Eduardo González
The agreement between Spain and Chile for the exchange and reciprocal protection of classified information in the field of defense, made in Madrid on December 3, 2020, has recently entered into force. With this, there are now five Latin American countries with which Spain has an agreement of this type, out of a total of fifty countries around the world.
The agreement, which came into force on December 29 but was published yesterday by the Official State Gazette (BOE), was signed in Madrid on December 3, 2020, prior authorization from the Council of Ministers on July 28 of that same year, by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, and the then Foreign Minister of Chile and current Ibero-American Secretary General (SEGIB), Andrés Allamand.
The objective of this agreement is to “establish a set of rules and procedures that allow adequate protection of classified information in the field of defense that both countries mutually exchange,” taking into account the Agreement of January 30, 2014 between Chile and the Union. European Union, which creates a framework for the participation of this Andean country in the Union’s Crisis Management Operations.
This agreement establishes rules and procedures for the security of classified information exchanged between bodies, entities and natural persons of both countries in the field of defense. Likewise, it determines that the two countries must adopt all necessary measures to ensure the protection of this information, in accordance with their national laws and regulations, and that neither party may invoke the agreement to obtain classified information that either of the two countries received from a third party.
As indicated by the Government after the referral of the agreement to the Parliament, in May 2021, this text will contribute to the preservation of Spain’s interests in its international relations, since “these sometimes require the exchange of information that, because it affects security or national interests, must have a degree of classification and be subject to special use and management processes to preserve that integrity.”
Specifically, in the field of the defense and arms industry, manufacturing, assembly or supply contracts often involve the sharing of confidential devices or procedures, which is why it is necessary to establish rules according to which States can share this classified information without risk. “The agreement constitutes, therefore, an essential legal instrument that will favor the development of the Spanish defense industry and bilateral trade exchanges in this sector,” added the Council of Ministers.
To date, Spain has signed treaties of this nature with fifty countries, of which only five correspond to Latin America. Apart from Chile, the other four countries are Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
The publication of the agreement occurs a few weeks before the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, travels to Chile as part of a tour of Latin America that will also include Brazil. As The Diplomat learned from government sources, the tour will take place around the first week of March and will serve to return the visit made by the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, to Spain in July of last year. Pedro Sánchez already visited Chile in 2018, during the mandate of Sebastián Piñera (recently died in a helicopter accident). The head of the Spanish Executive will be accompanied by Spanish businessmen.
