Reform the UN to confront Putin and Trump: the recipe of Sánchez and his allies

Barcelona"Democracy cannot be taken for granted," says the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. Next to him, the former president of Chile Gabriel Boric adds that "democracy is not the natural state of things." And behind them, a large banner highlights why they and about twenty other international progressive leaders are meeting this Saturday in Barcelona: "In defense of democracy." If it is in danger, it is because someone is jeopardizing it, and, although they do not explicitly refer to it, it is clear that they are mainly pointing to two people: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But not only them, because they also lump together the world's great technological leaders, the "techno-oligarchies" as the Spanish president likes to repeat. The solution, still very undetermined, involves, according to the participants in the IV Summit for Democracy, "reforming the United Nations," starting with the fact that, for the first time in history, it should be headed by a woman.

"Attacks on the multilateral system; attempts to challenge the rules of international law; dangerous normalization of the use of force; inequality and disinformation". These are the main "dangers" facing the democratic system, Sánchez pointed out at the start of the meeting at Fira de Barcelona, in a space adjacent to the one hosting the Global Progressive Mobilisation, the meeting of socialists from around the world, at the same time. The pact of the twenty or so heads of state and government – and ministers – who have accompanied Sánchez (including Brazil's Lula da Silva; Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum; Colombia's Gustavo Petro; South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa; Uruguay's Yamandú Orsi; and Ireland's Catherine Connolly) is to move from shared diagnosis to action, and this is where the plan to reform the UN comes in. The Spanish government will provide support for a Latin American woman to be the next Secretary-General. "It is a matter of justice and also of credibility".

In a fiery speech to close the meeting, Lula da Silva stressed that the states gathered in Barcelona do not intend to "create a new international", but simply to talk about "multilateralism" because it is a topic that, he assures, "cannot be discussed in the United Nations". "Why? Because today the UN does not represent what it was created for. The five permanent members of the Security Council [the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and China] have gone from guaranteeing world security after the Second World War to becoming warlords".

In the final election for the new UN Secretary-General, there are two Latin American women among the four candidates: former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet – who does not have the support of the country's new president – and former Vice-President of Costa Rica Rebeca Grynspan. The two men they are competing against are former Senegalese President Macky Sall and Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Strengthen multilateralism

From this Saturday's meeting, a document of conclusions will emerge. Sánchez has advanced some: the reinforcement and reconfiguration of multilateralism, threatened by the imperialism of Russia and the United States; digital governance, to regulate global technology companies, and the democratic agenda, based on offering citizens responses in the form of social justice, cohesion, equal opportunities, youth participation, gender equality, and inclusion. "The real risk is that democracy will be emptied from within while it is attacked from without," warned Sánchez. "We believe in an order based on rules, on cooperation, and on legitimate institutions, but we also know that the multilateral system must be urgently renewed to reflect the reality of the 21st-century world," added the Spanish president.

The presence of the Mexican president has been one of the relevant news items of the event. She and Sánchez met bilaterally once the summit concluded. "There has never been a diplomatic crisis. What is very important is that the strength of indigenous peoples for our homeland is recognized," Sheinbaum stated. She delivered a speech full of references precisely to the origins of Mexico, vindicating the legacy of activists for human rights and independence. "I come from great cultures that were enslaved and plundered, but never defeated." The "permanent struggle for peace" in a world "wounded by war and inequality" has a concrete proposal from the Mexican president: that the United Nations sponsor a new fund for world reforestation using 10% of the money currently allocated to weaponry.

In general, political leaders have preferred to distance themselves from the anti-Trump label, some more vehemently, such as the Minister of Justice of the Dominican Republic, Antoliano Peralta –he stressed that if he thought it was an anti-Trump summit, "he would not have come"– and others, like Petro, simply denying that it is an "against" summit and defending the proactive component of the meeting. "Both the aggression against Iran and the extension of the war in the Middle East are among the worst steps any government has taken, beyond the genocide in Gaza," he denounced in reference to the United States and Israel. Lula was even clearer: "We do not like emperors who believe they are the kings of the world." The Brazilian president insisted that "individually" states "have no way out" and that "no country, however large, can impose its rules on others." In fact, he encouraged Sánchez to attend the next G-20 summit, in December in Miami, despite Trump's veto.

Present and absent

After passing through New York (on two occasions, under the auspices of the UN), Santiago de Chile, and now Barcelona, the next summit On defense of democracy already has its new destination: it will be Mexico. Representatives from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Albania, Cabo Verde, Guatemala, and Norway have repeated their attendance from the summit last September in New York, in addition to a representative from the UN –António Costa, President of the European Council, had also been announced, though he was not finally in the group photo–. The new countries that have joined this group in defense of democracy are Germany –with Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil–, the United Kingdom –with Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy–, Lithuania –with Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė–, South Africa –with Prime Minister Cyril Ramaphosa–, Ireland –with President Catherine Connolly–, and Austria, Barbados, Botswana, Ghana, Australia, Slovakia, Namibia, and the Dominican Republic. Although former President Boric was present, the new government of José Antonio Kast has left the group, and neither have Bolivia, Honduras, Senegal, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines been present.

Venezuela is not participating, and if María Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, ever ends up governing the country, it is clear she will not be there either. She has embraced the PP, on Friday with Alberto Núñez Feijóo and on Saturday with Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and has refused to meet with Sánchez. "What has happened in these last hours in Barcelona is the demonstration of why this meeting [with Sánchez] is not convenient," she said today. "I believe that the events have evidenced what I had previously expressed".