Inauguration of the 12th course in Spanish and Mexican culture for foreign diplomats

Inauguration of the 12th course in Spanish and Mexican culture for foreign diplomats

• The program's goal is to increase the use of Spanish internationally as a soft power strategy. The participants practice their listening and reading comprehension, as well as their speaking and writing skills.

The 12th course in Spanish and Mexican culture for foreign diplomats was inaugurated today. It is organized by the Matías Romero Institute and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid), and taught by the University of Guanajuato.

The ceremony was led by Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Carmen Moreno and attended by Raúl Álvarez, Amexcid Director General of Project Operations in Mexico; the Amexcid Director of Academic Exchange; Gilberto Carreño, Director of the Engineering Division of the University of Guanajuato; members of the diplomatic corps in Mexico and Foreign Ministry officials.

"This program began in 2008. This is the first time it will be given for the next eight weeks at the University of Guanajuato, an autonomous institution with a long tradition of enormous intellectual and social commitment. Including yourselves, 143 diplomats from 55 countries have participated," said Undersecretary Moreno.

This year, eight diplomats are enrolled in the course: seven women and one man from Bahamas, Cameroon, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Kenya, Korea and Thailand.

They will become familiar with the Spanish spoken in Mexico and improve their command of the language. The program includes classes on the history, geography and culture of Mexico and, to enrich their immersion in Mexican culture, there will be meetings with political actors and business leaders from the region and guided visits to some of most emblematic and representative sites in the hemisphere.

The 12th course in Spanish and Mexican culture for foreign diplomats is designed to create closer ties with countries whose official language is not Spanish, and to continue the global understanding that the Foreign Ministry seeks as part of Mexico's foreign policy.