INTERVIEW with H.E. Ignacio Ruiz, Colombia’s ambassador in Budapest

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz is the new high representative in Budapest of the Republic of Colombia, the country of Shakira, Juanes, Botero and Escarabajos. We asked him about his Budapest and Hungary impressions, the Hungarian-Colombian relationship, his opinion on the Hungarian gastronomy, how we can get to Colombia from Budapest, and what we should visit in the South American country. Here is the interview.

DNH: You are the new ambassador in Budapest, having been appointed a few months ago. Have you had a chance to get to know the city and the Hungarians?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: Yes, definitely Hungary is an appropiate place for exercising the diplomatic job. Also, I am plenty identified with the beauty of the city, its facilities to use the public transportation, the practical way the Hungarian live their daily life and I have also took a further step, one that many people do not dare to do: I am learning Hungarian language, taking a course twice a week.

DNH: And how has the reception been in the diplomatic arena?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: I presented credentials with four more ambassadors back in October 2022 and since then I have had no inconveniencies in my diplomatic job. The interaction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the different levels of the Hungarian public administration have been quite expedite. We, the latin-american ambassadors, are working together taking advantages of the similarities that our countries have towards Hungary, acting within a non-official but very active group, the so called GRULAC (latinamerican and Caribbean group). We are conscious that there is a lack of knowledge -not of interest- from Hungary to Latin-america, and viceversa. The trade between the two regions is notably low and one of my goals is to achieve an increased bilateral trade, currently with a notably surplus to Hungary.

DNH: Before you were appointed ambassador, what had you heard about Hungary?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: Lot of good things: in music from Ferenc Liszt to Béla Bartók, in sports from Ferenc Puskás to Zsuzsanna Jakabos, or admiring the worldwide known creations of genius like Bíró, Rubik or Houdini. And, of course, admiring the notable research of so many Hungarian that have achieved Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physical or medicine. And who can forget the extraordinary life of Cardinal Josef Mindszenty and all he did for the needed people facing dictatorial regimes. Besides that, I have the chance to visit some towns of the Hungarian country side and, of course, the fact that I landed on Budapest knowing already about the excellent hungarian wine and gastronomy.

DNH: Let’s start with the hardest part. We Hungarians have a lot of negative stereotypes about Colombia. (drug cartels, Escobar etc) Please correct these beliefs, introduce us the Colombia of today.

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: The contemporary Colombia has a great asset: its people. Although we cannot hideaway realities that have deteriorated the image of our country, our people have built a country where the good representatives like García Márquez, the singers Shakira and Juanes, the painter Botero, the cycle riders like Nairo Quintana or Egan Bernal (so called Escarabajos) have showed a human potential that can overthrown those negatives stereotypes. We keep on building us as a nation and we do hope that the Peace Agreement of 2016 and the new initiatives about Total Peace, treatment of the worldwide problem of drugs or facing the climate change can squeeze the best of the Colombian strength leading us to the necessary peace that we deserve.

DNH: Colombia’s neighbours are going through difficult times, what do you think about the current political situation in the region?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: I want to start by saying that Colombia has friendly relations with all the neighborhood. Recently, relations with Venezuela were normalized after a period of tremendous difficulties that the common people went through being unable to develop their normal life in both sides of the border. Colombia hold ten consulates in Venezuelan territory that were closed, causing tremendous harm to thousands of Colombian population; now the situation is getting better. Colombia also belongs to regional organizations like the OAS (Organization of American States), The Andean Community, SELA, OTCA, is associated member of Mercosur, just to mention some of them. The regional integration is a clear and important chapter in the colombian foreign policy.

DNH: What can we know about the relations between the Colombian and Hungarian governments? And what are the business opportunities for Hungarian companies in Colombia? Conversely, what products from your country are offered to Hungarian customers?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: First, let me point out that in 2023 the governments of Hungary and Colombia are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. This is an extraordinary occasion to celebrate the always friendly and mutual beneficial ties that bind us, and an opportunity to find new ways to bring our two countries closer.   We have always found in the Hungarian government a partner; we find common ground in many topics in the international arena and have an active cooperation in many areas.  Just to mention a few, In 2021 we signed an extension of the Stipendum Hungaricum academic exchange program, therefore we have seen a constant and increasing flow of Colombian students to Hungarian universities. Last October, the minister Péter Szijjártó signed an agreement with Colombia for raising -from 40 to 50- the number of places we have in this program.

