Relations between Spain and Latin America in the field of defense

Abstract

This paper is framed in the relations between Spain and Latin America, where the continuous presence in that region is registered as preeminent goals of the Spanish foreign policy. In this context the bilateral relations related to the Defense area are inserted. As we can consider, Madrid has implemented different ways to be related with its counterpart. Our goal is to provide information on the relations between Spain and Latin America in the Defense field, conceptually framed in a Defense Diplomacy. With this objective, in the first place a brief review on the relations developed between the actors concerned during the last years will be carried on in order to frame in that context the actions of the Defense Diplomacy. Second, two expressions of that deployment will be analyzed: the commercialization of the Spanish defense material in the Latin American market and the employment of the military instrument in the frame of multilaterals initiatives that involves the counterpart. Finally, during the conclusions and evaluation on the actions took will be done and the options that the defense field offers for the future involving Spain and Latin American relations will be analyzed.