IICA appoints Enrique Iglesias as Goodwill Ambassador for Ibero-American Cooperation and Integration

Madrid, 8 November 2022 (IICA). – In the framework of a conference and roundtable held at Casa de América located in Spain’s capital city, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) recognized Enrique Iglesias, former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and titleholder of other important offices in the Americas and Europe, as Goodwill Ambassador for issues related to cooperation and integration.
 
The distinction was presented to Iglesias by Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, who is on an official visit to Spain alongside his Special Advisor, Jorge Werthein.
 
Enrique Iglesias, who is of Spanish-Uruguayan nationality, served as Ibero-American Secretary-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay and received the distinction for his influential contribution to driving friendly relations between Spain and the European Union and the Americas.
 
Upon presenting the recognition in Madrid, Manuel Otero commented: “Enrique Iglesias epitomizes the spirit of the Americas and the building of bridges with Spain and Europe. He never talks in the abstract; when he speaks, what he says is accurate”.
 
“He has the ability to summarize what is coming and is always building prospectively; he is always thinking about his home country of Uruguay and his America and developing thinking for Ibero-American action. That is why it is a great honor to present this recognition to Enrique”, added IICA’s Director General.
 
Upon receiving the recognition, Iglesias expressed that: “As a Uruguayan, I have a lot of affection and appreciation for IICA because my country gave me the opportunity to get to know the Institute many years ago, when the countries of Latin America had to prepare development plans to get to know each other and, based on knowledge, prepare projects and programs that President John F. Kennedy had promised to finance with the collaboration of the IDB and other international organizations in the United States”.
 
Iglesias, who was also President of the Central Bank of Uruguay (1967-1968), added: “I had the honor of directing my country’s program and the most dynamic area was agriculture. We were able to boost research and IICA had a lot to do with this because they helped to build the National Agriculture Research Institute (INIA, for its acronym in Spanish), which today is a fundamental pillar of life in Uruguay”.
 
“Moreover, they helped to connect us with research organizations in Argentina and Brazil, so it could be said that the technological awakening in Uruguay was due to the work of IICA, which speaks to its historical importance and why this recognition is so special for me”, added Iglesias, who served as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) between 1972 and 1985, Foreign Minister of Uruguay from 1985 to 1988, President of the IDB from 1988 to 2005 and Ibero-American Secretary-General from 2005 to 2014.
 
“A very simple example, but one that is important for us Uruguayans to remember, is that the country did not know the value of its fields. They were used primarily for livestock and on that foundation an instrument was drafted with the collaboration of IICA, called the Land Plan, that took us from being a livestock and internal consumption-oriented country to having a vigorous agriculture sector and vigorous afforestation”, expressed Iglesias.
 
In the Spanish capital, Enrique Iglesias said that: “All these things that make up the history of my country are linked to people and to the fact that there was a commitment to technology, and Uruguayan technology is highly respected. I have learned the importance of research, which underpins the growth of Uruguay, so I receive this distinction on behalf of that effort, of all committed people; there are institutions that are leading the way, and the mark IICA has left in Latin America is great, we owe them a lot”, concluded Iglesias.
 
Jorge Werthein, who also participated in the awards ceremony, expressed that Enrique Iglesias “is a doer and a statesman who worked to consolidate every institution of which he was a part, so that these achievements are long-lasting”.
 
Conference and roundtable at Casa de América
 
Iglesias was recognized in the framework of one of the main events for Manuel Otero’s mission to Spain: a conference and roundtable at Casa de América, also known as Linares Palace.
 
Otero delivered the speech entitled “Transformation of Agrifood Systems: A vision from the Americas”, after which the roundtable entitled “Building bridges for cooperation between Europe and Latin America” took place, which was moderated by journalist Laura Cristóbal, Director of EFE Agro, with the participation of Enrique Iglesias; Laura Oroz, Director of Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean for the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID, in Spanish); and Ramón Jáuregui, President of Euroamérica Foundation.
 
Watch Otero’s presentation and the roundtable on IICA’s Youtube channel.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int