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The MCC Center for European Studies organized an event about the current political situation in South America. Our guest was Victor González, who is a Member of the Congress of Deputies for the Vox party in Spain. The event was moderated by Rodrigo Ballester, Head of our Center.

Victor González pointed out the main challenges of South America. He listed several examples that prove the interconnection between the left-wing politicians and the cartels:

The President of Colombia had a speech in the Headquarters of the UN in New York about the legalization of some kind of substances. The main argument of the President, Gustavo Petro Urrego was that if they are becoming legal, there will be less crime in the countries.

Another example he cited was about the election in Chile, which was the most developed country, with a stable democracy for decades. Before the election in 2021, there were several riots who occupied the street. According to the speakers, it is a tool of destabilization of the left-wing parties in South America (whose budget are generally much bigger than their adversaries, because of the connections with the cartels, according to Victor González) to win the elections.

It is also interesting to quote that those South American countries are more and more in favor of Russia. When speaking about the suspension of Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council, 24 countries were against such as Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua; and there were 58 abstention such as Barbados, Brazil, El Salvador, Guyana, or Mexico. Those South American countries that were in favor of the suspension were Argentina, the Bahamas, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Jamaica, Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, and Uruguay.

To answer to the question „why it is important for Hungary,” Victor González highlighted that Hungary cannot win by itself, however, he hopes that during the European Parliament’s election in 2024, the ECR Group (European Conservatives and Reformists) can become the second-largest group in the Parliament.