Three decades of relations between Latin America and Spain (1990-2020): Synthesis of the strengths and weaknesses generated. Proposals for future action

Abstract

This text analyzes the economic and political relations that existed between Latin America and Spain during the period 1990-2020. It is highlighted that, since the 1990s, once Spain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986, economic and political relations between Spain and Latin America intensified and deepened, at the same time as the lines of the actions were changing depending on the imprints of the different Spanish governments and the changes in Latin America and on the international scene. In the work, a synthesis balance is made of the strengths and weaknesses generated in these relationships in the investigated period. The main interpretive hypothesis of the work is that, as this balance suggests, some elements of relationships can be transformed, deepened, reoriented or simply modified, without neglecting, of course, the basis of everything built and achieved throughout all these years of relationships. Therefore, the conclusions provide some relevant reflections to take into account for the design of relations between Spain and Latin America in the coming decades.