Minister for Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation begins trip to Brazil and Paraguay

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya, has today begun a trip to Brazil and Paraguay, where she will stay until 9 May. During the course of her trip, the minister plans to hold high-level meetings with the aim of stepping up our political, economic and cooperation relations, and of projecting Spain's image in the countries in the region.

Her first port of call will be Brasilia (Brazil). During her time there, the minister has meetings planned with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carlos Alberto Franco França, the Minister for the Economy, Paulo Guedes, and the Minister for Agriculture, Tereza Cristina. She will also meet with prominent analysts and some leading women in civil society.

During her meetings with the Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs, they will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Bilateral Brazil-Spain Standing Committee, which seeks to reaffirm the sound relations between the two countries through the ongoing exchange of information and through a regular and flexible bilateral exchange mechanism. They will also sign an MoU on sport.
She will also meet with representatives of several Spanish companies with a presence in Brazil, take part in a virtual ceremony to award the Spanish School of the Year Prize and hold a meeting with the directors of the network of the Cervantes Institute Centres in Brazil (the country with the largest number of these centres anywhere in the world - with a total of eight).

This trip takes place at a key moment in relations between Spain and Brazil, since both countries are facing a series of common challenges that need to be addressed from a shared perspective. Spain has recently shown its solidarity with the people of Brazil by sending a shipment of health material in the fight against COVID-19. The aim, in the field of cooperation, is to boost the coordination instrument between the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Spanish acronym: AECID) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (Portuguese acronym: ABC).

Visit to Asuncion
During the second port of call of her trip to Asuncion (Paraguay), the minister will meet with the President of the Republic, Mario Abdo Benítez, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Euclides Acevedo, and with the Minister for Children and Adolescents, Teresa Martínez. The meeting between the two foreign affairs ministers will include the holding of the 7th Consultation and Coordination Mechanism of Bilateral Policy between Spain and Paraguay - one of the main political relations instruments between the two countries. They will also address the state of economic relations in light of the importance of Spanish investments in Paraguay and the possibility of increasing trade flows between the two countries.

The minister will also have the chance to visit the 'Juan de Salazar' Cultural Centre of the Spanish Embassy and meet with Spanish NGOs present in the country. In particular, development cooperation will play a leading role in her visit to Paraguay, given the significant presence of Spanish Cooperation in the country.

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