Let me use this opportunity to inform that we also have a scholarship program for Hungarian students to go to Colombia, we would like to welcome every time more Hungarians in our universities, so anyone interested please contact us and we can give you more information.  We have also signed other bilateral agreements in fields such as agriculture: Currently, we are revising a Memorandum of Understanding between our ministries of agriculture to include viticulture and viniculture, a field in which Hungary has a long tradition that we can learn from.  Colombia has a great potential for agricultural development and Hungary has great experience we can benefit from.  We also have a MoU on sports cooperation between our ministries of sports and another MoU between our diplomatic academies to cooperate academically because we have great capacities and many opportunities to exchange knowledge and good practices. Finally, we are working on an agreement to facilitate the flow of people that want to mix some holidays with work, a growing tendency among young people.

DNH: If you are going to Colombia as a tourist, what is the fastest way to get there from Budapest and how many hours does it take?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: There are many airways to get to Colombia from Budapest. However, a stopover is necessary as there is not a direct flight.  You can find flights to Colombia from many European capital cities like Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, Madrid, Paris and also via Istanbul.  From any of those cities you can catch a flight to Bogotá or a handful of other Colombian cities like Cartagena, Medellin, Barranquilla or Cali.  The shortest way might be through Paris or Amsterdam to Bogotá, for a total duration of between 14 to 16 hours altogether.  It is important to mention that Hungarian citizens do not need a visa for tourism purposes in Colombia.  Last year alone, we had 1.856 Hungarian visitors in Colombia, we hope that this number continues to grow in the coming years.

DNH: What are the biggest attractions not to miss when visiting Colombia in South America? And what sights would you show your friends if they visited you in Budapest?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: Colombia offers many diverse types of tourism: the Andean region of the country offers beautiful mountain and valley landscapes and a lot of rural tourism in coffee farms that have been turned into high stars countryside hotels; the Amazonian region offers the wild and exotic view of the jungle and the majestic landscapes and, of course, the pacific and Atlantic shores of Colombia give the chance to find beautiful white beaches and warm sea to enjoy (the island of San Andrés and Cartagena are the most well known options for that). Because of the numerous rivers and caves and natural parks also the archeological tourism is welcomed, as well as the religious tourism visiting some of the iconic sanctuaries, mountain-built churches and the worldwide Cathedral of Salt, just one and a half hour from Bogotá, the capital city. And if some friends happened to come to Budapest, I will have a rich and varied tourist tour in this beautiful city.

DNH: We’re proud of our Hungarian cuisine, but how much would a Colombian like our food?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: There is no Colombian not knowing about the famous Hungarian goulash, or the fish soup, the duck or the chicken paprika or the galuska itself. I have spent eight months trying delicious dishes of the Hungarian gastronomy and still have some more left to discover. The Hungarian food is quite a spicy and well mixed, so a colombian tourist will find no differences when taste the Hungarian food with its different spices.

DNH: I know you are a big sports fan. What sports do you like? Have you been to any sporting events in Hungary?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: I am a passionated fan of the motor sports, so next GP of Hungaroring will be a special sport event for me. From the sports I can practice daily, tennis and cycling are among the most important ones and the Buda mountains offer a good chance to ride in bicycle. I also like football and I am just about to start engaging in the night games that the diplomatic community arrange every Friday.

DNH: Speaking of events. What were some of the events organised by the embassy that you would highlight? And what events are coming up in the near future?

Ambassador Ignacio Ruiz: Since my arrival last September, we have had some cultural events, mainly the projection of colombian films and some gastronomical events, also we participated enthusiastically at the diplomatic charity bazar in December. As I mentioned before, this year we are celebrating our 50th anniversary and we are planning to have several events throughout the year, some of them academic, other cultural, we are still defining places and dates, which we will inform to the public eventually. We always give special importance to our National Day on the 20th of July, which last year we celebrated in the Városliget thanks to the excellent cooperation with the Budapest Sports Service Provider, we hope this year we can replicate this cooperation as it was highly successful and a great opportunity for our community to meet Hungarians interested in our culture.