EU, Latin America and Caribbean nations hold summit overshadowed by US military operation

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Representatives of European, Latin American and Caribbean nations will meet Sunday in Colombia to try to strengthen ties amid divisions in the Western Hemisphere over the U.S. military operation targeting alleged drug-carrying vessels.

But the relevance of the two-day summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union has come into question, because of the absence of heads of state and senior officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry has attributed the issue to scheduling conflicts with a United Nations climate summit and has sought to downplay concerns by highlighting the presence of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Colombian officials have indicated that they will seek the signing of the Declaration of Santa Marta – the city hosting the meeting – on renewable energy, food security, financing and technological cooperation. Yet the deadly U.S. military operation will likely become a key point of discussion as the host nation’s leader, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, is among its strongest critics.

The U.S. strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific have killed more than 60 people since September. Petro has called the deaths “extrajudicial executions” and has identified at least one of the killed as a Colombian citizen. One of two known survivors of the attacks is also Colombian.

“It is clearly a priority for several regional leaders,” said Alexander Main, international policy director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research think tank.

Main said that with the postponement of this year’s Summit of the Americas, the gathering in Colombia is the last high-level multilateral summit to be held in the region this year. This could make it easier for governments to frankly address the central issue of military deployment, given that the United States isn’t a party to the summit.

Lula surprised observers Wednesday by announcing that he would attend the summit in Colombia, because Brazil is the host of the COP30 climate conference. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told reporters that Lula’s decision to attend the summit in Colombia reflects regional solidarity with Venezuela.

Brazilian Ambassador Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, said Thursday that addressing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of military action against Venezuela and recent boat strikes in the Caribbean would be a natural topic at the summit.

“It’s clear that the topic will come up, because the Venezuelan delegation will bring it up,” Padovan said. However, she didn’t tell reporters whether the gathering’s final statement would include the issue.

Lula has urged Latin American nations to help prevent conflict in Venezuela. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he had also urged Trump during their meeting last month in Malaysia to follow the example of former U.S. President George W. Bush, who participated in efforts to pacify Venezuela following a 2002 coup attempt against then President Hugo Chávez.

“I told Trump that Latin America is a region of peace,” Lula said.

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Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Gabriela Sá Pessoa in Sao Paulo, contributed to this report.