Dr Adrián Bonilla, Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation, participated in the 11th Edition of the Meeting of the Strategic Triangle: Latin America and the Caribbean – Europe – Africa, on 23 and 24 February 2022, which was dedicated to the topics of Democratic Models and Economic Growth in the Atlantic Region.
The Foundation has been accompanying this meeting organised by the Institute for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean of Portugal (IPDAL) as a sponsor and partner for many years as it facilitates a space for dialogue for joint reflection and the exchange of good practices between different academic experts and decision-makers from the three regions. The objectives of the annual meetings are in line with the mandate of the EU-LAC Foundation set by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as it encourages further mutual knowledge and understanding between the regions.
This year’s edition of the Meeting of the Strategic Triangle was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a great impact in all three regions. The inequalities revealed by the pandemic, and the need to strengthen the strategic alliances between LAC, Europe, and Africa, were mentioned as central challenges and objectives of the strategic triangle in the opening speeches.
In the high-level panel on Resilience and Adaptability of the Democratic Model, Dr Adrián Bonilla expressed concern about the global democratic decline. The majority of the world’s population currently lives under non-democratic regimes, which disregard the basic needs of their people and societies. The efforts to strengthen democracy on a global level are complicated by the diversity and the different economic realities of countries – there is no panacea. Instead, national and local solutions that reinforce democratic participation and engagement of civil society actors are needed – in Europe and LAC, and the rest of the world. In this sense, it is fundamental to consider aspects like equity, gender equality, the fight against corruption, and the transparency of public and private political institutions. Dr Bonilla also emphasised the need to think of the EU-LAC regions as spaces of diversities, whose strong societal bonds have traversed the bi-regional summits in the past. The panel also featured Paulo Neves, President of IPDAL, David Henneberger, Director for Spain, Italy, and Portugal at the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, Carlos Malamud, Head Investigator at the Real Instituto Elcano, and Abraão Aníbal Barbosa Vicente, Minister for Culture and the Sea of Cape Verde, who mentioned the omnipresence of populism, global power-blocks failing to be democratic regimes and cyberwars as current challenges for democracy. Nevertheless, they elaborated on the willingness of societies across the globe to learn how to build more resilient and adaptable models of democracy in tailor-made, local approaches.
The 11th edition of the Meeting of the Strategic Triangle: Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa also included high-level panels on Post-Pandemic Growth and The New World Order. Panellists in both discussions urged for the strengthening of multilateralism and integration instead of pursuing protectionist economic policies and unilateralism. They mentioned the necessity of strong states to strengthen international cooperation and economic recuperation. Despite the challenging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the speakers highlighted the opportunities this caesura has created, like for example the transition to a green economy.
