With the shadow of conflict in the middle east started by the President Donald Trump and of which the entire world feels the impact, Barcelona hosted this Friday the Global Progressive Mobilization, where left-wing leaders from around the world conspired to create a common front against the extreme right and waved the flag of diplomacy and ‘no to war’.
The Foreign Minister of Spain, Jose Manuel Albarescarried an unequivocal message about Iran: the crisis remains open despite the move to the US side and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz cannot be considered normalized. “The naval blockade by the United States is maintained,” the minister warned, before emphasizing that there is still no “total, free and safe” opening and that this opening must occur “by everyone.” It was, he said, “a step forward, a good gesture,” but insufficient to clear up the uncertainty.
In this framework, Albares defended that progressive forces must give “hope” and “put cooperation” versus those who prefer “confrontation and war“. The minister took that logic to the European field. “We have to decide, like the rest of the world, if we want world order or do we want a world of chaos“, and recalled that “the European Union is a construction of peace.” He also called for a foreign policy that defends “the same principles everywhere”, “whether in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Lebanon”, and concluded with a phrase directed against double standards: “Whether the children have blonde hair and blue eyes or have dark hair and dark eyes, it is the same principles.“.
That message was echoed by Vice President of the European Commission, Teresa Riberawhich claimed the “defense of international law, mutual respect and the construction of solutions” against “use of force” to impose decisions. He asked progressives not to remain silent in the face of inequality and injustice: “We need to stand up and not be silent when we see things we don’t like. We need to be ready to fight,” said the leader, who has gone further than the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallacalling Israel’s offensive in Gaza “genocide.”
Zapatero’s message
The former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapaterofor his part, focused on a contradiction that, in his opinion, defines the current moment: while the defense spending grows, the development cooperation go back. “We are taking defense spending to the highest level” as aid to combat the poverty and the inequality It is “reducing 25% in the world,” he stressed. In response, he called for a large “mobilization against war like that in Iraq or like that in Vietnam.”
Zapatero called for “more internationalism” and “determination” at a time when, he said, “we are risking which 21st century we want.” He also defended that the great political horizon must be “the peaceful solution of conflicts” and that the international left reaches 2030 with “a common proposal.”
Palestine, with Spain in the foreground
He Former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Shtayyeh, It started with an explicit thank you to Spain, and defined the president Pedro Sanchez as “a fighter for peace and justice” and “steadfast on the right side of history.” And he issued a warning to the rest of the world: “(Binyamin) Netanyahu believes that by taking the war to Iran, he will shift attention away from Palestine, but he will not succeed.”
Shtayyeh maintained that the two state solution It remains essential, but he denounced a “systematic destruction” of that possibility on the ground since Israel is already a State but Palestine is not allowed to be one. He noted the presence of 881,000 settlers in “illegally expropriated” Palestinian territories. He also called for a much stronger defense of international law and condemned governments that allow Netanyahu visits without arresting him: “We need to strengthen the International Criminal Court so that it can make applicable decisions, not just leave papers on the shelves,” he insisted.
The Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the First Lady of Brazil, Janja Lula da Silva, this Friday in Barcelona. / ALBERTO ESTÉVEZ / EFE
Latin America, setbacks and resistance
The Brazilian Janja Lula da Silvasociologist, special envoy for women at COP30 and first lady of Brazil, brought to the debate the impact of the extreme right on the lives of women. “In Brazil four women die a day for the simple fact of being women,” she warned, before denouncing that the extreme right has “no interest in defending the lives of women.” He spoke of a country crossed by femicides and vindicated the institutional response promoted by Lula with the National Pact against Femicides.
From El Salvadorthe deputy Claudia Ortiz dismantled the so-called ‘Salvadoran model’. “There is nothing to learn from El Salvador,” he summarized, denouncing that behind the security discourse there is an “absence of due process,” in addition to complaints of “torture y deaths in custody”. But he rejected a nostalgic exit and defended that “we do not need to return to the old democracy, but rather to rebuild a new one”, with a balance of powers and real international surveillance.
Also Giorgio Jacksonformer Chilean minister and executive director of the Pan American Congress, warned about the regional circulation of the formulas of the new right inspired by the “recipe by Steve Bannon“, Donald Trump’s advisor. “They are good at campaigning, making promises, but not offering solutions.” And although he admitted the difficulty, he insisted on the need to “unite a diverse opposition” on the left.
The cost of living as a global fracture
He cost of living It appeared in the forum as a tangible expression of the inequalities that affect the entire world. The socialist MEP Lina Galvez He summed it up with a simple idea: “Inflation does not hit everyone the same,” with people with fewer resources being the most vulnerable.
Gálvez added that this inequality affects women more harshly, because “they earn less, depend more on public services and continue to assume a large part of the unpaid care.” His warning was clear: when the State withdraws and leaves these gaps intact, the extreme right finds fertile ground. Without social justicehe came to say, democratic consensuses are also eroded.
The First Vice President and Commissioner for Competition at the European Commission, Teresa Ribera participates in the international summit ‘Global Progressive Mobilisation’, in Barcelona / Alberto Estevez / EFE
The crisis of dwelling was the focus of the mayor of Athens, Harris Doukas: Greece registers one of the largest rent increases in the EU and in Athens a one-bedroom apartment already requires “70% of the salary”, while a two-bedroom apartment takes “almost the entire salary.” The recipe proposed by the coalition of mayors, including that of Barcelona, Jaume Collboniincludes rent control, limiting short-term rentals, protecting against evictions and investing in affordable housing.
This Friday’s day closed with a leaders scene in it National Museum of Art of Catalonia. Attendees include Pedro Sanchez, Isabel Allende, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Antonio Costa y Teresa Ribera. The scene wants to condense the central aspiration of the forum: to convert the platform born in Barcelona into a stable front of political collaboration in the face of the advance of extreme right.
Subscribe to continue reading
