Backed by Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, European and Latin American progressives join forces in a major event in Santiago, Chile, aiming at enhancing EU-Latin America co-operation. The event, which takes place from 27 to 29 April, is organised by the Global Progressive Forum (GPF), in co-operation with the Fundación Salvador Allende and the Instituto Igualdad.
During the event, Euro and Latin American MPs met with civil society representatives from several Latin American and European countries to discuss a series of issues, ranging from migration, women’s rights and globalisation, to tackling tax evasion.
Speakers include Isabel Allende, PES women’s president Zita Gurmai, FEPS president Massimo D’Alema, Immaculada Rodriguez MEP and Constanze Krehl MEP, and former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer.
Opening the event, president Michelle Bachelet said:
“This meeting of the Global Progressive Forum in Chile is a great opportunity for dialogue between Europe and Latin America.
“Both continents are faced with xenophobia and populism. We must not forget that these are easy answers that do not take responsibility for the problem. Instead, we have to ask how we can build democratic socialism in countries where the state is weak. The response demands a new dialectic of freedom and equality.”
GPF president, S&D MEP Enrique Guerrero Salom, added:
“A new paradigm is needed between Europe and Latin America; a paradigm where political parties and civil society must respond together to global challenges. To achieve this, we must build an alliance for a more sustainable model.”
Note to the Editors
The Global Progressive Forum (GPF) was created in 2003 by the Party of European Socialists and by the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament with the goal of connecting progressive forces from around the world and developing a global progressive agenda.
