La Unión Europea y América Latina en la perspectiva de la cooperación internacional

The purpose of this article is to analyze some of the main lines profiled in the European Union’s (EU) cooperation toward Latin America after the Cold War. It is divided into two sections. In the first, Jesús Velázquez compares the international cooperation that occurred in the context of the Cold War with the current situation. According to the author, during the nineties when there is a marked tendency to integrate regional blocs, Europe has increased its aid to the former socialist countries, to the detriment of the African, Latin American and Asian nations. The areas of cooperation have also changed according to the new topics of the international agenda such as drug trafficking and sustainable development, among others. In the second part, the author examines some important points of the interregional experience, and highlights the new formulae that will provide EU-Latin America cooperation with content and a plan. Velázquez says that, in recent years, the EU has joined the trend followed by most of the industrialized countries, of conditioning aid to compliance with political and economic behavior principles such as democratization and market liberalization in the receiving countries. He also underlines the fact that, in the future, European cooperation toward Latin America will depend on investment possibilities and market potential, among other economic interests. In the conclusions, the author reflects on the importance, the possibilities and the challenges of Mexico’s cooperation with Europe and its impact on the rest of Latin America.