Colombia is the Latin American country that receives the most bilateral aid from the Government of Spain. Cooperation relations go back three decades, and Pedro Sánchez reinforced them last May, during Gustavo Petro's visit to Spain, where he promised a new aid package for cooperation and support for the peace process initiated by the president.. With this context, Queen Letizia has arrived in Colombia on her first visit to the South American country with one objective: to make Spanish cooperation projects visible..

For the Spanish Agency for Cooperation, Doña Letizia is the best publicity for projects abroad, which is why they try to make her travel every year, alternating visits to Latin American countries with African ones.. This trip is also special, as it is the first to be carried out with the new Cooperation Law, approved on February 20 with the support of the PP. According to AECID sources, this law “values what already existed”, regulating the figure of the cooperator and volunteer and ruling that Spanish cooperation is feminist. For this reason, this queen's trip “is loaded with a strong gender perspective,” they say. In addition, the commitment is reached that cooperation and development occupy 2.7% of the GDP of the budgets in 2030.

In less than 72 hours, Doña Letizia will visit two key cities for cooperation. In Cartagena de Indias, the Queen will visit the training center for aid workers, a meeting point for the 34 NGOs that work in the country and the 64 Spanish aid workers. Next, you will visit the sanitation and water purification project of the Villa Hermosa neighborhood.. Thanks to Spanish labor, this neighborhood on the outskirts of the colonial city has managed to have water for its school and hospital, as well as sewerage. The Queen will also have lunch with the first lady, whom she met in Madrid and who will also accompany her to see a workshop school and a restoration workshop.

On Wednesday Doña Letizia will fly to Cali to visit a coffee farm in Yotoco. It is a business run by former guerrillas who, despite the constant threat from paramilitary groups, have re-established themselves as citizens thanks to this program. Next, the Queen will be able to visit the projects for the sale of handicrafts and gardening led by indigenous women. Because giving women a way out in these countries is a priority for Spanish cooperation.