The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his counterpart from Panama, Janaina Tewaney, signed yesterday a memorandum of understanding for the international promotion of the Spanish language in the diplomatic field and in international organizations.
The agreement was signed in Panama City, within the framework of the second day of the minister’s tour of Latin America, which began the previous day in Colombia. Albares was received by Tewaney, who highlighted the “deep friendship and cooperation” that unites two countries that celebrate “120 years of diplomatic relations,” according to the Panamanian Foreign Ministry.
“Productive meeting with my counterpart from Panama, in which we discussed our excellent bilateral, economic and cooperation relations and the situation in the region. We have also signed an agreement for the international promotion of Spanish,” Albares declared through the social network X.
During the meeting, the two ministers signed the memorandum of understanding, by which both countries commit to “carry out collaborative actions to contribute to the Spanish language having a greater presence and recognition in diplomacy and international organizations, in especially in the United Nations system, as well as in the legal sector and international arbitration.”
To this end, the agreement defends “initiatives so that knowledge of Spanish is valued as a selection criterion for personnel in international organizations and contributes to promoting the training in Spanish of their personnel” and commits to “encourage and recognize the use of Spanish in the interventions by representatives of Spanish-speaking countries, as well as non-Spanish-speaking countries or those responsible for the organization.”
In addition, Albares visited the OAH-AECID Logistics Center, trained for the deployment of water, sanitation, hygiene and shelter equipment in emergency situations derived from disasters and which is part of the global network of Humanitarian Response Depots of the World Health Program. Food from the United Nations, of which Spain is the main financier. Finally, he held a meeting with representatives of Spanish companies present in the country, some of which have participated in the expansion works of the Panama Canal and develop important infrastructure projects in the country.
