Santiago (Chile): Oil-rich Venezuela have scored a victory when it persuaded European delegates at a 60-nation summit to back down on a key point in the gathering`s final document, dropping a phrase that would have committed leaders to base their economic regulations on "international commitments and obligations."
European and Latin American leaders at the summit yesterday also agreed in the document to reduce trade barriers and risks for foreign investment, push for stronger limits on greenhouse gases and support a United Nations effort to re-think the war on drugs.
In dropping the phrasing that Venezuela objected to, the Europeans agreed to the South American country`s language emphasising that each nation is free to regulate foreign investment according to its own economic and social development policies. The debate resolved one of the final hurdles to a document being prepared for the signatures of presidents and prime ministers today.
"We emphasise the importance of working together to promote investments that support sustainable and sound use of natural resources, environmental care, and economic and social development, and to maintain a favorable investment climate, with legal certainty and respect of national and international law," the revised clause now says.
"In this regard, we stress the importance of a stable and transparent regulatory framework that provides certainty to investors, while recognising the sovereign right of States to regulate."
Venezuela`s win came despite concerted European Union efforts to persuade their counterparts that clear, stable ground rules and "legal certainty" are key to sustainable development in the region, where EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said European businesses have currently invested USD 516 billion.
But with China providing a seemingly insatiable demand for copper and soy, Latin America has less to lose from delays, and Venezuela`s intransigence was celebrated by some of its allies as a show of strength.
"This isn`t a victory. It`s not the imposition of a concept. It`s simply respect for diversity," said Venezuelan diplomat Rodolfo Sanz, who leads ALBA, a separate alliance of left-leaning Latin American nations. "It`s a sovereign right."
Diplomats told the AP that foreign ministers have agreed to nearly everything else in the final declaration of the summit, in which 33 Latin American and Caribbean governments and 10 European Union countries participated.
PTI
