The Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, arrived in Madrid on Tuesday on his first state visit to Spain, with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations economically and commercially, but also discuss the process promoted in the Latin American country to achieve what the Colombian president calls total peace.
KienyKe.com was able to learn that Gustavo Petro Urrego’s visit to Spain will be the only state visit that the European country will have in 2023. Apparently, they were expecting a visit from Lula Da Silva, the President of Brazil, but the President of Colombia went ahead.
It is worth mentioning that the importance of this event lies in the fact that all of Spain turns to a president, that means that he has an agenda with Congress, the president, the king, the Madrid city council, among other entities. For Colombia, it is an honor to have this visit.
Petro arrived at the Barajas airport in the Spanish capital aboard a Boeing 737-700 of the Colombian Armed Forces, accompanied by his wife, Verónica Alcocer, and the heads of Foreign Affairs, Mines, Education and Commerce of Colombia.
It won’t be until tomorrow, Wednesday, when Petro will officially begin the state visit, but today he will visit Madrid the sixth edition of the Services Fair, a sample of Colombian entrepreneurs with whom he will hold a meeting.
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The strengthening of relations with Spain in the economic and commercial chapter is one of the objectives of this visit, in which the process promoted by the Colombian president after he came to power to achieve what he calls total peace in his country will be very present.
Gustavo Petro arrives in Madrid on his first state visit to Spain
Petro will take Spain’s full support for that wish to become a reality. This was confirmed by sources from the Spanish Government, who advanced that the head of the Executive of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, will confirm to the president all the support of his country in this regard.
Spain has the status of accompanying country of the peace process in Colombiaand Sánchez will reiterate what he conveyed in person to the Colombian president at the meeting they held last August in Bogotá: that he is counting on Spain so that the dialogue that seeks that peace obtains its fruits.
This Tuesday the Colombian government and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) will meet again in Havana in the third round of peace negotiations, to which both parties are willing to move forward but after tensions a few weeks ago over an attack on an army platoon in which ten soldiers were killed almost caused a break.
Colombia strengthens relations with Spain in search of support for Total Peace
Another dialogue, that of the Government and the opposition in Venezuela, will be analyzed by Sánchez and Petrowho convened an international conference that was held in Bogotá last week with the intention of unblocking the talks between the two parties, which have been suspended since November.
Immigration problems will also be present at the meeting days after an agreement was announced between Spain, Canada and the United States by which they will accept migrants whose cases will be managed legally through processing centers in Latin American countries such as Colombia and Guatemala.
The fight against climate change, the energy transition and digital transformation These will be other issues that Sánchez and Petro plan to address, to whom the head of government will convey his wish that the Spanish presidency of the EU in the second half of this year serve to promote relations between the European partners and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Besides: President Petro would decorate Pedro Sánchez with the Order of Boyacá
The kings of Spain will receive the Colombian president and his wife tomorrow at the Royal Palace; Petro will then move to Congress, where he will address the Spanish parliamentarians in the chamber, and then he will make a floral offering in the Plaza de la Lealtad.
In the afternoon will hold a meeting with Felipe VI, will receive the golden key to the city at the Madrid town hall and will attend a gala dinner offered by the kings of Spain, and on Thursday will open a business forum before moving to the Moncloa Palace, the headquarters of the Spanish Executive, to meet with Sánchez, with whom he will preside over the signing of various agreements.
Among his activities on the last day of the visit, Friday May 5, is your journey to the city of Salamanca to receive the medal of this institution, in which he studied.