Press conference invitation: More than 50 organisations from two continents launch campaign against toxic trade agreements between the EU and Latin America
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Power Shift | 10 September 2025
Press conference invitation
More than 50 organisations from two continents launch campaign against toxic trade agreements between the EU and Latin America
Following the European Commission’s announcement that it will move forward with the signing of the EU-Mercosur and EU-Mexico agreements quickly, on 16 September, more than 50 organisations and movements from at least 17 countries in Latin America and the European Union are launching a joint campaign against toxic free trade agreements between the two regions.
On Monday, 15 September at 8:00 a.m. (Mexico), 9:00 a.m. (Colombia, Peru and Ecuador), 10:00 a.m. (Chile), 11:00 a.m. (Mercosur), 3:00 p.m. (Portugal and Great Britain) and 4:00 p.m. (CET), the campaign will be presented at a virtual press conference (with simultaneous interpretation in English/Spanish/Portuguese). Along with members of the organisations participating in the campaign, the following will be present:
- Quintino Marques Severo, Deputy Director of International Relations at CUT, Brazil, and Secretary General of the Southern Cone Trade Union Coordination Committee (CCSCS)
- Esteban Silva, coordinator of the Latin America Better Without FTAs Platform
- Andoni García Arriola, head of organisation at COAG, Spain, and member of the European Coordination Committee of Vía Campesina
- Maria Fernanda López, head of communications at Tierra Nativa Argentina
- Bettina Müller from the trade and investment team at PowerShift Germany and the Transnational Institute, Netherlands
To participate, follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82451578294?pwd=xriwLgcbQmAR413Zt7C3BoDD4Gq3Bm.1
Please send an email confirming your participation to: bettina.mueller@power-shift.de
More information about the campaign:
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first free trade agreement between the European Union and a Latin American country, Mexico. Since then, almost all Latin American countries have signed trade agreements with the European Union. This year, the European Commission intends to sign two more agreements: the modernised agreement with Mexico and the agreement with Mercosur, which would be the largest in the history of the European Union and Latin America.
In this context, a campaign will be launched to draw attention to the harmful effects these agreements have had on Latin American countries, but also on the European Union. The aim of the campaign is to demonstrate what these agreements have meant for the agricultural sector, industry, working conditions, the environment and access to basic services, among other things. Twenty-five years is more than enough time to assess whether the trade agreements have delivered on their promises. The organisations launching this campaign have worked for decades to expose free trade agreements for what they are: instruments of domination that deepen inequality between regions and peoples and increase the power of transnational corporations. They are toxic, they are unfair, and after 25 years, we say from both sides of the Atlantic: Enough is enough! No more FTAs!
