Acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, have presented the balance of the agreement maintained by both institutions to disseminate the Spanish language in the development of peace operations abroad.
Garcia Montero has celebrated in his speech "the success" of the collaboration for teaching and dissemination of Spanish in international missions and has detailed that the Spanish military have provided training to 6,489 students since the agreement was signed in 2010.
This year, in particular, the Armed Forces have been training 471 students with the teaching resources provided by the Institute.
After assessing the program, Margarita Robles stressed that "our Armed Forces, in peace missions, are very involved with citizenship, Spanish is an instrument of peace and coexistence, as all languages must be. they can be a reason for confrontation, but on the contrary, they have to serve as enrichment ".
The minister stressed that "our Armed Forces take Spanish wherever they go" and added that "it is something that makes us feel very proud to all Spaniards."
"This program enhances the Armed Forces and Spain, and if we project Spanish, we are making great men and women of this country," said the minister in relation to cooperation with the Cervantes Institute.
To conclude, Robles has invited those responsible for the Institute to visit Lebanon, one of the leaders in this program, "to share the spirit of sacrifice and heroism of our military" and to see on the ground "the depth of the Spanish language "
Colonel Juan Bustamante, of the Operations Command, and General Antonio Romero Losada, chief of the 'Galicia' VII Brigade, who have detailed the work done at the 'Miguel de Cervantes' base in Lebanon, have also participated in the event. .
The work carried out in the Lebanese detachment represents the maximum exponent of the collaboration between the Ministry of Defense and the Cervantes Institute, where some thirty soldiers teach Spanish classes free of charge to some 300 students in the area.
Until the month of May, this work was developed by soldiers of the Brigade 'Galicia' VII, taking over the troops of the Brigade 'Guadarrama XII'.
"This is part of the support of the Armed Forces for the civilian population, and it is fundamental that the people around whom we are carrying out our mission have a perception and a favorable attitude to our mission that reverts to our troops," the colonel said. Bustamante.
For his part, General Antonio Romero has indicated that "offering the teaching of the Spanish language is highly appreciated and an attraction for the civilian population to change their attitude." Our staff receives prior training and takes hours to teach the civilian population, making it compatible with his work in the mission, it is a very useful tool for insertion in the civilian population ".
The Ministry of Defense and the Cervantes Institute signed a collaboration agreement in 2010 to spread the Spanish language and make our culture known in the areas where the Armed Forces were deployed.