LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain said yesterday it wanted to open a new chapter in relations with Latin America, pledging to end its neglect of the region and step up business and political links with the emerging economic giant.
“We will halt the decline in Britain’s diplomatic presence in Latin America. Britain’s retreat from the region is over, and it is now time for an advance to begin,” Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a speech at Canning House, a London centre that specialises in Latin America.
Britain’s six-month-old coalition government is committed to strengthening business links with emerging market economies such as China, India, Brazil and the Gulf region.
It hopes that trade can power Britain’s recovery from a deep recession at a time when cuts in public spending to reduce a budget deficit are likely to depress demand in Britain.
Britain closed four embassies in Latin America between 2003 and 2005, just as the region began to forge ahead, Hague said.
Britain will not let differences, such as its sovereignty dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, stand in the way of closer cooperation, he said.
“There will be no change to Britain’s longstanding position on the Falkland Islands. But this should not be an obstacle to the positive relations we seek.”
Britain and Argentina waged a brief war over the islands, called the Malvinas in Spanish, in 1982.
Prime Minister David Cameron is leading a high-level delegation in China this week aimed at lifting trade.
Brazil’s economy is booming, with its Finance Ministry forecasting growth of 7.5 percent this year. Brazil, Argentina and Mexico belong to the Group of 20 leading economies.
Hague said that, a century ago, Britain was a leading investor and trader with Latin America. Now, barely one percent of all exports to the region came from Britain.
“We export over three times more to Ireland than we do to the whole of Latin America — a region of 576 million people and 20 sovereign republics,” he said.
