Zapatero and the photographs with Puigdemont and Putin

MadridIt is not difficult to corroborate that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has some role in the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts The only current members of the party who have a reserved seat in the front row at the presentation of his latest book are Santos Cerdán and Juanfran Serrano, Ferraz's main interlocutors with Carles Puigdemont. The PSOE and the former Spanish president have been very careful in recent months not to confirm their role in the talks. Discretion is a maxim for the negotiated resolution of conflicts, as Zapatero explains in The peaceful solution (Penguin Random House, 2025), where he addresses the international scene and the many open wars. Therefore, he makes no reference to Catalonia.

"It's a continuous plea for peace. Is declaring oneself a pacifist brave? Wouldn't we deserve to call ourselves brave to defend pacifism," says Zapatero, accompanied at the Bertelsmann Space in Madrid by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. It will not be a space to exhibit disagreements, but Zapatero is against increased defense spending and the premise that "security leads to peace," so often repeated recently in Brussels and the Spanish government. Along these lines, he quotes former US President JF Kennedy: "We must replace weapons with institutions of peace."

The 'peacemakers'

Zapatero claims the figure of the peacemakers [peacemakers] for conflict resolution. He doesn't mention it, but ever since the former Spanish president sought to regain media prominence, he has boasted about how during his term he ended ETA's armed activity through negotiations. This required many unpublicized meetings, like those held by the PSOE and Junts and those that would be needed in Venezuela. "Those of us who have experienced the conflict firsthand know that there will be no agreement on the recent elections. We will have to explore other avenues," he states in his book, where he normalizes his good relations with Chavista leaders, as well as with opponents of Nicolás Maduro.

Similarly, he maintains that a solution must be found in which neither Ukraine nor Russia lose the war. "It is not rationally acceptable to think that Russia's objective is to invade the countries of the former USSR," he notes in its pages. That is, he defends the concessions, and also understands Russia's narrative that the West has treated that country "humiliatingly" since the fall of the Berlin Wall. "It is essential to take this reality into account when negotiating [...]. peacemakers We have to accept that evaluative questions regarding the positions of each side are not viable," he insists.

Discretion is not at odds with accepting that dialogue and negotiation take place, and that the interlocutors are recognized. with Puigdemont?