COMUNICACIÓN

A Congress Organised by Yuste Foundation Analyses the Use of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in International Relations (01/04/2025)

The director general for External Action of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Pablo Hurtado, inaugurated the “7^th International Congress on the Relations Between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe”, which this year is entitled “Digitalisation, Artificial Intelligence, and International Relations”. The event is organised by Yuste Foundation, the University of Extremadura, and the Ibero-American Studies Research Centre of the Rey Juan Carlos University. During his speech, he explained that the Congress’s theme addresses a crucial challenge for global governance “characterised by geopolitical instability and the need for new alliances”. For this reason, the director general highlighted the historical and contemporary relationship between Europe and Ibero-America, “with the certainty that Extremadura, due to its history, culture, and vocation, is the strongest link between both regions”.

The director general reiterated the regional government’s commitment to strengthening relations between Europe and Ibero-America to “consolidate cooperation frameworks and a shared agenda for development, security, and wellbeing”.

During the inauguration, Cástor Díaz Barrado, full professor of Public International Law and International Relations, director of the Ibero-American Studies Research Centre (CEIB) at the Rey Juan Carlos University, and course director, explained that the Congress aims to delve into digitalisation and artificial intelligence as topics that could positively influence “European and Ibero-American principles and values, such as democracy and human rights —values that cannot be abandoned in the face of the loneliness and confusion they are confronted with”.

In his speech, Díaz Barrado acknowledged the quality and prominent role that Yuste Foundation has acquired over the years, which has now extended to Ibero-America. He recalled the five years during which this congress has been held in Guadalupe, as well as its extension to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia; Cuzco, Peru, and this year, it will be held in La Antigua, Guatemala.

The Congress features the participation of Asunción Gómez-Pérez, professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and member of the Royal Spanish Academy and the Royal Academy of Engineering; Julio Cuesta Domínguez, commissioner for the Centennial of the Ibero-American Exposition of Seville 1929; judge Ignacio González Vega; philosopher and science communicator David Pastor; Ana Fernández-Tresguerres, notary of Madrid and full member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Spain; and lieutenant colonel Pablo Ahedo Cordón of the Spanish Army, professor at the Higher Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN), among other experts, professionals, and academics.

Also in attendance were Ramón Ignacio Balsera, Defence delegate in Extremadura; Vicente Lunar, Defence subdelegate in Cáceres; and Álvaro Kromer, director of CEFOT-1 in Cáceres, along with other individuals.

YOUNG RESEARCHERS

Additionally, the event seeks to strengthen ties between the two regions through presentations by young European, Latin American, and Caribbean researchers in the fields of international relations and history. In this regard, the congress will feature research on the impact of digitalisation and artificial intelligence on humanitarian crises; the case of Spain and Venezuela as a paradigm of digital transformation in Hispanic-American relations; and the role of women as information transmitters between Spain and America, among other works.

The day will also include the presentation of the 11^th Research Prize to Ibero-American Doctoral Theses, for which thirty-one doctoral theses from universities in Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Hungary, Colombia, Portugal, the United States, Cuba, France, and the Dominican Republic have been nominated. The winning work will be published in Yuste Foundation’s the book collection “Tesis Doctorales” and the winner will receive €3,000.