Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
In the wake of the 1999 Rio Summit and its focus on biregional cooperation, this article reviews the background and development of European-Latin American relations over the past two decades, the political and economic context, the current state of transatlantic links, and the shortterm prospects for the relationship. Among its several premises is that the EU and Latin America constitute the bulk of the West, and the ways they work together will therefore condition the role of each of them on the international stage.