EU and Latin American leaders hold a summit hoping to rekindle relationship with long-lost friends

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union and Latin American leaders are gathering for a major summit of long-lost relatives. Whether it will also be a joyful reunion of friends remains to be seen after eight years. The coronavirus pandemic and Brazil’s three-year departure from the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States had made the Atlantic Ocean separating the two sides seem wider. And division over everything from the war in Russia to trade, deforestation and slavery reparations has given extra spice to the two-day summit that starts Monday.