The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, will travel this week to Colombia, where in addition to addressing bilateral relations with the country’s authorities, she will be able to learn first-hand about the situation of displaced Venezuelan refugees in this country.
González Laya will leave for Colombia on Thursday, just after presenting the Foreign Action Strategy in the Senate. In Bogota, the Minister will be received by the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, and by her counterpart, Claudia Blum, with whom she will hold “political consultations” to develop bilateral relations, according to Foreign Ministry sources. The minister will also meet with businessmen, representatives of the institutions arising from the peace agreements, local authorities and Spanish NGOs operating in the country.
The last visit of a Spanish Foreign Minister to Colombia was the one made in September 2016 by José Manuel García-Margallo to attend the protocol ceremony of the signing of the Peace Agreements between the Colombian Government and the FARC, in Cartagena de Indias. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, traveled to Bogotá in August 2018, shortly after taking office.
On Saturday, February 27, González Laya will travel to Cúcuta, capital of the Department of Norte de Santander and very close to the Venezuelan border, where she will be able to learn first-hand about the situation of Venezuelan refugees and will convey Spain’s solidarity and commitment to the countries in the region most affected by this flow of people. In recent years, Colombia has welcomed almost two million Venezuelans fleeing the serious political, social and economic crisis in their country.
At the Donors’ Conference in solidarity with Venezuelan refugees and migrants, organized in May 2020 jointly by the European Union and Spain – with the support of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Governments of Canada and Norway – González Laya announced that Spain would contribute 50 million euros to, among other objectives, help the host countries, especially Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. So far, the 23 million (46%) announced for 2020 have already been paid.
The Duque government recently announced the implementation of a Temporary Protection Status for all Venezuelan migrants, a high percentage of whom are in an irregular situation. Therefore, the minister will take advantage of her trip to recognize this “generous” initiative, according to diplomatic sources.
