Contemporary Spanish Foreign Policy by David Garcia & Ramon Pacheco Pardo

Author:David Garcia & Ramon Pacheco Pardo [Garcia, David & Pardo, Ramon Pacheco]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General, International Relations
ISBN: 9780415714716
Google: GqkHngEACAAJ
Goodreads: 18172793
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-01-15T07:44:00+00:00

7 The recent history of Spain–Latin America relations

Anna Ayuso Pozo

The historical relations between Spain and Latin America have been a key element of Spain’s international integration strategy, from the Iberian peninsula towards the entire world. However, this linkage with Latin America reached a regional and strategic dimension only after the democratic transition and the admission of Spain to the then-European Community (EC), overcoming the international ostracism suffered during Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

Despite the huge changes which we have witnessed in Spain and the world during previous decades, the special relationship with Latin America continued unaltered in spite of the different successive political regimes and political changes. Still, this pattern changed greatly as dictatorships in Latin America started to be left behind. These changes have been reflected in formal acquisition of several political values that have changed the scope of Spain’s aims (Rodriguez 1986) as well as Latin America’s position within the international scenario. As Celestino del Arenal stressed, relations were not altered, but rather the philosophy, the values, and the strategy for the Spanish external action towards the region (Arenal 2011).

During the years which followed the democratic transition, Spain launched a high standard policy towards Latin America, which in turn led to the internationalization of Spain’s economy. The Ibero-American Summit system established during the 1990s managed to unite the Spanish and Portuguese communities—which had been turning their backs to each other—not just within the Iberian peninsula, but in Latin America as well. For the first time a forum took place which gathered all Latin American countries outside the Organization of American States (OAS), where the United States had always held hegemony. In addition, the Ibero-American Summit served as a political forum, generating regional consensus and to connect Central America and Mexico, with South America more closely.

The Ibero-American Summit gave Spain and Portugal the chance to strengthen their relationship with Latin America, allowing them to boost their own international presence, and at the same time increase their cooperation links, which strongly helped to invigorate their economies at a time when they were getting more and more into the “Communitarian” Europe. A social and cultural cooperation framework was built, where Spain took over the largest share of the financial burden in exchange for a certain leadership accepted by the regional powers in Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Argentina). Spain and Portugal, as well as their Latin American representatives, have always tried to enhance their position in the world context; this was achieved through a better relationship between them, which was profitable for both sides, with a lower political and economic cost, due mainly to the “soft” instruments they put into practice (Serbin 1996).

Constant and fluctuating variables of the relationship

Besides the historical circumstances which condition relations between Spain and Latin America, there are other matters which influence them, and act either as permanent factors or as fluctuating variables, according to their evolution. Among these factors, two other traditional axes of Spanish foreign policy can be stated: one is European Union membership, as a place

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