“Let me begin by giving the thanks to President Pedro Sánchez and progressive leadership around the world. In times like this, when we see so much crisis and confrontation, it is essential that progressive leadership come together to practice solidarity.” With that call for international solidarity, Zohran Mamdanimayor of New Yorkopened his speech this Saturday at the Global Progressive Forum of Barcelona, an event of the world left in which several leaders demanded more coordination to confront the advance of Donald Trump and the international right. The forum served to project a shared idea: the need to reinforce a common progressive agenda in the face of inequalitygeopolitical instability and social wear and tear.
Mamdani placed the focus on the daily problems that mark the lives of broad layers of the population. “As mayor of New York City, when I walk down the street I see the struggle of my fellow citizens in the most expensive city in the United States,” he shared. And it focused that pressure on three very recognizable fronts: rent, the shopping basket and access to affordable daycare.
From New York to Barcelona
The New York leader maintained that these difficulties are not exclusive to his city, such as access to housing, a problem he shares with Barcelona. According to him, when he listens to working people explain their problems, he recognizes in those stories the same anguish that citizens of other countries suffer. “We know that inequality is not something exclusive to my city; is a reality for too many people around the world,” he said.
From there, Mamdani defended a coordinated response from progressive forces. “Our path to fight and combat inequality is a path that we will have to travel together, hand in hand“, he noted. He also presented the Global Progressive Alliance as “a emerging and wonderful movement” to unite geopolitical and local movements like yours.
Sanders attacks Trump, Netanyahu and Putin
After his intervention, the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders He insisted on the same idea of cooperation, but with a more openly combative tone. started thanking Sánchez having gathered “such an impressive group of progressive leaders from around the world“and defended that, if the reactionary forces coordinate, those who represent the working class They must do the same internationally.
Sanders linked this need for unity to the current international context. The senator warned that leaders like Trump, Netanyahu y Putin are pushing the world towards an “international anarchy” in which the rule of law and the rules-based order are in “serious danger.” He also thanked Sánchez and the rest of the participants for the actions taken against the “illegal and dangerous” wars promoted, in his opinion, by Netanyahu and Trump in Iran y Lebanon.
Faced with this drift, he demanded a shift in public priorities. Countries, he said, must invest in “health, education y good salaries”instead of continuing to allocate resources to weapons that only generate “horror and destruction.” But, along with the gloomy diagnosis, he wanted to leave a message of mobilization. “Ordinary people are rising up and fighting,” he said.
Sanders gave as an example the protests against Trump’s authoritarian drift, called “No Kings”which, according to what he highlighted, brought together some 8 million people in the streets of the United States. In his opinion, it was one of the biggest days of mobilization in the country and a demonstration that citizens reject “authoritarianism, oligarchy, racism, war and permanent attacks against the working class“. Along these lines, he maintained that Trump is losing support in the polls and predicted new progressive victories in the midterm elections this November.
The public follows the plenary session of the Global Progressive Mobilization in Barcelona / Jordi Otix / EPC
Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ partner
The one who was present in Barcelona was the governor of Minnesota and former running mate of Kamala Harris in 2024, Tim Walz, who issued a harsh warning against Donald Trump and the global advance of authoritarianism. “The monstrosity that is installed in our White House”he said, is symptomatic of the entire world: “authoritarianism is not limited to the United States, it is everywhere.”
“We have a president who is weak-minded and willing to shoot anyone. He plunged us into a war where there was no threat, without clear objectives or an exit plan. We must call a spade a spade: that is fascism.”.
However, he claimed that it is not enough to oppose Trump, but that a solid political alternative must be built: “If we want to get out of this mess we must do much more than resist all these terrible things that Donald Trump and similar dictators do”. And he closed with a direct call to maintain pressure on Trump and support for Americans: “Do not abandon the people of the United States, please. Criticize and condemn these monstrosities, continue putting pressure, continue denouncing and continue calling a spade a spade”.
Clinton appeals to freedom, justice and equality
The former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton –who was also a presidential candidate, along with Bernie Sanders– closed with a message focused on social demands and the need to rebuild trust in a context of confusion and uncertainty. He focused on the most urgent challenges, with a central idea: today citizens demand “security, dignity and opportunity”.
“The commitment to defend freedom, justice and equality matters more than ever”he stated, and made a call to action to build “a better future.” The message shared in Barcelona by Mamdani, Sanders and Clinton was clear: in the face of Trump’s advance and the offensive of the right, the left seeks to regroup, speak more clearly and turn social unrest into a political alternative with international projection.
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