The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the granting of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and of the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic to the Colombian First Lady, Verónica del Socorro Alcocer; to the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva; and to the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (between 2007 and 2011 and between 2019 and 2023) Nancy Pelosi.
It also approved the awarding of the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit to Eduardo Ávila Navarrete, current Ambassador of Colombia to Spain; to the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, Laura Camila Sasarabia; and to four members of the Colombian Government: Irene Vélez, Minister of Mines and Energy; Guillermo Francisco Reyes González, Minister of Transportation; Aurora Vergara Figueroa, Minister of National Education; and Darío Germán Umaña Mendoza, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
The granting of the award to Nancy Pelosi comes just a few days before the next meeting of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, which will take place on May 12 at the White House. Since their bilateral meeting in Madrid on the occasion of the NATO summit in June last year, Moncloa and the Spanish diplomacy have been working in recent months to try to arrange a visit, which will take place precisely on the day the campaign for the regional and municipal elections of May 28 begins. In fact, for the President of the Government, an image with Biden in Washington is an important asset in the middle of an election year, especially on the eve of Spain’s assumption of the rotating Presidency of the European Union.
Besides, the decorations to the Colombian leaders take place a few days before Gustavo Petro’s official visit to Spain, which will take place between May 2 and 4, according to Colombian official sources quoted by the local press. Petro was already in Spain in 2022, at that time as a presidential candidate.
On the same day of his arrival, the Colombian president will participate in a meeting with the Colombian community in Spain and will attend the reopening of the cultural center of the Embassy. On May 3 and 4, Pedro will meet with King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace and will attend an honorary dinner at the Royal Palace. He will also meet with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Moncloa Palace, and will address the Congress of Deputies in a joint session with the Senate. In addition, Petro will give a lecture at the Paraninfo of the Complutense University, will meet with the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, from whom he will receive the keys to the city, and will travel to Salamanca, where he will give a lecture at the University.
According to Colombian government sources, Petro will address in Madrid, among other issues, the lifting of European Union sanctions against the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro (as he did previously during a visit to the U.S.), climate change, energy transition, sustainable social tourism and total peace. The President will travel accompanied by the five members of his government who were decorated yesterday by the Spanish government, who will hold business meetings and meetings with Spanish and Colombian associations. His European tour will conclude on May 6 and 7 in Portugal.
