The Diplomat
Colombian President Gustavo Petro yesterday welcomed Spain’s offer to host peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) but said it should be up to the guerrilla leaders to say where they propose to hold the talks.
Petro made this statement during a joint press conference in Bogotá with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, with whom he had just met on the first day of the Spanish president’s visit to Colombia. Sánchez had reiterated Spain’s willingness to help Colombia put an end to the violence, saying: “The victims have been put at the centre of the process. I pay tribute to their integrity on behalf of the Spanish people. We will support the implementation of the final agreement and the negotiations with the groups that want to lay down their arms”.
Spain’s offer to host the negotiations has little chance of going ahead and all indications are that the chosen venue could be Cuba, where prominent guerrilla leaders live, and where the talks with the FARC were held.
Beyond his meeting with Gustavo Petro, during his stay in Colombia, Sánchez took part in a Spanish-Colombian business cooperation meeting, in which he pointed out that the Ibero-American country is opening a new chapter in its democratic history” to consider the need to “move towards a model of development that is sustainable and much more inclusive”.
“Spain and Colombia can and must continue to work together (…) Spain wants to further strengthen its presence in this new stage that Colombia is entering, it is vital to strengthen the ties that unite us with the Ibero-American community and with Colombia in particular”, he said.
During the meeting, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, confirmed that Colombia is a “leading economic partner” in Latin America, stressing that Spain is the second largest investor in the Latin American country after the United States, and the “mutual interest” that translates into the commitment of both governments to strengthen relations.
Spanish investments in Colombia in 2021 exceeded 1.4 billion dollars, added the minister, who also detailed that there are currently 800 Spanish companies installed on Colombian soil, proof that “bilateral trade relations have shown a positive and growing evolution”.
As for the future of these relations, Maroto pointed to two sectors that will enable them to be strengthened, namely tourism, in which Spain is a pioneer, and agro-industry in order to “add value to global chains”.
For his part, the Colombian Minister of Trade, Germán Umaña Mendoza, said that a “medium-term agenda” had already been defined to continue strengthening bilateral relations, since “in terms of investment, Spain is undoubtedly not the second largest investor in Colombia, but rather the largest”.
“Spain invests in productive sectors that generate value chains in small and medium-sized enterprises (…) We are allies, we are partners and we are complementary”, added the minister.
For his part, the Colombian Minister of Finance and Public Credit, José Antonio Ocampo, highlighted “Spanish cooperation with the peace process in Colombia”, which for the new government of President Gustavo Petro is “a very high priority”.
