The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean, Juan Fernández-Trigo, held talks yesterday in Santiago de Chile with the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolina Valdivia, and with her replacement, Antonia Urrejola, once the government of Gabriel Boric, who will be sworn in as President of the Latin American country on 11 March, is formed.
Fernández-Trigo, who arrived in Chile on Monday as part of a tour that also includes Argentina and Uruguay, was the first high-ranking official of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to maintain contact with officials of the future Chilean government, which Pedro Sánchez’s government feels very close to.
At the end of his meeting with Antonia Urrejola, the Secretary of State wrote on his Twitter account: “We want to continue strengthening the bilateral relationship with an ambitious and strategic agenda”.
Fernández-Trigo also met yesterday with representatives of Spanish companies that operate in strategic sectors in Chile, as he himself announced on Twitter, noting that they had reaffirmed their commitment to the country’s economic development.
He also met with a group of Chilean intellectuals, with whom he discussed the new political cycle that will open in Chile from 11 March, when Gabriel Boric takes office, in an event which is expected to be attended by His Majesty the King.
The Secretary of State will travel today to Buenos Aires, where, together with his Argentinean counterpart, he will hold a privileged, informal and permanent dialogue meeting between the two countries to review the main issues in the bilateral relationship between Spain and Argentina, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Also in Buenos Aires, he is expected to be received by the Argentine Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero, and will meet with Spanish businessmen with interests in the country.
On Thursday, the 24th, he will travel to Montevideo, where he will take part in the second meeting of the Political Consultation Mechanism between Spain and Uruguay, where political, economic, commercial and cultural relations between the two countries will be analysed.
He will also be received by the Uruguayan Foreign Minister, Francisco Bustillo, and will maintain contacts with Spanish businessmen, and on Friday, the 25th, he will return to Madrid.
