Total Rejection! Only 9 Out of 60 Countries Attend the CELAC-EU Summit in Santa Marta
Joana Campos
Historic Isolation of Gustavo Petro Due to Trump Sanctions and Massive Boycott by European and Hispanic Leaders
Colombian President Gustavo Petro faced one of the most humiliating moments of his term. The IV Summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU), scheduled for November 9 and 10, 2025, opened with empty chairs and an echo of absences that resounded like a slam of the door on the leftist leader’s ambitions
Of the 60 invited heads of state and government—33 from CELAC and 27 from the EU—only nine confirmed their physical presence in the end, while 51 opted for lower-level delegations or declined altogether.
This low turnout was not merely a whim of overloaded schedules but a clear rejection of Petro’s figure, whose anti-US rhetoric and controversial alliances have isolated Colombia on the international stage.
Petro, co-chair of the event in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, took the podium hoping to position Hispanic America as a “beacon of democracy” against global “barbarism.” But instead of an auditorium packed with leaders, only a handful of loyal allies joined him: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Pedro Sánchez of Spain, António Costa of the European Council, Yamandú Orsi of Uruguay—though his attendance was confirmed at the last minute and raised doubts—along with the prime ministers of Portugal, Guyana, Dominica, and Grenada
Notable absences: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who canceled citing “commitments in Europe” but actually fleeing the shadow of US sanctions against Petro; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; French President Emmanuel Macron; and from the Americas, Javier Milei of Argentina.
Even Uruguayan Orsi, part of the CELAC troika, ended up being represented by a deputy minister, according to last-minute reports. Petro did not remain silent. In his opening speech, he lashed out at “forces foreign to the peace of the Americas” that sought to “make the summit fail,” a direct allusion to pressure from Washington under Donald Trump.