EU Democracy Promotion in Latin America: More a Tradition than a Policy

Although interests are obviously part of inter-regional relations, the European-Latin American partnership is not mainly interest- but value-driven. Since the early 1980s, when nearly all Latin American countries abandoned military regimes, democracy and human rights have had a prominent place in EU-Latin American relations.

Today, the mutual commitment to democracy and human rights is stressed in all official documents and cooperation accords between the EU and Latin America. Nonetheless, other regional priorities and the return to electoral democracy began to undermine the common values discourse and marginalize the political role of the EU in Latin America.

This article is based on three major arguments: First, the EU's democratic engagement in Latin America still focuses on traditional authoritarian regimes (Cuba) and has not developed into a strategy towards the new political challenges of democratic backlash; second, the substance of democracy promotion mainly consists of technical governance issues and socio-economic support; and third, Spain is still a major actor in EU policy and its low priority of democracy promotion influenced the EU's profile.

Based on these assumptions and following a short discussion on underlying principles, this article will address EU's priorities in democracy assistance in Latin America, particularly with regard to the most problematic countries in terms of democracy, such as Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela.