Rhapsody is a ‘stitched song’: epic poems assembled in ancient Greece, popular airs and intertwined melodies, free music that united seemingly unrelated themes in Romanticism. The Hungarian musician Franz Liszt composed some famous rhapsodies. A Hungarian patriot of German origin -in Central Europe, identities formed a very complex mosaic- Liszt wanted to pay homage to Hungarian popular music with about twenty rhapsodies. Hungarian has been the music this week.
A French soldier from the UN force deployed in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed this Saturday and three other soldiers were injured -two of them very seriously- in an attack recorded in the south of that country which President Emmanuel Macron attributed to Hezbollah. Hours later, this pro-Iranian Shiite militia issued a statement denying any involvement in the ambush against the blue helmet contingent, which sparked all kinds of speculation.
Iran stated this Saturday that it has reimposed “strict control” over the Strait of Hormuz, alluding to a new closure of the strategic passage one day after announcing its reopening to allow the transit of commercial vessels. The Persian country thus responds to the blockade maintained by the United States against Iranian ports.
In Milan, the “patriots” wanted to flex their muscles, but ended up like a meeting of orphans: more melancholy than vehemence. The date of this Saturday’s European far-right rally had been conceived with a slogan, “remigration,” the flagship concept of the continent’s new far-right, which united all populist right-wing parties, members of the parliamentary group promoted by Viktor Orbán, who nevertheless did not appear in Milan, and inspired by that Donald Trump who, during hours of demonstrations and speeches, was not cited even once, beyond allusions perceptible only to journalists and embassy analysts.
The finance ministers of Spain and Brazil, Arcadi España and Dario Durigan, held a meeting this Saturday, parallel to the progressive summit and the summit in defense of democracy held in Barcelona, to boost an initiative that both countries already agreed upon last July in Seville: The launch of an international coalition to tax the super-rich with a specific tax to address inequality and wealth concentration.
It is a mistake to think that we are better. Seeing the world as a competition between good and bad only leads to more political, economic, and military confrontations. That is why I believe it is a mistake to gather a few progressive leaders in Barcelona without including others
The same weekend that Barcelona hosted the progressive summit and an event with various Latin American leaders in defense of Democracy, in Madrid, the presence of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado stood out. She received an award from the Community of Madrid from its president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and met in the preceding hours with both the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and that of Vox, Santiago Abascal, as well as the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again lashed out at Spain, but he has done so with an incorrect statement. Coinciding with the celebration of the Meeting for the Defense of Democracy being held in Barcelona, Trump stated on his social network Truth Social that it is “a shame” to see Spain due to its “disastrous economic figures.” The country’s macroeconomic reality clashes with that accusation.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that there has been a diplomatic crisis with Spain on account of Spain’s recognition of the suffering caused by the conquest of America. “There is no diplomatic crisis, there never has been. What is important is that the strength of the indigenous peoples for our homeland be recognized,” she explained upon her arrival at the IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy taking place in Barcelona this Saturday.
The IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy began this Saturday in Barcelona with a clear purpose: to present to the world strategic principles for combating the far-right wave that questions multilateralism and democracy, a current embodied by the US president, Donald Trump, whom no one mentions in this conclave but whose political action is very present. Led by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the meeting began with his intervention, in which he advocated for a “concerted action” by all progressive governments in the world in favor of “strengthening the alliance” that convenes them today, and combating “fear with more democracy, and inequality with more justice”. In the background of this commitment is the joint proposal to reform the UN due to its ineffectiveness in facing global challenges and acting in the face of the proliferation of international conflicts.