• Diplomacy The King and Sánchez attend an Ibero-American summit that looks at Ukraine and China
  • Analysis What should Sanchez say to Xi Jinping about Ukraine?

Santo Domingo hosts the first face-to-face Ibero-American summit after the Covid 19 pandemic. An appointment of important political background due to the international context, especially due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine. As a prelude to the summit, and while the representatives of the countries arrived, an Ibero-American Business Meeting was held, the most important public-private dialogue forum in the region, a framework in which the King has asked for "stability frameworks" to "increase economic ties" between Europe and Ibero-America.

Felipe VI has been in charge of closing this economic event in which the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and Permanent Secretary of the CEIB, Antonio Garamendi, has also played an active role. A forum with the presence of Spanish companies from sectors such as infrastructure, telecommunications and tourism and where figures such as Albert Rivera, former leader of Ciudadanos, who attended in the framework of his new professional performance at the head of a consultancy that helps companies and entrepreneurs to settle on both sides.

Aware of the moments of uncertainty that the world is experiencing as a result of the war in Ukraine and the crisis of financial confidence, the King wanted to emphasize the need for security and confidence to protect and encourage economic investments. "Stable, predictable and competitive environments are fundamental when it comes to attracting new investments to the region in the context of the reorganization of global value chains," the monarch reflected, without mentioning any example or specific country.

His words are framed not only in this context of uncertainty due to the war and the instability of the financial markets, but also that in recent years a political change is taking place in Latin America, with the coming to power of more populist governments, not only in the economic aspect, but also in the social and, even, the historical, as evidenced by the attacks on the Crown of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the great absentee of the Ibero-American summit, along with the Brazilian Lula da Silva. At the last minute, the Venezuelan government pointed out that Nicolás Maduro would not attend either.

Geopolitical tensions

Felipe VI has expressly alluded to the "serious consequences" that the invasion of Ukraine is generating, "and that is characterized by growing geopolitical tensions, high inflation and, ultimately, greater uncertainty."

Pedro Sánchez wants Latin America to be one of the central axes of his EU presidency, which begins on July 1. He wants to strengthen ties between Europe and this region, especially with a view to diversifying European raw material sources, with the aim of the Old Continent achieving European strategic autonomy, an idea that Sánchez is working on these months in the mini tours he is making in Europe. "The two regions are presented as the areas with the greatest economic complementarity and greater growth potential. Therefore, the bi-regional relationship is essential for the achievement of the long-awaited European strategic autonomy and to strengthen economic growth and social development in Latin America," the King seconded from Santo Domingo.

This strengthening of ties is one of the goals that both Sánchez and the King pursue in this Ibero-American summit, in which they will intervene this Saturday in the first part of the plenary session. "Economic recovery, today more than ever, needs a pooling to continue working together and find the right ways to counter the destabilizing forces of the economy. Ibero-America offers a multitude of opportunities, Spanish companies know it and work decisively on them – they have been doing it for more than three decades. They are willing to continue supporting the economies of the different countries, always in frameworks of stability that allow a correct functioning, "said the monarch.

Officially, the Ibero-American summit starts this Saturday. Felipe VI arrived in Santo Domingo on Thursday and Pedro Sánchez did so on Friday, coming from Brussels after participating in the European Council. In addition to his participation in the Ibero-American Business Meeting, Felipe VI held two bilateral meetings on Friday with the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou.

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