A Tale of Two Agendas: Colombia Summit’s Official Plan vs. Real-World Politics

The EU-CELAC summit in Santa Marta, Colombia, is a perfect illustration of a “two-level game” in international diplomacy. On the surface, there is the official, publicly-stated agenda, meticulously prepared by the Colombian hosts. This agenda is forward-looking, centered on the signing of the “Declaration of Santa Marta” to foster cooperation on critical issues like renewable energy, financing, food security, and technology.
Beneath this polite surface, a far more urgent and contentious “real agenda” is churning. This unofficial agenda is being dictated by immediate, life-and-death regional crises. The primary driver is a deadly US military operation that has killed over 60 people. This has prompted the host, President Gustavo Petro, to condemn the US, and it has become the “priority” for many attending leaders, according to policy analysts.
This shadow agenda is being further reinforced by the region’s most powerful attendee, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. His delegation has explicitly stated he is attending not primarily for the Declaration, but for “regional solidarity with Venezuela,” a country facing its own military threats from US President Donald Trump. This signals a clear intent to use the summit as a platform to confront US interventionism.
The European Union’s role in this dynamic is muted, largely due to the high-profile absences of its top leaders, Ursula von der Leyen and Friedrich Merz. This has weakened the bloc’s ability to steer the conversation back to the official agenda. While Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is present, the Latin American bloc is clearly in the driver’s seat, and their focus is on security, not technology.
As a result, the summit’s outcome will not be measured by the successful signing of the declaration, but by the strength of the (likely unwritten) consensus on US military actions. Brazilian diplomats have already stated the topic “will come up,” and with the US not in the room, leaders have a rare opportunity, as noted by expert Alexander Main, to “frankly address” the crisis.