The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will receive the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric, in La Moncloa this Friday.Javier Lizon (EFE)
Pedro Sánchez has been striving for greater Spanish influence in Latin America in recent years. He has traveled frequently to the continent, has approached important leaders of the new Latin American left, such as Gustavo Petro and Gabriel Boric, but also historical figures such as Lula da Silva, and he has also tried to be close to the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, although the relationship was later complicated by his views on the history of Spain and his tensions with the king’s house. The great success of this liaison strategy with Latin America comes precisely this Monday and Tuesday with a summit meeting between the European Union and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), where Sánchez has been working for months to have a large turnout. It was one of the key milestones of Spain’s EU presidency, although it’s now in the middle of the Spanish election campaign, making it difficult to focus.
In this context, one of these leaders of the new Latin American left, Boric, took advantage of the trip to Europe for this summit to make a longer stay in Spain with a three-day official trip with a first step in La Moncloa in which he expressed his great harmony with Sánchez on two fundamental issues: the fight against climate change and ecological transition policies, and unreserved condemnation of Russia for the war in Ukraine. On this last point, there are differences of opinion among Latin American leaders and, for example, Lula, who was recently in La Moncloa, takes a very different position from Sánchez and actually offers himself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine and believes that we have to try to understand Putin’s position. Boric, on the other hand, has shown clear support for the European position of radical condemnation and support for Ukraine, and agreement with Sánchez was very evident.
In a no-questions-asked appearance to avoid questions about national politics for the Spanish president in the middle of the campaign, Sánchez and Boric made two very random speeches. “We have common values like respect for democracy, an insurmountable value [que no admite negociacion] of human rights, the defense of freedom, the pursuit of equality. International law is threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An ocean separates us, but we have common values. And the leadership of President Sánchez in this area is a great contribution,” concluded Boric.
Sánchez concluded: “We have dealt with the imperialist tendency of Russia. I would like to thank President Boric for his commitment to peace, freedom and upholding the principles of the United Nations. I want to thank you for your commitment to multilateralism. We must work to achieve peace in Ukraine. Spain and Chile share a common vision of the conflict and we will work together to defend the peace.”
Boric and Sánchez also agree on issues such as historical memory and its treatment. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the coup in Chile on September 11, 1973, in which General Augusto Pinochet led the army to bomb the Palacio de la Moneda, still the seat of Chilean political power, and toss left-wing President Salvador Allende , who died at the President’s headquarters the same day. Boric brings the Chilean experience to Spain with the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, inaugurated in 2010, as an example of possible Spanish initiatives. “We have to take care of democracy and respect human rights,” said Boric, who will star in a tribute to Salvador Allende at the Casa de America this Saturday, which will feature Joan Manuel Serrat, a singer-songwriter revered in Latin America and whose concerts were banned in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship.
And the other big issue on which there was a lot of unanimity is the ecological transition, adding to both Presidents’ enthusiasm because the signing of the EU-Chile Association Agreement update was the most advanced ever. The two governments have a very similar vision and believe that Europe and Latin America can help each other with joint projects to solve energy problems, where countries like Chile have the raw materials and also the human capital educated in good universities and Europeans like Spain have it leading companies, technology and financing to develop the projects. “Chile is a key country in the just energy transition,” said Boric. “We have lithium, we will produce green hydrogen, we have copper and we have good universities,” he concluded. “We need to work together on initiatives like Lithium, we will promote joint projects of common interest. In addition, there are issues such as the use of green hydrogen that Chile and Spain mutually strengthen. From Europe we will want to reindustrialize within the framework of strategic autonomy and at the same time we see that Chile and Latin America are doing the same. “There is a lot of interest from Spanish companies that are at the forefront of these issues,” added Sánchez. Boric also recalled that Spain helped Chile with the devastating fires of southern Spain’s summer and winter, and that the South American country is now ready to offer the same help with the Spanish summer’s fires.
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