Donald Trump will not be in the room when European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gather together on Sunday for a multilateral summit in Santa Marta, Colombia.
But his foreign policy has already left a mark – and is shaping the agenda.
Europe’s top brass, from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will skip the EU-CELAC Summit.
They are part of the more than two dozen high-level cancellations from a summit initially billed as an opportunity to further develop the diplomatic and business ties between the European Union and Latin America.
As Trump’s tariffs roil the world, the EU has embarked on a global effort to expand its trading partners, focusing on Latin America, a continent rich in natural resources, and reviving partnerships from Mexico to Mercosur.
Still, the European delegation travelling to Colombia this time is mostly restricted to nations with historical links to the continent, like Spain and Portugal. Some of the reasons cited for the wave of no-shows are conflicting schedules with COP30 in Brazil, the passage of Hurricane Melissa and the low-ranking status of attendants.
The 2025 summit was supposed to be Colombia’s biggest diplomatic effort in decades, with the participation of more than 60 heads of state. The event has since been downgraded to a single-day ceremony and will see only a handful of leaders in person.
The family group will be a stark contrast to 2023, when the 27 EU heads of state and government and the chiefs of the European Council and the European Commission stood together with their CELAC counterparts at a much-publicised conference in Brussels.
Beyond logistical problems, the growing tensions between US President Donald Trump and Latin America have likely played a considerable role.
The US administration has dramatically increased the military pressure on Venezuela, striking what it describes as “drug boats” navigating in international waters. The White House argues Venezuela is flooding the US with drugs and dangerous criminals.
It has also accused Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, who is accused of usurping office and mass electoral fraud in an election held in 2024, of running a “narco state” and leading an international drug cartel. The US has also deployed an advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Sea capable of hitting targets within Venezuelan soil.
The sequence has prompted speculation that the US could intervene militarily in Venezuela to oust Maduro if he refuses to exit the country. Trump told CBS in an interview that he did not believe an all-out war would break out but did not rule out intervening in the country, arguing that it has treated the “US very badly”.
Trump has also clashed with the host country, Colombia, and its left-wing president, Gustavo Petro. Trump claims Colombia is part of a group fueling illegal immigration into the US and trafficking drugs. Petro himself is sanctioned by Washington.
Von der Leyen’s no-show
The most notable absentee among the Europeans is Ursula von der Leyen, who was expected to land in Colombia over the weekend after making a stop at COP30, where she touted the bloc’s climate credentials and met with other leaders.
Von der Leyen has delegated her participation to High Representative Kaja Kallas, who will now represent the Commission on her behalf.
“It’s quite simple. Due to the low level of participation of heads of state at the EU-CELAC summit, the president made the decision to not participate,” said Olof Gill, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson on Thursday.
“We want to recall that EU-CELAC relations are very important at a time of geopolitical challenges and divisions. The summit confirms the importance of these relations.”
Von der Leyen’s no-show has raised eyebrows in Brussels, given her penchant for international fora. In 2023, she praised the CELAC, hailed the bilateral format as a platform for dialogue and promised to attend the meetings every two years.
“This EU-CELAC summit felt like a new beginning between old friends. These are times of great geopolitical change, and like-minded friends like the EU and Latin American and Caribbean partners need to get closer,” she said in 2023.
Asked if von der Leyen had cancelled to avoid enraging Trump, with whom she has developed a close relationship, her spokesperson declined to comment any further.
“The president believes she is executing her responsibilities to the letter and faithfully,” Gill told reporters.
Von der Leyen’s decision mismatches her own priorities.
The EU sees in Latin America a strategic partner to diversify its trade relations and bolster its diplomatic clout in a volatile world dominated by weaponisation, unilateral decision-making and blatant breaches of international norms.
As part of this outreach, Brussels has deployed the Global Gateway, a multi-billion-euro initiative to fund infrastructure projects, deepened cooperation to fight climate change and struck agreements to extract critical raw materials, which China controls with a monopolistic advantage that it manipulates to cripple global supply chains.
The crown jewel is the EU-Mercosur free trade deal, which has been 25 years in the making and is nearing the final stage. If signed, it will create a market of over 700 million consumers and boost bilateral commerce worth €111 billion annually.
‘Wrong message’
All these good intentions are now heavily strained by Trump, who often cajoles America’s allies into choosing his preferred side to the detriment of the one he dislikes.
Earlier this week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused “external forces” of seeking the “failure” of the EU-CELAC summit.
“In this new fossil-based and anti-democratic era of geopolitics, the aim is to prevent the peoples who desire freedom and democracy from coming together,” Petro said.
Despite the rarefied atmosphere, a select few will still make the trip to Santa Marta.
Among the minority will be Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and European Council President António Costa, all of whom attach particular importance to relations with Latin America.
“President Costa remains fully committed to the EU–CELAC strategic partnership, and in this period of volatility and uncertainty, it is vital that the EU continues to act as a reliable and predictable partner,” a spokesperson for Costa said in a statement.
The Europeans will face uncomfortable questions shortly after landing.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva, an influential voice in the region, has said the EU-CELAC summit would “only make sense” if the US military build-up is discussed, suggesting he intends to put the hot-button topic front and centre on the table.
The formal agenda does not mention the US by name but includes a point on “peace, security and prosperity”, where pent-up grievances might burst into the open.
The EU has so far trodden carefully regarding the US-Venezuela standoff, simply noting that drug traffic must be combatted in line with international law. By contrast, the UN’s human rights chief has said the US attacks amount to “extrajudicial killings”.
“The notable absence of both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is a clear diplomatic signal, primarily driven by a desire to avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump,” said Alberto Rizzi, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
“This sends the wrong message to CELAC nations: instead of serving as a reliable counter-balance to aggressive US policy, the bloc appears to be subordinating its regional partnership to its relationship with Washington.”
Amid the sky-high tensions, attendance from the CELAC side will also be reduced. The pan-continental format has struggled with coherence and consistency, as it encompasses mature democracies with one-party regimes.
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