{"id":696668,"date":"2026-01-15T02:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696668\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T02:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:16:12","slug":"eu-trade-deal-with-south-america-is-colonialism-without-bombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696668\/","title":{"rendered":"EU trade deal with South America is colonialism without bombs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU\u2019s new deal with prominent South American powers may not rely on bombs to assert power. But it\u2019s still colonialism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

European Union nations are pushing forward with a much-delayed free-trade deal<\/a> with South America\u2019s biggest trading bloc, Mercosur. And some experts say the clear US return to open colonial tactics in the Western Hemisphere may have pushed it over the line. If you look a little closer, though, Europe\u2019s own tactics aren\u2019t much nicer.<\/p>\n

\u2018Neocolonial and neoliberal\u2019, just without the bombs<\/p>\n

The main power in Mercosur is Brazil, which has Latin America\u2019s biggest economy<\/a>. And its president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva hailed the \u201cmultilateralism<\/a>\u201d of the deal, in a clear nod to the recent unilateral actions of Donald Trump\u2019s regime in the US. He also claimed there were \u201cbenefits for both blocs\u201d. But there are many critics who disagree.<\/p>\n

Neoliberal<\/a> trade<\/a> deals<\/a> \u2014 which put corporate profits before the rights of ordinary people<\/a> \u2014 have not<\/a> been<\/a> good<\/a> news<\/a> for the Global South. And the EU-Mercosur deal is likely to be<\/a> no different<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Critics say it will deepen already unequal North\u2013South trade relations<\/a>, displacing indigenous people<\/a> while trashing the environment, human rights, workers\u2019 rights, and democratic accountability. It will primarily benefit big business on both sides of the Atlantic, while hindering meaningful development<\/a> in Mercosur nations.<\/p>\n

Massive<\/a> and unscrupulous<\/a> agribusinesses<\/a> \u2014 which have been destroying the Amazon rainforest<\/a> \u2014 will win big. Fewer regulations will mean they can export cheap products (\u201cparticularly beef, poultry, pork, sugar and ethanol<\/a>\u201c), undercutting smaller-scale<\/a> farmers<\/a> in Europe (who aren\u2019t happy about the deal<\/a> either).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, big manufacturers in Europe will gain even more potential clients. And they\u2019ll gain reliable access to natural resources<\/a> in the region, particularly Argentina\u2019s<\/a> lithium<\/a> (which is key for development beyond fossil fuels).<\/p>\n

In short, numerous critics call the deal \u201cneocolonial<\/a>\u201c. The prominent Basque Workers\u2019 Solidarity<\/a> (ELA) trade union, for example, insists that the EU has proven itself an untrustworthy actor, saying it:<\/p>\n

\n

intends to continue its colonialist trade policies with the countries of the Global South while tolerating abuses against international law and human rights<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Deepening agricultural decay<\/p>\n

The further empowerment of agricultural business giants<\/a> doesn\u2019t just cement the might of a few unscrupulous profiteers. It also:<\/p>\n

The EU-Mercosur deal\u2019s pledge to address and limit environmental destruction<\/a> has convinced few critics.<\/p>\n

US is desperate. EU and China are playing a longer game<\/p>\n

The new surge in brash US colonialism, as we\u2019ve seen in Venezuela<\/a>, Gaza<\/a> and elsewhere<\/a>, may indeed be pushing countries further into the arms of other power players<\/a> like the EU and China. And numerous analysts<\/a> say this may have pushed the EU-Mercosur deal over the line.<\/p>\n

But the fact is that the US is desperate because it\u2019s already been losing power in Latin America<\/a>, after decades of violently enforcing its dominance<\/a> there during the Cold War. In the 21st century, for example, China<\/a> in particular has significantly boosted its cooperation<\/a> efforts<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n

The EU, meanwhile, is just a slightly less obvious colonial power in Latin America. It has postured previously about a green transition, but continues to dump that stance<\/a> as it pushes to keep a role on the world stage. And that\u2019s primarily for big business interests<\/a>, of course, not ordinary Europeans.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s absolutely true that the EU needs to reconsider its partners, as the US behaves increasingly erratically<\/a>. But in the interests of humanity, critics will rightly keep fighting to stop the European Parliament\u2019s approval<\/a> of the dangerous EU-Mercosur deal.<\/p>\n

Featured image via the Parliament Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EU\u2019s new deal with prominent South American powers may not rely on bombs to assert power. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[17032,31,2000,299,5187],"class_list":["post-696668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-colonialism","tag-democracy","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115896712073272809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}