Santiago Cabanas, Spain’s consul general in Miami, hosted a July 13 meeting between members of the España-Florida Foundation 500 Years’ board of directors and Jorge Dezcallar, Spain’s ambassador to the United States.

The ambassador was informed during the meeting about the foundation’s goals and structure, as well as its role in disseminating knowledge about Spanish history and defending Spain’s interests in the United States ahead of the 500^thanniversary celebration of Spanish explorers’ arrival in Florida. All participants agreed that the commemorative events are an important opportunity to consolidate our presence in the United States. The directors also made the ambassador aware of their desire to count on the Spanish government’s energy, vision and determination.

Dezcallar, who is convinced that working to disseminate knowledge of that shared past is an important part of bolstering our presence in this country, expressed his full backing for the foundation and pledged to lend institutional support to the project.

Among concrete short-term actions, it was agreed that the foundation would meet with Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega during her upcoming visit to Washington.

Participants also worked on a joint action plan aimed at using the influence of the Hispanic community to establish an image of Spain that is reality-based and free of stereotypes. The idea is to try to involve both Americans and Latino organizations in that initiative.