Frassoni (Verts/ALE). – (ES) Mr President, the first Summit in Río de Janeiro in June 1999 ended with the decision to establish a strategic bi-regional partnership, but the 54 priorities of the action plan decided on at the end of the Summit have largely not been complied with yet.

Moving beyond words, for us the challenge of the Madrid Summit and the initiative of a global strategic partnership consists of offering an option which is fundamentally different to that of the United States. I believe we will have been too unambitious if all we do is repeat that our priority is the establishment of free trade areas in countries such as Mexico or Chile. Or if we say how good the policies of the International Monetary Fund in Argentina are, while ignoring the data indicating that 41% if the population in Latin America is still living in poverty, that 56% of the income they derive from exports is used to pay debts, and that in countries with which Europe has agreements that are seen as models – such as Mexico –extremely serious violations of human rights are still taking place. We will also have been too unambitious if we allow our multinationals to treat their workers in a way which would be considered unacceptable in Europe, as is the case with the German company Continental Tyres in Mexico, or if we intend to intervene in the Colombian conflict simply by producing prescription lists to try to define who is a terrorist and who is not.

Finally, Mr President, we do not want to forget that the Spanish Presidency was very careful about accepting the attempted coup d’état in Venezuela – I do not know how else to describe this acceptance – and that this had a very negative effect in Latin America, whose governments, in contrast, recognised the democratic value of the Chávez Government.

With regard to the resolution, we ask – and I will end here, Mr President – that we stick to the compromise agreed by the groups and that we do not vote for an amendment which could seriously complicate the situation of the hostages in Colombia, by introducing the idea that we have to close the door to all types of dialogue. We therefore sincerely hope that this House will not approve the amendment proposed by the European People’s Party.