Ibero-American Summit should approve disaster risk reduction network

A Ibero-American Summit, which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday in Madrid, should create the Ibero-American network for reducing the risk of disasters and civil protection, a proposal presented by Portugal, today told Lusa source of the Prime Minister's office.

The 30th Ibero-American Summit should “witness the creation of the Ibero-American Network for Disaster Risk Reduction and Civil Protection, which is part of a proposal originally presented by Portugal”, two years ago, at the meeting that took place in Ecuador, pointed out the source of Luís Montenegro’s office, in a written note.

The President of the Republic, António José Seguro, and the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, participate for the first time in the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, which will have the Portuguese António Costa and António Guterres as special guests.

The office of Luís Montenegro also stressed that at the meeting of the community that brings together 22 countries, three of the Iberian Peninsula and 19 of Latin America, the new Cooperation Strategy 2027-30 should be approved.

“Central issues” such as “artificial intelligence and academic mobility – areas in which the mastery of the Portuguese language, moreover, has a wide scope for affirmation, may benefit from initiatives such as the AMALIA language model”.

“Frute of the importance of the Ibero-American Community and testimony to Portugal’s emphasis on multilateralism, Portugal’s willingness to take over the Presidency (Secretaria pro tempore) of the Ibero-American Conference in the biennium 2029-30 will also be confirmed,” said the same source, noting that the final decision should be taken at the Summit organised by Honduras in 2028.

The government “assigns the utmost importance to the Iberian-American relationship, both for its political importance and for its economic potential,” the Prime Minister’s office notes.

“Portugal has a strong economic relationship with several Latin American countries and there are several Portuguese companies with a significant presence in the region. Moreover, Portugal has been one of the most vocal supporters of the rapprochement between Europe and Latin America, especially on the commercial front, and the strengthening of this relationship will allow for more trade and a further diversification of supply chains,” the Portuguese executive leader’s office said.

According to the same note, “Portugal will continue to contribute to strengthening the link between the Ibero-American Community and the African continent through the operation of the Portuguese-Latin America-Africa Triangular Cooperation Fund, which will have an allocation of EUR 1 million for the period 2026-2028”.

The President of the Republic, António José Seguro, is already in Madrid, to open an exhibition on the 500 years of the birth of Luís Vaz de Camões, at the National Library, with the King of Spain, Felipe VI, and after the Ibero-American Summit of Wednesday and Thursday he goes to Salamanca to attend on Friday the honorary doctorate cause of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Portuguese Prime Minister, António Guterres, by the local university.

The Ibero-American community comprises three European countries, Portugal, Spain and Andorra, and 19 Latin Americans: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

The first summit of this community took place in 1991 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The meetings were annual until 2014, when they became every two years.

As a rule, Portugal has been represented jointly by the Heads of State and Government. It was so at the Cartagena summits in India, Colombia, in 2016, in Andorra in 2021, and in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 2023.

In 2018, at the summit in Ancient Guatemala, only the President of the Republic was at the last summit in Cuenca, Ecuador.