The highest level political dialogue between the twenty-two Ibero-American countries, the 19 Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra, celebrates its 30th anniversary

Cooperation, pensions, indigenous funds: milestones of the Ibero-American Summits

photo_camera AFP/LIONEL BONAVENTURE - King Felipe VI of Spain, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, French President's representative Patrick Strzoda, President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Andorra's head of government Xavier Espot pose for a photo during the opening ceremony of the 27th Ibero-American Summit in Soldeu, Andorra, 20 April 2021

A culture of their own, a social protection agreement, an indigenous fund and a regional cooperation system that is a world benchmark are some of the major social milestones of the Ibero-American Summits, which are celebrating their 30th anniversary on Monday.

Three decades after sparking political dialogue at the highest level between the twenty-two Ibero-American countries, the 19 Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra, Ibero-America commemorates the day of the first Ibero-American Summit, held in Guadalajara (Mexico) on 19 July 1991.

A model of cooperation that is a global benchmark

South-South and triangular cooperation in Ibero-America is a rara avis that encompasses all the states in the region and does not follow the traditional hierarchy of these aid systems, in which the countries of the North are the donors and those of the South the recipients.

In the words of the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, "there is no country that has nothing to teach and no country that has nothing to learn".

For Martín Rivero, head of Social Cohesion at the General Secretariat, where a report is also drawn up on initiatives of this type of cooperation, which already totals more than 10,000 projects, it is an "exceptional system at international level" based on "intra-regional solidarity".

"At the 2007 Summit in Chile, it was decided to start working on systematising and drawing up a cooperation report. Although the Summits did not invent South-South cooperation, which the countries were already doing, they did invent the technical and political space where it is systematised and from the report we learn how to improve. It is unique in the world," he says.

El presidente del Gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez, a la izquierda, habla con el rey Felipe de España durante la cumbre de líderes latinoamericanos en Andorra la Valla en Andorra, el martes 20 de abril de 2021
An agreement to ensure that migrants do not lose their contributions

Around 86,000 Ibero-Americans have benefited from the existence of the Ibero-American Multilateral Social Security Agreement signed by 15 countries in the region and in force in 12 of them, which allows social security contributions to migrate from one state to another, if the worker does so.

Approved in 2005 at the Salamanca Summit, "it was proposed to progressively advance towards universal coverage" for Ibero-American citizens who had to migrate to find opportunities, the secretary general of the Ibero-American Social Security Organisation, Gina Magnolia Riaño, told Efe.

"In our region there are 11.5 million intra-regional migrants, this agreement recognises them and their families, it is a very important instrument that must continue to be strengthened and recognised at all summits," she adds.

El copríncipe de Andorra y obispo de Urgell, Joan-Enric Vives Sicilia I, el presidente de la República Dominicana, Luis Abinader, y el jefe de Gobierno de Andorra, Xavier Espot, pasan revista a una guardia de honor durante la llegada de los jefes de Estado a la XXVII Cumbre Iberoamericana en Andorra la Vella, el 20 de abril de 2021
A fund for the development of indigenous peoples

"The problems of indigenous peoples in terms of exercising their rights are immense, complex and go back many years, there is a historical backlog that cannot be resolved in a short period of time," Gabriel Muyuy, technical secretary of the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, told Efe.

Muyuy, an indigenous Colombian, applauds the fact that at the Madrid Summit in 1992, the countries of the region agreed to create a "joint" body in which indigenous governments and national executives would be "on an equal footing and have equal decision-making capacity".

"It is a unique mechanism in the world," says the secretary, who says that in the almost thirty years of the Fund's existence, efforts have been made to strengthen the capacities of indigenous peoples, something that "has helped a great deal to improve the political influence" of these communities and to give them better access to public aid and cooperation.

It is "a struggle for inclusion, dialogue, the design of public policies, and at a global level so that these spaces are created in the best possible way, to have forums where indigenous peoples have a direct voice and an equal relationship with governments", he adds.

El copríncipe de Andorra y obispo de Urgell, Joan-Enric Vives Sicilia I, el presidente de Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, y el jefe de Gobierno de Andorra, Xavier Espot, posan durante la llegada de los jefes de Estado a la XXVII Cumbre Iberoamericana en Andorra la Vella, el 20 de abril de 2021
A culture of their own

Within the Ibero-American cooperation system, based on the axes of knowledge, social cohesion, innovation, gender and culture, the programmes of this last area stand out, which in addition to being the most numerous, have managed to weave a diverse culture into a regional industry in music, dance and film, without neglecting inclusion.

For Elena Vilardell, Secretary General of the Ibermedia programme, created in 1998 by mandate of the countries at the Summit of Isla Margarita (Venezuela) the previous year, the cultural programmes "have done the best they have known how" and in particular the initiative she directs "has worked very well", because the national authorities in the field have "all worked together".

"We have all learned a lot together, that is what we owe most to the Summits," says Vilardell, who is clear that Ibermedia has been "very important" for the region's audiovisual creators: "Apart from four directors who make great films, all the other cinematographies of the continent, the ones that represent us, drink from the programme," she says.

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