The Diplomat
The Paraguayan Ambassador to Spain, Ricardo Scavone, has awarded the decoration of the National Order of Merit to the State Secretary for Ibero-America, the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo, and the Director General for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Enrique Yturriaga.
The awards were presented to them on Thursday at a ceremony held at the Paraguayan diplomatic representation in Madrid, attended by the ambassadors of Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, as well as family members and Spanish diplomats responsible for Ibero-American affairs.
In presenting the awards, Ambassador Scavone recalled the links of all kinds that unite Spain and Paraguay, which he said form “an intense relationship, full of vitality, with a human face and warmth”.
For this reason, he expressed his satisfaction at being able to recognise those who were or are responsible for maintaining these ties strong and firm, and stressed that Juan Fernández Trigo and Enrique Yturriaga have put “understanding and effort” into strengthening bilateral relations, favouring understanding and increasing cooperation.
Scavone recalled that Fernández Trigo was ambassador to Paraguay at a delicate time, when a domestic crisis turned into an international crisis, referring to the impeachment in 2012 of then president Fernando Lugo and the country’s suspension from Unasur and Mercosur. In those moments,” he said, “his prudent, respectful and intelligent actions contributed to maintaining our bilateral relations within the framework of normality, in the midst of the tensions and conditions imposed by the circumstances, and preventing such important ties from being resisted or affected”.
The Ambassador also highlighted the work of Enrique Yturriaga, who before becoming Director General was for many years directly responsible for Spain’s relations with Paraguay. He praised him for his availability and good treatment and said that he is “the understanding, efficient, well-informed, committed interlocutor, who can be called upon and counted on at all times”.
He concluded by saying that the awards were also intended to recognise the work of so many officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who strive to promote relations with Latin America and, in particular, with Paraguay.
The State Secretary expressed his gratitude for the distinction and recalled his years in Paraguay, where he experienced the Ibero-American summit in 2011, attended by the King and Queen of Spain and the then Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, as well as the events that took place in the country in 2012, during which he had to hold “delicate conversations”.
He also alluded to the visit that the President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo, made to Spain in November last year, and congratulated the Paraguayan people on the way in which the recent presidential elections were held, in which Santiago Peña was the winner.
For his part, Enrique Yturriaga, who received the National Order of Merit “Don José Falcón”, also expressed his gratitude for the decoration, which he said was in recognition of the work carried out by the entire team at the Ministry.
