Pedro Sánchez meets with Presidents of Guatemala and Paraguay prior to Ibero-American Summit

Antigua (Guatemala)

President of the Government Sánchez stressed the priority of Latin America in Spain's foreign policy, the privileged position that Central America holds and the attention with which he is following the challenges facing the region. In this regard, Pedro Sánchez reiterated Spain's support and commitment to Guatemala and the other Central American countries, and conveyed to the Guatemalan President his interest in continuing to collaborate in the fight against corruption and poverty.

As regards bilateral relations, the President of the Government of Spain referred to the European Union-Central America Association Agreement, which has led to a considerable increase in trade exchanges between the two countries, and expressed his interest in Spain becoming Guatemala's leading trading partner in the not too distant future.

In his meeting with the Paraguayan President, Mario Abdo, Pedro Sánchez highlighted the good and positive relations that exist between Spain and Paraguay and he proposed supporting the latter's idea of boosting the Ibero-American system in its dimension as a community. The President of the Government stressed that Spain has always been one of the main backers of signing the European Union-MERCOSUR Agreement and enquired after the current state of negotiations, expressing his confidence in the resolution of the issues pending and the signing of the agreement as soon as possible.

President of the Government Sánchez also urged negotiations on the Double Tax Treaty to come to fruition soon between the two countries. The aim of this treaty, which seeks to promote collaboration between the tax authorities of the two countries, is to make Paraguay a more attractive destination for Spanish countries.

Populism and migratory crisis

At the meetings with both the Presidents of Guatemala and of Paraguay, Pedro Sánchez addressed the migratory crisis in the region, the current mass migratory flows, their causes, the de-stabilising effects these may have on the region and the need to define a system that allows these movements to be regulated whilst guaranteeing the rights of migrants. He also reviewed the outlook for the future presidency of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, the economic crisis in Argentina, and the situations in Venezuela and Nicaragua, together with the migratory crisis that this has led to.

Non official translation