From Argentina to Paraguay, Italy's moves in Latin America, the 'backyard' of the US
The area has deep historical, cultural and economic ties thanks to Italian emigration, a common religious matrix and strategic foreign policy partnerships, all reinforced by a strong cultural and commercial exchange
by Andrea Carli
While the blitz in Venezuela against Maduro outlines the intention of the Trump-led US, as part of its new national security strategy, to dust off the so-called 'Monroe Doctrine', i.e. the foreign policy line according to which any intervention by European powers in the affairs of countries on the American continent, Washington's 'backyard', is to be considered an act of hostility towards the United States, on the other hand, Italy is not a disinterested bystander, as it maintains a strategic interest on that continent, starting, precisely, with Latin America.
This area, which has witnessed and is still witnessing a long-distance tug-of-war, also economic, between the US on one side and China and Russia on the other, and which is rich in raw materials that are often not exploited, in fact has deep historical, cultural, and economic links thanks to Italian emigration, a common religious matrix, and strategic partnerships in foreign policy, all reinforced by a strong cultural and commercial interchange. On 6-7 October, the XII Italy-Latin America Conference was held in Rome, a biannual meeting attended by the foreign ministers of Latin American countries.
With an exchange with Italy of more than 33 billion euros in 2024, Latin America is home to more than 3,000 Italian companies employing more than 20,000 people, present in the most diverse sectors of the economy: energy, wholesale trade, transport, agribusiness, infrastructure. The total turnover of our delocalised production system in Latin America is over 70 billion euros.
Italy, emphasised Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, has strengthened relations with Latin America, as was the case, for example, with the development of new growth partnerships with regional giants such as Brazil. In this spirit, Rome wanted to include Latin America in the new plan to foster Italian exports to high-potential non-EU countries.
Argentina
Over the past two years, the relationship between the premier Giorgia Meloni and the president of the Argentine Republic Javier Milei has been particularly close. In November 2024, they met on the sidelines of the G20 in Rio de Janeiro. The following month, a few weeks after her visit to Argentina, the Prime Minister received Milei at Palazzo Chigi. On that occasion, the common will to further strengthen the already solid bilateral partnership was reaffirmed, with the aim of concluding a 2025-2030 Action Plan in the coming months, which will allow the already broad areas of cooperation between the two nations to be deepened. The talks also made it possible to reaffirm the importance attributed to judicial and security cooperation, with particular reference to the fight against transnational organised crime, as well as Italy's desire to increase its economic-commercial presence in Argentina, starting from the energy and high value-added sectors. The two leaders also agreed to maintain close coordination on the main issues on the international agenda. Last June, there was a bilateral meeting at Palazzo Chigi, where the Italy-Argentina Action Plan 2025-2030 was adopted to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as energy, space, and defence.
