One of Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s great convictions if he comes to power is to strengthen Spain’s role as a bridge between Europe and Latin America. And this Wednesday he has claimed that link at a summit of the European People’s Party (EPP) held in Madrid with 60 political parties from 42 European and Latin American countries with the aim of addressing the challenges of democracy. At this event, the PP leader wanted to assess the political situation in Spain and criticized Pedro Sánchez, whom he described as “authoritarian.” “I welcome you to a Spain that also suffers the threat of a weakened democracy, attacked from the highest levels that should defend it above all else,” he stated.
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Feijóo spoke after the inaugural speech of the EPP leader, Manfred Weber; the Italian Vice President Antonio Tajani; and the recently elected president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori. Also speaking were the Prime Minister of Portugal Luís Montenegro and the leader of the opposition in Venezuela María Corina Machado. Feijóo focused his speech on rejecting “communists, populists, authoritarians, dictators, and radicals,” who, in his view, long ago “learned to tolerate their differences to act united against their main enemy,” which is “the West and its liberal democracies.” “They are deeply rooted in Ibero-America and Europe,” warned the PP leader.
In this context, and without explicitly naming him, he pointed to Sánchez. “To recognize an authoritarian, you don’t need to ask what he thinks. Just observe what he tries to control. If he mistrusts judges, if he despises parliamentary majorities when they do not favor him, if he replaces merit and effort with state dependency, and if he questions the independence of institutions, that is an authoritarian president,” Feijóo stated.
“Our commitment, our duty is to unmask them,” continued the PP leader, who warned that “democracy can never be subordinated to a personal project.” “I want to make it clear that I am not speaking to you from the calm of someone who no longer suffers these ills,” he added, referring to Spain, assuring that “Spain will not make the mistake of moving towards the populism that others are fleeing from.”
“Rest assured that Spain sooner rather than later will join the democratic awakening that will allow us to rebuild our institutions, our individual freedoms, and our historic alliances,” Feijóo continued.
The summit, which lasts until this Thursday when conclusions will be drawn up, is called EPP Libertas Forum and aims for continuity after this first edition, which deals with the challenges of democracy, the defense of the rule of law, and the protection of fundamental freedoms.
Also participating in the summit are Petro Poroshenko, former president of Ukraine; José Daniel Ferrer and Rosa María Payá, representatives of the Cuban democratic opposition; and Juan Sebastián Chamorro, leader of the Nicaraguan democratic opposition.
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