The Diplomat
Spain’s current ambassador to Lisbon, Marta Betanzos, will represent Spain before the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
Betanzos, ambassador to Portugal since August 2018, will hold the position of “associate observer ambassador” to the CPLP, an international organization that Spain joined last July as an Observer State by decision of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community, held in Luanda (Angola).
The CPLP, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, is made up of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tomé and Principe and East Timor and represents nearly 300 million people worldwide. Spain’s candidacy was submitted in 2020, thanks to the impetus, among other institutions, of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. Both the Academia Galega da Lingua Portuguesa and the Consello da Cultura Galega are already CPLP Advisory Observers.
As an Observer State, Spain is committed to supporting the promotion of the Portuguese language at the national and international level, in particular through a deepening of the cooperation between the Instituto Cervantes, the Instituto Camões and the Instituto Internacional de Lengua Portuguesa. In addition, the Spanish Government has shown its interest in promoting economic and business collaboration with member states.
The Order for the appointment of Marta Betanzos as associate observer ambassador was signed last September 27 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and published last Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
Born in 1958 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and a member of the Diplomatic Career since 1987, Betanzos has been director of the division of Multilateral Affairs and OSCE (2004-2006). She was also Spain’s first ambassador to Mali (2006-2008), Spain’s permanent ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/Vienna, between 2008 and 2011) and vocal advisor in the Directorate General of Foreign and Security Policy, with Enrique Mora. Apart from that, she was the second head of the Spanish Embassy in Beijing and was an advisory member of the Directorate General for Multilateral Affairs.
