Thirty-two years ago, when the first Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government was launched in Guadalajara (Mexico), the objective set was to ensure that all member countries achieve full democracy. Yesterday, the King, in his words before the plenary session of the summit that has been held in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), defended that, after three decades, it can be said that the summit has been "a successful initiative" that has provided “significant results that must be maintained”.
Not all the countries that make up the Ibero-American community (19 in America, in addition to Spain, Portugal and Andorra) would pass the democratic cotton test, hence the King appealed for unity "in defense of values and principles such as democracy , the rule of law, human rights, fundamental freedoms, social justice and multilateralism”.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who followed the King in speaking, promised that Spain will take advantage of the semester of the EU presidency to defend the interests of Latin America. "The thread that unites us is less and less invisible," said the president to then claim that "Latin America has to make its voice heard in the world."
Before Sánchez began to speak, the King repositioned the Spanish flag next to the president so that it could be seen in the television shot. At the beginning of his speech, the Prime Minister asked Latin American leaders to "look beyond" the borders of their countries after firmly denouncing Russia's "war of aggression" in Ukraine.
The King, together with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, participated in the plenary session of the summit that, for the second time in three decades, is being held in the Dominican Republic. On an annual basis until 2014, the event is now held every two years and, although it continues to be the most important forum in Latin America and the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, the forum has been losing steam in terms of major political declarations, although it has gained in effectiveness with the creation of lateral commissions that in the period between summits work on issues agreed upon in plenary.
Nor is there any longer full attendance by the leaders of the 22 summoned countries, as happened in the first summits, which were not lacking even Fidel Castro. These days, in the Dominican capital there have been eleven heads of state, two of government and several ministers of foreign affairs.
The most notorious absence was that of the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, due to the coincidence of the summit with an official trip to China that, finally, was suspended due to the president's indisposition. After Jair Bolsonaro's rudeness, the organization of the summit trusted in the presence of a heavyweight like Lula da Silva. Nor has Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico, the other great Latin American power, participated. The next summit will be held in Ecuador in 2025.
