This summer, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went on a five-nation tour of Latin America, visiting Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. In an email interview, Melba Falck Reyes, professor in the Pacific studies department at the University of Guadalajara, discussed Japan’s ties with Latin America.
WPR: What are de main outcomes of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent Latin America tour?
Melba Falck Reyes: With this visit Abe was seeking to consolidate and deepen relations with these countries, emphasizing four main areas: economic relations, cooperation, political dialogue and peace, stability and prosperity of the international community. Regarding economic relations, the aim is to elevate them by strengthening Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) already in force with Mexico and Chile, expanding trade and investment in new strategic areas with Brazil and concluding an EPA with Colombia.