Sánchez and Lula team up against Trump: "Brazil and Spain are in the same trench"

BarcelonaFor weeks, Pedro Sánchez has been working to crown himself the architect of anti-Trumpism. And this weekend he will be the graphic image in Barcelona. The Spanish president will bring together various world leaders from the progressive space 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 starred in the first Spain-Brazil summit, which was held at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona, to strengthen relations between both countries and sign various strategic and commercial agreements. The two leaders have highlighted the alliance between both countries and have 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 at the joint press conference after the summit. "Faced with those who open wounds, we want to heal them," Sánchez reaffirmed, in turn. The Spanish president warned that the values that uphold peace "are being attacked by the reactionary wave, by totalitarianism." Lula da Silva has embraced the 'No to war' promoted by Sánchez in the face of Trump's invasion of Iran: "I understand when you say no to war." The Brazilian president recalled when the US administration then led by George Bush proposed in 2003 that he participate in the war in Iraq: "I told him that it was not our war."

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 general elections, while the majority for the investiture is unraveling in Congress. For Lula da Silva, who at 80 years old 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 with him.

Strengthening ties with Brazil

This Friday's summit is the first that the Spanish state is holding with Brazil, 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—. However, as the two countries agreed a few months ago, they are now raising the level of relations and institutionalizing the alliance. This Friday's summit should be repeated more or less regularly and could be biannual.

In parallel to the bilateral meeting between Sánchez and Lula, several ministers from the Spanish government —including the second vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz; the third vice-president and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen; the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Minister of 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. The two governments plan to sign more than ten agreements in the economic-commercial, innovation, science, and also social spheres (with issues such as the fight against violence against women at the center). A way to seal the political harmony between the two governments.