Law enforcement from several European countries have disrupted an intercontinental criminal network smuggling migrants from fantasy island Cuba to the European Union. The investigation, coordinated by Europol and INTERPOL, led to the arrest of 62 persons, 25 of which were Cuban nationals and officials.
The final declaration of the two-day Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) issued Tuesday in Brussels included in its 13th provision the Falkland/Malvinas Islands as a territory under dispute. The document also condemned Russia's military deployment in Ukraine with a footnote noting that one country (Nicaragua) would not adhere to that point.
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Renewable Energies, Energy Efficiency, and Green Hydrogen with the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and held one-on-one meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni on the closing day of the EU-Celac summit in Brussels.
In a strong plea for progress on the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou demanded an end to decades of fruitless negotiations, urging the involved parties to reach an agreement.
Presidents Alberto Fernández of Argentina, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Gustavo Petro of Colombia, and Emmanuel Macron of France Monday got together in Brussels on the sides of the EU-Celac Summit with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and opposition leader Gerardo Blyde in a multilateral effort to find a solution to the political crisis in the Bolivarian country. Also participating in the gathering was the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Monday told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that his country wanted to generate a common agenda with the European Union (EU) to respond to present and future environmental challenges and the transition to renewable energies.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández Monday said at the European Council headquarters before the plenum of the EU-Celac Summit in Brussels that “Our regions must promote fair and equitable trade based on mutual respect.” He also underlined the importance of working together. It is the first meeting between the two blocs since 2015.
As of this Monday, 17 July, European trawlers will no longer be able to fish off the Moroccan coast since the fisheries protocol is over, and renewing the protocol will be complicated since Morocco is seeking to secure a more advantageous deal.
At least 160 Nicaraguan opponents who identify themselves as victims of the Daniel Ortega regime and 29 human rights organizations have sent a note to participants of the EU-Celac Summit starting Monday in Brussels to prioritize the situation in their country, it was reported. The initiative is sponsored by writers Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli, among others.
The summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) to be held in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday is surrounded by an aura of optimism, it was reported. The meeting will mark the resumption of relationships at the highest level after eight years.