The 11th plenary session of the EU-Latin America Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat) finished today in Vienna. The 150 participant MPs, from both continents, passed twelve reports and held an intense political debate over Venezuela.

Francisco Assis MEP, S&D spokesperson on Eurolat, said:

 "We welcome the good development of the work at Eurolat Parliamentary Assembly. We had the chance to debate over issues of common interest, such as improvements in the fight against organised crime, terrorism, tax evasion and money laundering, and cyber-security.

“I would also like to highlight the humanitarian crisis which some Latin American countries are facing as a consequence of the political situation in Venezuela. It is clear that there is a need to increase the support to the recipient countries in the region.”

Ramón Jáuregui MEP, S&D co-chair of Eurolat, said:

"Eurolat took one more step towards consolidating and reinforcing the strategic relation between the EU and Latin America. The EU and Latin America are too weak separately, whereas together they have a great capacity to influence the international scene and global geopolitics.

“The US are breaking the values over which the EU built its horizon: democracy, human rights, multilateralism, free trade, cooperation and dialogue. President Trump’s politics threaten these values, and the EU and Latin America must unite their efforts to re-establish an economic governance of globalisation, a cooperation against fraud and fiscal heavens, the social-market economy, multilateralism and an international trade based on agreements.

“Latin America and the EU must be loyal partners in the defence of our shared values.”