Quote of the week by S&D president Iratxe García Pérez:
“The shift towards progressive governments in Latin America puts us at the centre of a joint effort to push for our shared global values: human dignity, equality, social justice, human rights, sustainability and reinforcing multilateralism.”
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Our Group president, Iratxe García Pérez, is leading an S&D mission to Latin America at a crucial time to strengthen progressive ties. She is joined by:
S&D vice-president for foreign affairs Pedro Marques
S&D MEP Javi López, co-chair of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat)
S&D MEP Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques, the S&D coordinator for Eurolat.
As more and more societies across Latin America elect progressive governments working to deliver social development, it’s a well-timed opportunity to reinforce and build ties with three key countries: Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
In Brazil, our members are meeting with former President Lula, who visited us back in November (watch his interview in Portuguese with English subtitles here), on 29 August. We’re also meeting with activists, trade unionists and lawmakers working on social development, the environment and what impact Due Diligence will have in Brazil.
In Chile, the government is making history and passing a new constitution, burying the legacy of Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship and building a new, progressive country. Our members will support the new democratic drive, meeting with President of the Senate of Chile, Alvaro Elizalde, and Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, on 31 August, as well as representatives from civil society.
Argentina is hosting the EU-Latin America ministerial meeting in October. Ahead of that crucial meeting we will express our support for the recovery efforts of President Alberto Fernández. Our members will meet with President Fernández on 2 September, as well as Santiago Cafiero, the minister for foreign affairs, and other key leaders. We will have key meetings with the brave Argentinian women who are leading a new feminist movement in Latin America.
We have so much in common with Latin America. In Brazil, Chile and Argentina our members are working to strengthen the multilateral system to protect democracies across the world.
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The European Parliament’s committees are meeting again in Brussels next week. The Covid investigation committee will convene on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Parliament’s new inquiry committee investigating the use of Pegasus and other spyware (PEGA) will have its first meeting after the summer with two hearings on spyware used against citizens. Following the latest Greek surveillance scandal, we’re calling for a plenary debate in September and an EP fact-finding mission to Greece. The Greek authorities must explain the revelations that the Greek security services tapped the phone of the leader of PASOK, our MEP Nikos Androulakis. There was also an attempt to hack his phone with spyware named Predator, which was detected by the EP services. The illegal phone tapping of an opposition leader and MEP is a breach of the rule of law and basic principles of democracy.
On Wednesday the foreign interference and disinformation special committee (INGE) will have a hearing on Chinese and Russian influence in different regions of the world, such as the Western Balkans, Africa, Latin America.
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We’ll be keeping an eye on the upcoming EU foreign ministers meet-up in Prague on 31 August. High up on the agenda will be the issue of tourist visas for Russians in Europe, the Iran nuclear deal, and the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo over ID cards and car plates.
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