By Victoria Waldersee and Joan Faus
BARCELONA, April 17 (Reuters) – Spain’s Pedro Sanchez and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will spearhead gatherings of the global left in Barcelona on Friday and Saturday, in a bid to defend multilateralism and mobilise left-wing movements against the far right.
The meetings, organised by Spain and left-wing political networks, come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s swift cuts to humanitarian aid, military interventions and threats to abandon NATO have shaken the status quo of international relations and prompted a rethink of global allegiances.
Borne out of a wake-up call for European socialists after the far-right surge in EU elections in 2024, the aim of the so-called “Global Progressive Mobilisation” starting on Friday is to mobilise advocates of left-wing ideas, culminating in a declaration of common actions on goals from defending democracy to the green transition, organisers said.
A second gathering on Saturday – entitled “In defence of democracy” – is organised by the Spanish government and is the fourth instalment of a summit launched by Lula and Sanchez in 2024.
‘SHOW THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE’
Both leaders are vocal critics of the Trump administration – with Sanchez having been particularly outspoken over the Iran war – and both face growing far-right challenges in upcoming election races.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has also clashed with Trump, will attend, as will Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, marking the first visit to Spain by a Mexican president since 2018 after years of tension over the legacy of Spanish colonial rule.
“I think it’s important that progressive parties and governments unite to convey to the public, especially in Spain, that we belong to something that goes beyond domestic politics,” Sanchez said of the gatherings, speaking in Beijing during a visit to China where he and President Xi Jinping pledged closer ties.
Europe’s far right lost one of its biggest champions with the defeat of Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban in Sunday’s election. Sanchez has hailed that, saying “the wave can be stopped, and Hungary proves it”.
In the other event, 3,000 people including current and former heads of state, around 400 mayors, unions, activists, and political parties will gather for two days hosted by Spain’s Socialist Party. Sanchez and Lula will close the event.
“Radical forces are at play in our countries to sponsor extreme right-wing movements … we have to show there is an alternative,” said Giacomo Filibeck, Secretary-General of the Party of European Socialists, whose membership spans 33 parties across Europe.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Paolo Laudani and Joan Faus; Editing by Alison Williams)
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