The Latin American Report # 373

French farmers again charged Monday against the long-negotiated potential trade agreement between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur (Common Market of the South, integrating Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia), which could be signed before the end of the year. After receiving an initial blessing from both sides in 2019, the deal, which began to be built at the beginning of this century, has been stalled in the face of opposition from Paris and other actors, who criticize the lack of reciprocity in phytosanitary standards and also appeal to issues such as environmental protection. European farmers advocate that the Union should protect the local supply chains they rely on to feed their families. One way or another, back and forth, we have been talking a lot about trade and protectionism these days.

So, many farmers disrupted traffic today in northern France with the help of tractors, while it is reported that they also boarded up a government office, among other signs of rebellion as manure dumping. “The government slept on its agriculture, so we won't let them sleep,” said the head of a farmer's union, referring to the noisy encampment they set up in the local prefecture of Beauvais. “Last year, we protested for the same reasons: too much paperwork, overly strict norms, [and] not enough help from the state. Now, with unfair competition from South American products boosted with hormones and GMOs, it's the final straw,” the union leader said, alluding to some production practices allowed in our region but prohibited in Europe. The Brazilian president Lula da Silva has been the most active in pressuring the EU to lower environmental standards.

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A young French farmer who owns 300 head of cattle said that he does not earn much from his work and that in this context he sees the horizon bleak and feels disrespected. In other French towns such as Bordeaux and Strasbourg, there were also strong protests. European nations with diplomatic muscle like Spain and Germany are in favor of the free trade initiative, although in the latter case, the intention is to find more market for its car manufacturing industry. If signed, the agreement—also known as “cows for cars”—will still face barriers that could be insurmountable depending on the path taken by the European Commission. In Latin America, there were fears about the position Javier Milei would adopt, while Paraguay's conservative President Santiago Peña has also been somewhat wary of continuing to knock on Europe's door and has tried to turn Mercosur's cart towards other trade horizons. But now the deal looks safe from this part of the world.

Europe knows that China is on the prowl. “Is the European Union interested, at this moment, in closing in on itself?”, the Spanish Farm Minister asked today. French President Emmanuel Macron, who is visiting the region to participate in the G20 summit in Brazil, said in Argentina that he cannot ask French and European farmers “to change their practices, to stop [following] certain phytosanitary [standards] (...) and at the same time open our markets to massive imports of products that do not respect the same criteria,” he insisted. For example, Macron wants to extrapolate to any Mercosur deal the guarantees that the EU has in its trade with Canada, which prohibits the import of meat produced with hormones or antibiotics. In truth, Macron's refusal emerged while Jair Bolsonaro had the keys to the Planalto Palace and turned a blind eye to the deforestation of the Amazon. Instead, the diminished French leader is interested in Argentine lithium.

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In Brazil, the new G20 summit kicked off on Monday, but beyond declarations of intent and announcements of financial commitments, I don't expect anything productive to come out of it. By the way, President Javier Milei has already ordered the Argentine negotiators of the draft resolution to oppose some wording related to gender equality, tax on the superrich, or the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

The weather continues to punish the region, affecting the daily routines of thousands of people. In Ecuador 👇

The Venezuelan government has taken an interesting step by releasing a representative part of the citizens it had imprisoned following post-election protests between the end of July and the beginning of August. There is a question mark hanging in the air as to what the Trump administration's decision will be once it assumes power on January 20 concerning the oil-producing nation. Will it remain calm so as not to distort the oil market—as the Biden White House did despite reasonable doubts about the electoral outcome—or will it resume its 2019 maximum-pressure policy then applied at the behest of the like-to-be Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other hawk politicians like john Bolton?

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And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.