The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo, arrived yesterday in Peru to discuss with government authorities and Repsol representatives the effects of the oil spill that occurred last January 15 in the coasts of Lima and Callao from a refinery of the Spanish oil company.
According to diplomatic sources informed to the agencies Efe and Europa Press, Fernández Trigo will visit the La Pampilla refinery and will meet with government authorities and with representatives of the multinational, to whom he will convey the will to work together to mitigate the effects of the spill and to achieve the long-term recovery of the affected areas. In addition, he will make an on-site assessment of the consequences of the spill. Yesterday, Fernández Trigo met with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Enrique Chavez, to whom he conveyed “Spain’s solidarity and our country’s commitment to environmental policies”.
This is the second trip of Fernández Trigo to Peru since the arrival of Pedro Castillo to the Presidency, after the one he made last November to meet in Lima with several ministers and other representatives of the Government.
The trip of the Secretary of State comes after last Monday the Peruvian Government ordered “the suspension of all the activities of loading and unloading of hydrocarbons in the Peruvian sea by the operator Repsol” until the Spanish multinational “provides the technical guarantees that there will not be another spill in the sea”, according to the Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramírez.
The spill occurred on January 15 as a consequence of the tsunami caused by the eruption of a volcano in Tonga. Repsol has defended itself by assuring that it was an “unforeseeable maritime phenomenon” and expressed its displeasure at the Peruvian government’s decision, “as it considers it disproportionate and unreasonable”. However, it added, “in order to guarantee the supply of its products, it expresses its full availability to collaborate with the Peruvian authorities, so that the indicated activities can be resumed as soon as possible”.
Repsol also recalled that the La Pampilla refinery supplies 40% of the Peruvian fuel market and assured, therefore, that it will make “the greatest efforts to avoid the risk of shortage of essential products for Peruvian citizens and the development of the country” and that it will devote “all its resources and efforts to clean up the spill and support the affected populations and fauna”.
Last Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, referred to this “accident that we all regret” during his appearance before the Ibero-American Affairs Commission of the Senate and assured that, “from the first moment, both the company and the Government are putting all the expertise that Spain has in spills to minimize the impact”.
