COMUNICATION

Yuste Foundation has organised the international virtual congress entitled “The Necessary Creation of a Euro-Latin American Cultural Space: Values, Principles and Proposals” along with the Ibero-American Studies Centre of the Rey Juan Carlos University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, and the European Union–Latin America and Caribbean International Foundation (EU-LAC). It was inaugurated today at the Royal Monastery of Yuste with the aim of promoting and discussing the cultural dimension space between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union. (22/09/2021)

The opening ceremony counted with the participation of Javier Ramos; the General Director of Culture of the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OEI), Natalia Armijos; the Executive Director of EU-LAC Foundation, Adrián Bonilla; the Mayor of Cuacos de Yuste, José María Hernández; the Director of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno; the former Minister of Culture of the Spanish Government, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes; the co-director of the congress and Director of the Centre for Ibero-American Studies of the Rey Juan Carlos University, Cástor Díaz as well as the co-director of the Congress and Professor of the University of the North (Colombia), Roberto González.

During his speech, the Director of Yuste Foundation affirmed that today Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union represent 25% of the world’s GDP, a third of the members of the UN and almost half of the members of the G-20, and “when acting together, they achieve results such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement”. In his view, these two regions of the world are made up of people who are bound together by “blood ties mixed for hundreds of years, a forge of a common and intangible heritage based on shared culture”.

In this sense, Moreno Piñero affirmed that “culture unites us and helps us to have a common identity” while claiming the need to start a shared socio-economic development based on the “complementarity between the two regions, on the abundance of Latin American natural resources, on the flow of migration and investment, on social, educational, academic and scientific cooperation”.

The director of the Foundation ended his speech by claiming the importance of being together but above all, “doing more things together”.

The online congress, which will last until Friday, aims to disseminate and raise awareness about different aspects related to culture in order to create a Euro-Latin American cultural space. To this end, formulae will be proposed to face the challenges in the field of creative industries and copyright from the regional and international level and they will delve into the aspects and relevant elements of the Ibero-American Cultural Charter.

Some of the participants of this event are the head of the Department of Cultural Cooperation and Promotion of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Elena González; the head of research and development cooperation projects at the Centre for Ibero-American Studies (CEIB) of the Rey Juan Carlos University, Diana Verdiales; the Ambassador Director of Summits and Political Forums of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Ana Idalia; the President of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Heitor Barras, and the Professor of International Relations of the Rey Juan Carlos University, Sagrario Morán, among others.

The course counts with 118 participants from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Comoros Islands, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela.

The Euro-Latin American and Caribbean International Congress counts with the collaboration of the Latin America and the Caribbean Institute of the University of the North (Colombia); the Institute of International and European Studies “Francisco de Vitoria” of the Carlos III University of Madrid; the Organization of Ibero-American States; the National University of Rosario; and the Centre for the Study of International Relations (Argentina).