Reform the UN to confront Putin and Trump: Sánchez's and his allies' recipe
"Democracy is in danger," warn progressive leaders gathered in Barcelona
Barcelona"Democracy cannot be taken for granted," says the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. Beside him, the former president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, adds that "democracy is not the natural state of things." And behind them, a large poster shows 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 putting it there and, although they do not refer to them explicitly, it is clear that they are mainly pointing to two people: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But not only them, because they lump together the world's great technological leaders, the "techno-oligarchs" 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 led 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 the Barcelona Fair, in a space adjacent to the one simultaneously hosting the Global Progressive Mobilisation, the meeting of socialists from around the world. The pact of the approximately twenty heads of state and government - and ministers - who accompanied Sánchez (including Brazil's Lula da Silva; Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum; Colombia's Gustavo Petro; South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa; 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 support a Latin American woman being the next secretary-general. "It is a matter of justice and also of credibility".
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 and former Costa Rican vice-president Rebeca Grynspan. The two men they are competing against are former Senegalese president Macky Sall and Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Strengthening multilateralism
From this Saturday's meeting, a document of conclusions will emerge. Sánchez has put forward some: the reinforcement and reconfiguration of multilateralism, threatened by the imperialism of Russia and the United States; digital governance, to globally regulate tech 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 is hollowed out from within while it is attacked from without," Sánchez warned. "We believe in an order based on rules, cooperation, and 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.
After passing through New York (twice, under the auspices of the UN), Santiago de Chile, and now Barcelona, the next Summit in Defense of Democracy already has its new destination: it will be Mexico, as confirmed by its president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
Representatives from Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Albania, Cabo Verde, Guatemala, and Norway repeated their attendance from the September summit in New York, in addition to a UN representative —António Costa, the President of the European Council, had also been announced, though he was not ultimately 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 Ruginiené—, South Africa —with Prime Minister Cyril Ramaphosa—, Ireland —with Prime Minister Catherine Connoly—, 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 Bolivia, Honduras, Senegal, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were also absent.
