The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has celebrated this Friday several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Colombia, focused on the preparation for the upcoming Ibero-American Summit.
Albares, who has traveled to Colombia to accompany King Felipe VI to the inauguration of Abelardo de la Espriella as president of the country, has held a meeting in Cali with the new Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omar Bula Escobar, to whom he has conveyed his congratulations on the appointment, according to the Ministry in a statement.
During his stay, he has also made contacts with the Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Héctor Francisco Huanca; with that of Chile, José Francisco Pérez; and with that of Peru, Carlos Espá, with whom he has analyzed the state of bilateral relations and has advanced in the organization of the upcoming Ibero-American Summit that will take place in Madrid on November 4 and 5.
In parallel, Albares has spoken by phone with the Minister of Foreign Relations and Foreign Trade of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia, to also congratulate him on his recent appointment and express Spain's willingness to support the Venezuelan people in the humanitarian response resulting from the earthquakes.
According to the note released by Foreign Affairs, Albares has recalled "Spain's willingness for the Madrid Summit to provide concrete results and broad consensus and respond to the shared priorities of the 22 countries of the Ibero-American Community."
The head of Foreign Affairs has also emphasized that "this meeting represents an opportunity to reaffirm the value of a political concertation space that brings together 680 million people on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as Spain's commitment to an increasingly close relationship between Europe and Ibero-America."
The minister has also specified that the Summit will be structured around three major thematic axes: sustainability and the environment; innovation and social inclusion; and childhood and youth.
Albares has taken advantage of these contacts to invite his counterparts to actively engage in the final phase of the preparatory work, which includes ministerial meetings, sectoral forums, and meetings of National Coordinators and Cooperation Heads prior to the November meeting.