COMUNICACIÓN

The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation inaugurated the 9th Yuste International Encounters on Transitions today under the title “History Perspectives in View of Present Time Challenges”, where the processes of the Spanish transition will be compared to different processes in different places of the world and the impact of technologies on these processes, especially during the last decade, will be reflected on. These Encounters will, furthermore, address the challenges to confront an inclusive and needed consensus speech with utopian discourses that may lead to utopic and delicate situations.

The Academic Director of the Foundation, César Chaparro, participated in the opening of the Encounters and explained to those present that Yuste’s “clear intention and firm commitment is to foster synergies while aiming, in a global world, to achieve effectiveness and mainstreaming in its actions”. He explained that the preamble of the Statute states that “the border located, European and American Extremadura wishes to renew and reinvigorate this collective identity that goes from the American Guadalupe to European Yuste”.

Marío Díaz Barrado, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Extremadura, pointed out that utopia is necessary in the dynamics of society because without it there would be no change or evolution “it also needs to be well guided or it may lead to catastrophes, while at other times it may reinforce and consolidate inclusive projects”. Through numerous examples, the speakers will expose processes of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and different times of the European Union because “it is another process of transition, from a United Nations political model to one that includes several National States in a superior model”.

According to Díaz Barrado, in recent years and thanks to technological advances and social networks “changes that have altered the political discourse as well as the dynamics of society have occurred”. “These advances, -he said-, are altering all democracies to a great extent”.

Referring to the Spanish transition process, the director of the course stated that when the dictatorship ended, Spain was an “engrossed country” that was in need of a democratic process that “would help us see ourselves as a country and as a forward-looking project”. Since then, Spain has opened itself to the world and become more diverse “not just as far as social relations are concerned, but also because we have travelled and now our students have the Erasmus Programme, which implies a significant change in the country, that should make us reflect on the role we would like to play in this very complex world”.

The Encounters, which end tomorrow, will analyse transitions from a legal and historical point of view and will count with the testimony of Luis Yánez, former Secretary of State for International Cooperation.

The seminar is jointly organised by the Yuste Foundation and the Present Time History Research Group of the History Department of the University of Extremadura and in cooperation with the County Councils of Cáceres and Badajoz, National Heritage, the Regional Government of Extremadura, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union.

Some of the speakers are: Encarna Lemus, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Huelva; Alejandro Cercas Alonso, Co-Director of the Jean Monnet Module UE-Hope + of European Integration of the University of Extremadura, and Pilar Velasco, journalist at Cadena Ser.