After all, it was an important gesture by the German government: A few weeks ago, Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez to the G7 summit in Germany as a guest. But now there is bad news for the Europeans and the so-called West: Argentina is being drawn into the BRICS group. So far, it consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Despite all the economic problems that Argentina is currently experiencing with persistent inflation and high poverty rates, this would be more than just an image boost for the BRICS group. Because Argentina has, among other things, high lithium deposits, the raw material that is necessary for the production of batteries for electric cars, among other things. In short: The future market Argentina is reorienting itself.
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez and Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Waiting for the elections in Brazil
“I think the federal government is waiting and hoping for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to be voted out of office. I hope that activities to promote South America more quickly will then get going,” said Argentina-based economics expert Carl Moses in an interview with the DW. In fact, activities related to the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement are currently on hold. It was actually ready for signature, but was then stopped by the Europeans.
Virtual BRICS summit in June 2022
The reason for this is the controversial Amazon deforestation policy of the incumbent right-wing populist President Bolsonaro. His left-leaning challenger, Lula da Silva, who leads the polls and ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2011, promises to set the course for a zero-deforestation policy during the election campaign. However, should Bolsonaro win the elections, Europe would suddenly be left pretty blank in terms of the free trade agreement with the South American confederation. In any case, critics accuse the Europeans of having missed an opportunity. The free trade agreement could have put pressure on Bolsonaro.
No visit from the Foreign Minister yet
Germany’s traffic light government has so far given Latin America the cold shoulder. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has not been to this part of the world since taking office. In view of the changing balance of power on the global markets and the German hunger for raw materials such as lithium or gas, an adapted Latin America strategy would be urgently needed.
When asked by DW, the Federal Foreign Office said: “In 2019, the Federal Foreign Office launched the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative (LAK Initiative). The Federal Government sees the LAK Initiative as the basis for its foreign policy action of the region.” So the strategy dates back to the time before the big crises, i.e. Corona and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Since then, however, many certainties have changed.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, here at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 20
The aim of the LAK initiative is to strengthen and intensify partnership-based cooperation, community of values and exchange with the democracies in Latin America and the Caribbean: “The federal government is committed to the goals of the coalition agreement and intends to expand its commitment based on the LAK initiative, to strengthen the societies of the region in their fight against populism, authoritarian movements and dictatorships.”
New situation, new compromises
The new situation has already forced the traffic light coalition to override its own principles. The import of the fossil fuel coal from Colombia is increasing, although the impact on the indigenous communities living there is at least controversial. That would have been difficult to imagine before the embargo on Russian coal.
In addition to the political orientation, an accompanying economic strategy is missing. For example, Germany supports the peace process in Colombia with payments in the millions for civil society, a truth commission and a peace institute, but this commitment is not accompanied by targeted economic initiatives. The result: While China increased its export volume to Colombia from 8.8 to the equivalent of around 15 billion euros between 2016 and 2021, Germany’s export balance stagnated in the same period: it rose only slightly from 1.4 to 1.6 billion euros.
