Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva today called “very positive” the assessment of the 30th anniversary of the Ibero-American summits, which achieved “concrete” results in cooperation between 22 member states.

Santos Silva spoke at the Ibero-America Day videoconference organized by the Secretariat General of Ibero-America (SEGIB) to commemorate three decades of summits – the first of which took place on July 1, 1991 in Guadalajara, Mexico – and the heads of diplomacy of Colombia, Costa -Ricky, Spain, Dominican Republic.

“The assessment is very positive, as evidenced by these 30 years of existence. It is a 22-country platform that regularly hosts debates, regardless of political orientation. A framework for Ibero-American cooperation with concrete results in the fields of education, health, education and public administration was proposed, ”the Portuguese minister stressed after being asked about the organization’s 30-year balance sheet.

Santos Silva stressed that there are three challenges ahead that the Ibero-American Secretariat General must take into account, noting that one of them is to maintain the conference “as it is, an inclusive space in which everyone participates and can participate. so political debate and diplomatic agreements are always possible. “

“The overall framework for cooperation also needs to be strengthened and extended to other areas such as economics, climate change, digital transformation, and university and scientific fields,” said Santos Silva as a second challenge.

As a third task, the head of Portuguese diplomacy stressed the need to move forward on the issue that should turn the Ibero-American community into a “popular space”.

“At the last summit in Andorra, the basis for the ‘circulation of talent’ was created. Eight countries have already signed an agreement that provides more opportunities for professional internships, training courses and research projects. It is a very important element for the circulation of talented people. The implementation of the project is a very important step towards transforming SEGIB into a community of people, ”he explained.

Also called upon to comment on what balance can be achieved after three decades of citizenship summits, Santos Silva highlighted three main results against the background of the realization that each belongs to the space of 22 countries united by two languages. – Portuguese and Castilian.

“Also, of course, because Portugal and Spain are helping to build a bridge between Europe and Latin America,” he added.

On the other hand, he continued, there is an awareness of the “power of two languages”, spoken by over 600 million people in 22 countries, helped by portunhole, “which is essentially a“ mixture ”of two languages.

As a third result, Santos Silva highlighted one of the most effective Ibero-American cooperation programs – the Campus program, funded by the Spanish bank Santander.

“Thousands of university students study in other countries. It is necessary to understand the meaning and scope of the measure. Latin American students studying at universities outside their home countries are fantastic and stimulating mobility, ”said Santos Silva, who has been contacted by outgoing SEGIB General Secretary Rebeca Greenspan since April 1, 2014.

In connection with the end of the leadership of Rebeca Greenspan in SEGIB, the head of Portuguese diplomacy considered that the main result of the natural policy of Costa Rica at the head of the organization was “the ability to preserve the unity of the Ibero-American space.” …

“And this is a very important result,” he concluded, and Rebeca Greenspan also thanked her for joining SEGIB as an advisory observer to the Community of Portuguese Countries (CPLP), which was decided on Saturday at the 30th Anniversary Summit in Luanda … .. a Portuguese-speaking organization.

In addition to Rebeca Greenspan, it was also attended by the heads of diplomacy from Colombia, Marta Lucia Ramirez, Costa Rica, Rodolfo Solano Quiros from Spain and the newly appointed Jose Manuel Albares, who also thanked Spain for joining the CPLP as an observer consultant. in videoconference. and also from the Dominican Republic Roberto Alvarez.

The challenges for the future of SEGIB, highlighted by all, include the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, social inequality, democracy (“some countries are putting it at risk,” Marta Lucia Ramirez warned), “fair and inclusive” economic recovery “, gender equality, education, culture, youth, human rights, migration and climate change.

SEGIB unites 22 countries: Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.