These "excellent relations" prompted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to call for a "partnership" with Latin America, and these "excellent relations" convinced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to tour Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru from May 13, 2008, to May 20, 2008.

The Latin Business Chronicle reports that Latin American trade with the European Union is growing at nearly twice the rate as its trade with the United States.  As the US economy dips into recession, Latin America will be forced to become even more reliant on Germany and the European Union as both a trade partner and source of investment.  German trade alone across the entire Latin American region has already risen to a value of $62 billion as of 2007 — making Germany Latin America’s largest trade partner in the European Union.

The Flag Follows Trade

To see where this economic goodwill is leading, it is helpful to understand the mind of the founder of ThyssenKrupp AG in the post-World War Two world.  Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was the chairman of the board of directors of ThyssenKrupp's predecessor organization, Fried Krupp AG, from 1943 until 1967.  Possibly more than any other man of his era, he understood that economic relations could be a precursor to political influence.  He once said that his corporation would reverse the old adage that trade follows the flag.  In a new, postwar German Reich, the flag would follow trade.

Alfried Krupp and other major German industrialists used their company's exports to strengthen Germany’s economy and to increase its political influence over other nations — especially resource-rich nations that could serve as an industrial base.

As the richest and most powerful industrialist in the European Economic Community (established in 1957), Alfried Krupp helped lay the foundation for the economic relations that resulted in the founding of the European Union.  As one of the first Western European industrialists to establish business contacts with the markets of Eastern Europe, Alfried Krupp helped lay the foundation for the European Union's eastward expansion after the fall of the Soviet Union.  As one of the first to recognize the importance of establishing trade contacts with Latin America, he set in motion a process of economic development that resulted in German businesses making large investments in Latin America.

History of the Krupps

The Krupp family has played an important role in German industry for the last 400 years.  The Krupp industrialists have been dubbed the "Uncrowned Kings of Essen" because of their historic role as the leaders of German industry.  Anton Krupp produced 1,000 gun barrels per year for Germany in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Friedrich Krupp dug the trenches for Napoleon once Essen allied with France (1812).  The Krupps produced cannons that the German states used in their bombardment of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War (1871).  Alfried's father, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was the only German to be put on trial after both world wars for his role in producing weapons of war for both Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler.  Alfried worked closely by his father's side throughout the Second World War until he was arrested, convicted at Nuremburg, and imprisoned.

Alfried Krupp was released from prison in 1951, and he resumed sole proprietorship of Fried Krupp AG in 1953.

Upon reassuming control of his company, Alfried Krupp immediately went to work strengthening Fried Krupp AG (and Germany) by establishing new export markets in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America.  His business genius was such that after 10 years he was the richest individual and most powerful industrialist in the European Economic Community.

Shortly before Alfried Krupp passed away at the age of 59 in July, 1967, Fried Krupp AG's indebtedness caused Alfried Krupp to announce that his company would become a public corporation.  His son Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach (1938 -1986) relinquished his inheritance rights as well as the Krupp name.

After 1967 the Krupp corporation continued to follow the path Alfried Krupp had set for it.  In 1999 the Krupp corporation merged with its largest competitor, Thyssen AG; the resulting business is the third-largest steel producer in the world; has five divisions; and owns around 100 companies.  They produce steel, heavy machinery, transportation equipment, and industrial plants.

Berthold Beitz is honorary chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, and is chairman and executive member of the Board of Trustees of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation in Essen (the foundation that as of 2005 held 23.58 percent of the voting rights in ThyssenKrupp AG).

Germany's Latin American Industrial Base

The German-led European Union (the number one global superpower) needs the natural resource wealth of Latin America more than ever.  The entire region from the Rio Grande to Terra del Fuego is a giant storehouse of timber, natural gas, crude oil, minerals, precious metals, and especially iron.  It is easy to see why Germany has worked so hard to set new trade records with nations like Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.

Latin America is far more important to Germany as an industrial base than as a trade partner.  The total value of goods and services produced by German companies in Latin America is four times the value of actual German exports to the region.  If the investments of other European Union nations like Spain are considered, these figures become even more stunning.  Europe as a whole may only be Latin America's second-greatest trade partner (behind the US), but it is definitely the greatest investor in many Latin American nations.

In addition to ThyssenKrupp AG, German corporate giants such as Siemens, Bayer, Volkswagen, I.G., Farben, and Deutche Bank have also become household names across Latin America as German business agents imbed themselves throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America.  By investing in a nation rather than just trading with it, German business agents are ensuring that they have a far deeper stake in a region that supplies them with machines, vehicles, car components, electro-technical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, plastics, and especially metal.

Europe's Voluntary Colonies

In the second half of 2008, economies in Europe and in Latin American are booming as the US economy enters recession.  For the first time since the Great Depression, the collapse of the US dollar is a definite possibility.  If the dollar were to collapse, the economic reverberations would shake this world's financial systems to their cores.  The US, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel would experience economic meltdown.  The economies of Asia, that are largely based on US consumerism, would suffer, at least temporarily.

The only self-sustaining economic bloc not in a recession or depression at that point would be the European Union.  Nations in Latin America would not have an option other than complete reliance on economic ties with a German-led European Union if nations in Latin America want to maintain prosperity.  In effect, if not in name, nations in Latin America would be voluntary colonies of a European empire.