, their cultural and economic contribution would be much greater.

26.    However, their reality is one of discrimination. They are kept as second-class workers without citizenship rights. Migrating professionals are discriminated as well and find unequal rights vis-à-vis their European colleagues. Centers for the harboring of foreigners, like European Guantanamos, are isolated places without law and without human rights.

A new migration culture with the human person as its center

27.    A new migration culture must be developed with the individual at the center of all policies, fully recognizing its human rights and contributing to the construction of multicultural and intercultural societies. Migration must not be hindered but regulated, and its negative aspects must be overcome. Immigrants are not guilty for their situation, which stems from wrong and discriminatory economic policies promoted by the governments, from the lack of investments in the creation of jobs and from the state of education at their home countries.

28.    Human rights must be the central benchmark of immigration policies of both regions, and must stop being a pressure instrument by conservative Europe against whom it believes are its enemies or political adversaries, as its present behavior towards places as China and Cuba show. A coordinated work among both regions must focus the elimination of all forms of xenophobia and discrimination.

29.    Access to education, public health, social security and decent work conditions must be guaranteed both at the countries that export and receive economic immigrants.

30.    Both regions must develop a culture of sympathy towards immigrants starting from the interpersonal and intercultural dialogue, recognizing the immigrants’ identities and their contributions to the economic and productive life of their destination countries.

31.    The interest that immigrants have of investing in their native countries can also contribute to development and must be promoted. The use of formal financial channels (banks and international bank transferring offices) depends on these institutions’ ability to grant these users greater access to their services and to decrease the costs of money-transfers. Immigrants that make transfers to their families in Latin America are forced to pay to their countries in the exchange of euro, which is a strong currency, for the dollar, a devaluated currency. The banks do not accept deposits in euro and charge abusive fees for the exchange of euro into dollar. Moreover, senders and receptors end up paying at least a 20% fee to local European and Latin American banks, and the latter oftentimes belong to the former.

The right of individuals to free international transit

32.    Western Europe once celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall and hastened to divide the former Yugoslavia. Now it gives military support to Kosovo and in practice endorses the separatist longing in Tibet, whereas its partners hold on firmly to Basques and Irish, chase Gypsies, spread fear against Muslims and allow new massacres against Kurds. Western Europe now intends to build new walls in order to obstruct the free transit of human beings across the planet – invisible walls in the forms of controls, visas, papers and procedures.

33.    European embassies and consulates in Latin America are the first expression of the lack of respect by European governments for Latin American citizens. Europe claims to embrace a globalization process but, resembling its feudal days, seeks now the impossible in a globalized world: to be a walled city, just like its cities used to be in the 10th century.

Freedom of transit by Latin Americans to and within the European Union

34.    Latin Americans who wish to visit Europe for work or tourism face an insolent, arbitrary and discriminatory treatment at the European consulates for the obtainment of visas. We demand that this treatment cease immediately and be replaced by the full freedom of transit. Free trade cannot be conceived without freedom of transit for all individuals – a fundamental human right.

Human trafficking

35.    Trafficking of women and underage youngsters must be fought against by all governments of the three regions. The deep causes of human trafficking lie in poverty, machismo, corruption, and in a lack of values that is daily disseminated and promoted by neoliberalism through the written media and TV channels. The protocols of the UN Convention against Organized Transnational Crime must be fully applied.

The monopoly tendency of European – especially Spanish – companies in Latin America

36.    We demand full market freedom and the end of privileges to transnational companies, among them the European companies. We demand that European transnational companies respect the laws, the environment and the rights of the countries and local communities in which they operate.

37.    We demand that the European governments stop making pressure and stop defending the rights of their companies.

38.    We demand full labor rights and equal treatment for both non-qualified and professional European and Latin American workers. We demand an end to the discrimination of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants in Europe.
39.    We demand the immediate closing of the European “Guantanamos”.

40.    We demand that the European governments respect the free transit of individuals and that the Latin American governments defend the rights of their nationals.

41.    We demand that Latin American governments and local banks accept deposits in euro and stop forcing the dollar onto region.

The present Summit between the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean must be an occasion for promoting the effort of civil societies and peoples at both regions, in order to retake a path of solidarity towards truly just societies.

Lima, April 10th, 2008