Latin American ambassadors meet in Rome to discuss decree on citizenship

Ambassadors of Latin American countries – including from Brazil – They participated in an informal meeting in Rome to discuss the effects of the decree-law on Italian citizenship, approved by the Meloni government on March 28. The meeting was held in Montecitorio, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, at the request of the diplomats themselves.

The initiative came from parliamentarians Fabio Porta (PD) and Franco Tirelli (MAIE-Noi Moderati), both elected by the South America Constituency. According to Porta, the foreign representatives sought to understand the content and consequences of the new legal text, which could directly affect around 50 million Italian descendants living on the continent.

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“We express our opposition both to the method used by the government – ​​that is, the use of the urgent decree on this matter – and to the reasons given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the press conference held after the Council of Ministers, which was full of negative and, in some cases, erroneous references regarding the citizenship requests submitted by our compatriots abroad,” Porta said in a note sent to Italianismo.

Lawmakers also pointed to risks to Italy's international image and the possibility of a historic estrangement between the country and its communities in Latin America.

“Also regarding the content of the provision, we express our strong perplexity, along with the concern that converting the decree into law will cause damage to the image, major disruptions and, above all, an irreparable rupture of our historical bond with communities historically rooted in the countries of residence,” added the deputy.

The ambassadors participated in the meeting Renato Mosca de Souza (Brazil), Ennio Vivaldi Véjar (Chile), Ligia Margarita Quessep Bitar (Colombia), Anolin Ayaviri Gomez (Bolivia), Mirta Granda Averhoff (Cuba), among others. All expressed concern about the possible effects of the decree in their respective countries, according to Porta.

“The diplomats understood the foundations of our commitment in the Chamber and the Senate to combat a provision that has already had a strongly negative impact not only on the Italian community, but also on the countries of Latin America themselves,” Porta concluded.