Alida Juliani
Madrid, June 23 Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina believes that the political changes that Latin America’s governments are experiencing can help the countries of the region to have a “common agenda” within which to solve problems of of great importance, such as climate change, social cohesion or immigration.
“In general, when there is a community of criteria and ideas, especially progressive ones, we are more open and inclined to mutual cooperation, to growth. The most conservative tendencies almost always look inwards rather than outwards,” Reina said at the EFE Casa de America this Thursday in Madrid.
The Honduran foreign minister is visiting Spain this week to meet with the Spanish authorities and discuss issues important to his country, such as immigration.
That’s one of the big problems, which Reina says will improve with the arrival of left-wing governments in Latin America, as in the recent case of Colombia, which will have Gustavo Petro as president.
“This sign change of governments in Latin America helps us to have a common agenda that allows us to work together and in which we look at migration not only from the side of problems but also from the positive side of its contribution to the countries, and also in the social question of cohesion, the change in our realities. It can help promote a common agenda in a simpler way,” he reiterated.
It will also have an impact on “being able to work more fluidly with colleagues and Ibero-American partners, particularly with Spain and Portugal on the European side.
“Most governments coming to Latin America agree on many visions: on climate change, on working together on an agenda that is more focused on a green future for our regions, and the impact it has on our societies , such as especially in Central America, where we are sometimes hit hard by natural disasters,” he argued.
MIGRATION AGREEMENT
For Reina, the migration issue is fundamental, but above all “seeing the roots, the socio-economic roots, the needs of social cohesion, to work internally, to build new challenges in the region”, looking for solutions.
For this reason, the Foreign Minister is dedicating part of his visit to Spain to meeting with authorities in the sector, including the Director General for Immigration of the Spanish Government, Santiago Yerga, with whom he made progress in the talks that began during the visit of the King of Spain , Felipe VI, and the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, to Honduras for the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro.
“The idea is to find innovative mechanisms that allow us to achieve regular circular migration procedures, such as visas or temporary programs that allow Honduran workers to work in the agricultural sector for the time being, come in Spain and return to Honduras when the time comes . meet a number of requirements,” he explained.
It is about having opportunities for immigration “to fulfill a function that benefits and enriches both sides”: “These processes are good practices and of great interest to other nations, who see us as a good example to implement them they can,” he remarked.
Reina pointed out that in Huelva (southern Spain), a first group of Hondurans is already working on agricultural themes, which “can certainly be duplicated this year”, but a second phase is also planned, which will open up at other levels if possible for students from the Central American country in Spain and in other work areas such as healthcare.
TRIPARTITE COOPERATION WITH SPAIN AND USA
Regarding migration, the Honduran foreign minister also highlighted the talks he has had with the United States government to seek bridges for tripartite US-Honduran-Spain cooperation to accommodate Honduran migrants residing in the North American country live to send to Spain.
“A visa program called H2 is also being launched with the US, which will allow for temporary flows and see how the experiences of the Hondurans who have worked in this type of mechanism and are returning to the country serve to conduct an exchange of ideas,” he said said.
He also recalled that Honduras chairs MIRSP, a mechanism for cooperation on migration in Central and North America, “and I think these good practices will be very positive”.
In the context of the migration agreements, Reina also met in Madrid with the secretary of the Ibero-American Social Security Organization, Gina Riaño, to whom she communicated her country’s favorable position for signing an agreement in this area. EFE
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