EPP political family declaration in the framework of Eurolat

Political declaration signed within the framework of the space reserved for the political families during the plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), on the occasion of its XVII Ordinary Plenary Session.

With regard to the most pressing political and social issues of the day, the undersigned legislators, meeting within the space reserved for the political families of EuroLat, members of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament and of affiliated parties in the Latin American component, sign the following declaration:

First of all, shocked by the tragic railway accident that took place yesterday in the Spanish province of Toledo, which caused dozens of deaths and numerous injuries, we wish to express our deep sadness at the loss of human life, to convey our most sincere condolences and closeness to the families of the victims and our support and affection to all those affected, and to wish the injured a swift and full recovery.

The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly was founded twenty years ago with the aim of creating a bi-regional inter-parliamentary partnership on both sides of the Atlantic that would foster dialogue and mutual understanding in defence of democratic values, freedom and human rights, the fundamental pillars on which the Bi-regional Strategic Partnership between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean is built.  Since the end of 2025, citizens in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru and, most recently, Brazil in Latin America, and in Slovenia, Hungary, Sweden and Latvia in the EU, have been voting in competitive elections which, in most cases, have led to a peaceful alternation in power. Regrettably, non-democratic regimes still persist in some countries of our partnership, oppressing their peoples and denying freedom, respect for individual liberty and the most basic human rights, thereby violating the founding principles that gave rise to EuroLat and undermining the democratic quality of the bi-regional area.

With regard to Venezuela, we welcome the recent return to Venezuela of the leader of the democratic opposition, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and European Parliament Sakharov Prize laureate, María Corina Machado; we demand the immediate release of all political prisoners, an end to the persecution of all opponents and the immediate return of those in exile, as well as scrupulous compliance with an electoral timetable leading to free, democratic and internationally verifiable elections, held under an independent National Electoral Council no later than July 2027, so as to contribute to the restoration of democratic institutions.

We call on the international community, and in particular the authorities of the EU and of Latin America, to join forces to bring about a swift end to the authoritarian and dictatorial regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua, regimes that are anomalous because they are anachronistic and anti-democratic, and that persecute, stifle, imprison and impoverish their populations; we hope that significant steps towards a transition to democracy will be taken in both sister nations, after dark decades of communism, persecution, poverty and suffering.

We express our deep concern at the serious institutional deterioration, the weakening of democratic quality and the progressive erosion of checks and balances observed in Mexico:  the colonisation of institutions by the ruling party, the weakening of the electoral bodies ahead of the 2027 electoral process, the pernicious effects of the judicial reform, which undermine the independence of the judiciary and the mechanisms that safeguard the rule of law, as well as the numerous episodes of violence, extortion, intimidation and murders of journalists and of political, social and opinion leaders, are a warning sign to which our societies cannot remain indifferent. We will closely and continuously monitor the institutional situation in the country, and we reaffirm that the separation of powers and the independence of institutions are basic requirements for the proper functioning of democracy and for the fundamental freedoms of citizens. We also welcome the signing of the EU–Mexico Global Agreement and call for its swift ratification by the Mexican Senate, the only body yet to complete the ratification procedure ahead of its forthcoming entry into force.

We condemn the violent demonstrations, looting and riots that have been taking place in several countries of the European Union (France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, etc.), with illegal occupations of public space, destruction of historical, artistic and cultural heritage and attacks on law enforcement officers, which are being encouraged and exploited by the left and the far left, contributing to a climate of fear, extreme polarisation, violence and intimidation that hinders normal participation in political life and the exercise of political activity, at a time when elections are due to be held in almost all of these countries. While recognising that in a democracy there is a legitimate right to peaceful demonstration, we firmly reject the exploitation of this wave of protests to create the climate of intimidation, violence and destruction that has surrounded them, sometimes through the instrumentalisation of minors, and we expect the authorities in those countries to fulfil their obligation to restore order and normality with all the legal means and tools provided by the rule of law, without seeking to make political capital out of the protests, as has happened in some cases. 

Likewise, we firmly condemn the invasion of the EU's southern border in the Spanish city of Ceuta carried out on 30 and 31 July this year, and the resulting violation of that border, insofar as it constitutes an attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU Member State. We also deplore the inaction of the competent authorities of the Spanish Government, as well as the use of illegal migration flows as an instrument of hybrid warfare directed against the stability and security of an EU State, and we support the ongoing independent judicial investigation aimed at establishing responsibility for the planning, execution and objectives of that attack, as well as for the response to it in Spain.

Finally, as we are meeting in the Canary Islands, we cannot fail to refer to massive irregular immigration, with the daily arrival of cayucos and other vessels carrying hundreds of irregular migrants on the shores of the EU's coastal Member States. In the face of the human tragedy that this situation represents, it is imperative to apply strictly the legal instruments in force at EU level, namely the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the Return Regulation, in order to prevent the arrival of massive irregular flows encouraged by the criminal networks that traffic in human beings; regrettably, these legal instruments are not applied equally in all Member States.

Done at Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Thursday, 29 October 2026.

The following legislators sign this declaration:

European component: Gabriel Mato (Spain — EPP), Esteban González Pons (Spain — EPP), Herbert Dorfmann (Italy — EPP), Elena Nevado Del Campo (Spain — EPP), Davor Ivo Stier (Croatia — EPP), Raúl De La Hoz Quintano (Spain — EPP), Esther Herranz (Spain — EPP), Rosa Estarás Ferragut (Spain — EPP), Antonio López-Istúriz White (Spain — EPP), Borja Giménez Larraz (Spain — EPP), Ilia Lazarov (Bulgaria — EPP), Markus Ferber (Germany — EPP)

Latin American component: Dep. Juan Martín Rodríguez (Uruguay), Sen. Marko Cortés (Mexico), Sen. Luciano Cruz-Coke (Chile), Dep. June Bohórquez (Ecuador), Dep. Mario Herrera (Bolivia), Dep. Óscar Darío Pérez (Colombia), Sen. Alfred Sneek (Aruba), Dep. Jorge Cavoli (Dominican Republic), Dep. Maali del Pomar (Peru), Sen. Manuel José Ossandon (Chile), Dep. Conrado Rodríguez (Uruguay), Dep. Rafael Rodríguez (Ecuador), Sen. Sergio Gahona (Chile), Dep. Pedro Casanova (Peru), Dep. Cristian Araya (Chile), Dep. Nathaly Solares (Bolivia), Dep. Sergio Bobadilla (Chile), Sen. Liliana Benavides (Colombia) and Dep. Daniel Marañon (Bolivia).