Sánchez and Lula make common cause against Trump: "Brazil and Spain are in the same trench"
The two leaders defend "No to war" and position themselves as the leaders of the international progressive front
BarcelonaFor weeks, Pedro Sánchez has been working to establish himself as the architect of anti-Trumpism. And this weekend, he will be the graphic image in Barcelona. The Spanish president is bringing together various world leaders from the progressive sphere to confront the reactionary wave that continues to grow globally. The first handshake was with the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both have led the first Spain-Brazil summit, held at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona, to strengthen relations between the two countries and sign various strategic and commercial agreements. The two leaders have highlighted the alliance and sent an international message in defense of multilateralism and peace in the face of Donald Trump's warmongering confrontation.
"Brazil and Spain are in the same trench," Lula da Silva stated in the joint press conference after the summit. Lula da Silva embraced the "No to war" slogan that Sánchez proclaimed when Donald Trump attacked Iran: "I understand when you say 'No to war'." At this point, he recalled when the US administration then led by George Bush proposed in 2003 that he participate in the Iraq War: "I told him that our war was different. We fight for a just society."
The Spanish president has once again taken up the banner of peace to warn that the values that sustain it "are being attacked by the reactionary wave, by totalitarianism." The solution, he said, involves "redoubling efforts" to defend peace and multilateralism, and the example is the three progressive summits this Friday and Saturday. "To those who open wounds, we want to heal them," he concluded. "May the dream of a better world awaken, otherwise, what happened with Hitler and Nazism will happen," Lula warned.
Renew international law
Sánchez, in this regard, has taken the opportunity to launch a request to the international community: to "renew" the multilateral system and international law in the face of "attempts to undermine the multilateral order" by leaders such as Donald Trump. The Brazilian president reaffirmed himself, stating that international organizations like the UN are currently "very weakened": "The nations that created the UN do not respect the UN, their decisions are not complied with".
the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, María Corina MachadoThe President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, acted as host and greeted the Brazilian president in a "cordial" manner. In the afternoon, the same head of the Catalan executive accompanied him to visit the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, along with the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, and the Minister of Science, Diana Morant. Illa gifted Lula a figure of a Gaudí dragon. The head of the Catalan executive was scheduled to meet with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, but cancelled at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts.
Strengthen ties with Brazil
The two presidents are strengthening ties at a time when their internal situations are not at their best. For Pedro Sánchez, polls are not smiling on him; rather, most surveys predict a victory for the right and far-right in the upcoming Spanish elections, while much of the investiture process is unraveling in Congress. For Lula da Silva, who at 80 years old and with no political successor in sight has already announced he will run for re-election in the elections scheduled for October, polls predict he would win the elections in the first round, but would tie with Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who will run to dispute power.
This Friday's summit is the first that the Spanish state is holding with Brazil – and also with a Latin American country – but it is not the first time that Sánchez and Lula da Silva have met: the Spanish president has been to Brazil and Lula to Spain. As agreed by the two countries a few months ago, they are now elevating the level of relations and institutionalizing the alliance. In this way, this Friday's summit should be repeated more or less regularly and could be biennial.
In addition to the bilateral meeting between Sánchez and Lula, several ministers from the Spanish government also attended the summit – including the second vice-president and minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz; the third vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen; the minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz; the minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the minister for Digital Transformation, Óscar López; the minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun; the minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the minister of Equality, Ana Redondo – and their Brazilian counterparts also met at the Palau de Pedralbes. An image that the Madrid regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has criticized, presenting the Spain-Brazil summit as "the meeting of narco-states" and contrasting it with the "photo of freedom" that she herself will stage this Saturday with the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina Machado. Sánchez has responded by apologizing on behalf of Spain for "insulting entire nations".
the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina Machado
