When the Ibero-American Summit convened in Panama on Oct. 16, it bore little resemblance in spirit and tenor to its launch in 1991. The idea that initially animated the annual gathering of Spain and Portugal’s heads of state and their Latin American counterparts emphasized the renewal of historical, cultural bonds in a context in which the two relatively prosperous European nations could lend a hand to help lift up their former colonies. Spain in particular was held up as a model for its post-Franco democratic restoration and would serve as Latin America’s entry point into European markets.

Judging by the latest gathering, that idea has been exhausted. In Panama, by all accounts, there were few traces of such solidarity, and the sense of common purpose has gradually diminished. Many factors—including the proliferation of integration schemes and summits, along with resulting fatigue—have contributed to the fading dynamism of that initiative.

Most fundamental has been a dramatic shift in conditions in recent years. A notably more confident and autonomous Latin America, which has experienced sustained growth over the past decade, coupled with the economic doldrums that have lately bedeviled much of Europe and especially Spain, have led to a drifting apart and even turning of the tables.

To be sure, Spain has been a key factor in Latin America’s recent progress. The region accounts for roughly half of the revenue of some of Spain’s largest companies, including banking groups like Santander and telecommunications firms like Telefonica, that have concentrated investment in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Latin America’s energy and infrastructure sectors have also offered fertile areas for Spanish investment. Of course, such opportunities also involve risks, as Spain found out in April 2012, when Argentina nationalized Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), a division of the Spanish oil company Repsol.

But there is no longer even any pretense that such investments are made principally to help advance Latin America’s overall development aims. Rather, taking advantage of the region’s expanding markets is deemed critical for Spanish companies’ sheer survival. Despite recent entreaties by Spanish officials, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, there are few indications that either Latin American governments or the region’s burgeoning multinational companies, known as multilatinas, are apt to give higher priority to Spain than to other countries.

Complete article via World Politics Review.