The Spanish elections this Sunday have played a leading role in Brussels in the meetings organized on the margins of the EU summit with Celac (the Latin American and Caribbean countries), which concludes this Tuesday in the Belgian capital. The progressive leaders present at the meeting, most of them from Latin America -the continent has experienced a wave of victories for the left in recent years, as in Colombia, Brazil or Chile- and a few from Europe -Germany, Spain, Portugal and Denmark are almost the only ones – have held an unprecedented meeting on Tuesday between leaders of the same ideological current from the two continents, in which the elections in Spain have been the center of the debate. All the leaders have expressly supported Pedro Sánchez, with his words and with great applause, and have encouraged him for a battle that they consider decisive not only for Spain, but also for Europe.
The progressive presidents have encouraged Sánchez in his “fight against the right and the Trumpist ultra-right”, according to several of the people present at the meeting, behind closed doors, and have insisted that the great problem for the political balance in The world is that, since the irruption of Donald Trump on the political scene, the right —both in America and in Europe— has been getting closer to the postulates of the populist ultra-right. Sánchez, who was one of the first to speak at the meeting, thanked them for their support, but tried to reassure his progressive allies with the confidence that on Sunday “a progressive government will come out of the polls in Spain.”
Sánchez, who started the meeting at the Sofitel hotel in Brussels after the opening of the president of the European Socialist Party and former Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, has pointed out that progressives from all over the world have “a common agenda that implies building a response to global challenges, the fight against climate change, inequality, and the defense of democracies”. “We must put a stop to a right that is increasingly to the right and increasingly assumes the postulates of the extreme right,” insisted the Spanish president, according to the sources consulted. Löfven had also been very clear in supporting the socialist leader: “Around the world, the shadow of right-wing extremism is growing. This threatens our democratic institutions. It brings division and hate. And it jeopardizes the progress we have made in recent decades. This is the fight that we are seeing in Spain and that is why we wish Pedro Sánchez the greatest success this Sunday, ”he said, according to the official note of the meeting.
“The model of the world in which we want to live”
In addition to Spanish, the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Colombian Gustavo Petro, the German Olaf Scholz, the Portuguese António Costa, the Danish Mette Frederiksen, the Argentine Alberto Fernández and the Chilean Gabriel Boric spoke at the meeting. The importance of the elections in Spain has been on everyone’s lips. The Argentine Fernández has connected the behavior of the right in Latin America and Europe with the irruption of Donald Trump. For the Argentine president, the rise of the American magnate has changed the attitude of conservatives around the world and their relationship with institutions.
“For the first time in a long time, after Trump, democracy is in danger in the world because the growth of a racist right has been enabled, which pursues the freedoms and rights of minorities and wants to govern authoritarianly,” said the Argentine. , according to several of those present. Fernández insisted that Sánchez must fight this battle this Sunday in Spain and it is essential that he win it, because not only a government is chosen, but “the model of the world in which we want to live.”
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The Brazilian Lula da Silva, in the same sense, with a half-hour speech, explained the case of Jair Bolsonaro in his country and how Trumpism had also spread in Latin American politics, and how the rules of democracy are broken and politics is based on lies. The Chilean Boric also criticized the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and the Colombian Petro made special reference to the fight against climate change, one of his flag issues. The German Scholz also showed great sensitivity towards the demands of Latin Americans by stressing that Europe should not repeat the extractive logic of the past in the commercial relationship. Both Scholz and Costa, European representatives, clearly supported Sánchez and stressed that the elections in Spain are decisive for Europe and can upset the balance. The Spaniard thus leaves Brussels with very clear support from his progressive allies and will now return to Spain to campaign again starting this afternoon, with a rally in San Sebastián.
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