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Argentinians, Colombians and Peruvians to vote in Spain

Other News Materials 6 February 2009 19:35 (UTC +04:00)

The Spanish government Friday approved an agreement allowing Argentinian immigrants to vote in the 2011 municipal elections, making Argentina the third Latin American country to get that right after Peru and Colombia, dpa reported.

Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and his Argentine counterpart Jorge Taiana were scheduled to sign the agreement on Monday at the start of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez' visit to Spain.

In January, Spain also allowed Colombians and Peruvians to vote in local elections, a right that had only been enjoyed by European Union citizens so far.

The voting rights will concern adults who have lived in Spain legally for a period of at least five years. Spanish citizens living in Argentina, Peru and Colombia will also be eligible to vote there.

Immigrants from the three Latin American countries "live and work here, pay taxes and contribute to everyone's well-being," said Jose Antonio Alonso, spokesman for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist Party.

The voting rights also contributed to creating "an Ibero-American community of nations," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Friday.

Spain has about 260,000 immigrants from Colombia, 127,000 from Peru and 90,000 from Argentina. About 300,000 Spaniards live in the three countries.

Madrid is planning similar agreements with other Latin American countries and some others, including Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, South Korea and New Zealand.

The number of non-European foreigners with voting rights could thus increase to about 1.3 million.

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