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.
“It all started in Barcelona!”, Pedro Sánchez has assured will be remembered in the future. While a far-right international has been operating freely around the world for years, accelerated after Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, this Saturday a progressive international, convened by the head of the Spanish Executive and the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has started in the capital of Catalonia, as an alternative to the global reactionary wave and the new geopolitical and ideological order encouraged by the President of the United States.