Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez leading, international leftist leaders gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to “protect and strengthen” democracy. A meeting that also marks a warming of relations between Spain and Mexico.
This forum called “In defense of democracy,” the fourth of its kind, takes place on the same day as a gathering of European far-right leaders in Milan, in northern Italy, and also brings together European Council President Antonio Costa and the heads of state of South Africa, Colombia, Uruguay, and Ireland.
The presence of Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, in Catalonia had a symbolic character, just weeks after King Felipe VI, for the first time, acknowledged “numerous abuses” during the Spanish conquest of America in the 16th century, a subject of tension between Madrid and Mexico for many months.
Upon her arrival for the meeting, Ms. Sheinbaum, whose first visit to Spain since her inauguration in October 2024, assured journalists that there was no “diplomatic crisis” between her country and Spain, and there never had been one.
“I come from a people who recognize their origins in the great indigenous cultures, those that were silenced, enslaved, and plundered, but that were never defeated, because there are memories that are not conquered and roots that are never uprooted,” she declared at the opening of the meeting, also stating that she wanted to propose a declaration “against military intervention in Cuba.”
Reform of the United Nations
Opening the meeting, Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, one of the fiercest opponents in Europe of the ongoing war in the Middle East, said he was in favor of a reform of the United Nations.
“We believe that the time has come for the United Nations to be renewed, reformed, and, why not? led by a woman. It is not only a matter of justice, it is also a matter of credibility,” he said.
“The context is clear: democracy cannot be taken for granted,” he also stated, presenting the meeting as that of “a group of countries ready to do whatever is necessary to protect and strengthen the democratic system.”
Like in Beijing a few days ago, the Spanish Prime Minister had already called on Friday for the supporters of Lula to “renew” and “improve” the international multilateral system, in the face of those “who, either actively or passively, consider it dead or work to undermine its foundations.”
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / blg / afp
