Pedro Sánchez describes the movement of extremists as the greatest challenge for democracies around the world
First, the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has charged against the Popular Party for not quickly condemning the assault by a mob of Bolsonaristas on State institutions in Brazil. Minutes later, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, described as “repulsive” the blow and has stressed that Spain’s support for the recently elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is total.
“The news that reaches us from Brazil reminds us of what is the greatest threat to democracypeace and prosperity in the world: this resurgence of ultra movements willing to overwhelm with everything, with methods that we know”, said the president, Pedro Sánchez, before the bulk of the heads of Spanish missions abroad, gathered in Madrid for the VII Conference of Ambassadors “All the support of the Government of Spain and of the whole of Spanish society to the president-elect of Brazil, Lula da Silva, and to the institutions freely and democratically elected by the Brazilian people.”
The socialist has ensured that the methods used by extremists are repeated “to the millimeter” in each and every one of the countries that suffer these movements: first, a systematic use of lies; after the resort to insults and violence verbal, to poison the coexistence of society and to exalt his followers; and, finally, an attack on democratic institutions and democratic legality, he has added.
Before the ambassadors, he asked that Spain continue offering an “antidote” against such extremisms, based on foreign action focused on democracy, human rights, gender equality and respect for international institutions.
Albares sees the attitude of the PP as “unfortunate”
The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has described as “regrettable” the Comment by the General Secretary of the Popular Party, Cuca Gamarra, after the assault on Congress in Brazil by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and has criticized that in what was the first demonstration of the ‘populares’, no reference was made to support the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Citing a condemning tweet from Pedro Sánchez, the PP spokeswoman said: “With you, in Spain this is now a simple public disorder”, referring to the elimination of the crime of sedition.
With you, in Spain this is now a simple public disorder… https://t.co/O75XlbB1kL
— Cuca Gamarra (@cucagamarra) January 8, 2023
“I saw it and I must say as Foreign Minister of the Government of Spain that it has worried me a lot (…) And, of course, as a Spanish citizen it seems to me unfortunate that attempts are being made to question the legitimacy of the President of the Government“, Albares has transferred in an interview on Cadena Ser. In this sense, the head of Spanish diplomacy has assured that he is “very concerned” that the main opposition party “has nothing to say regarding support for democracy in Brazil” in his first public demonstration or about the “rejection of the ultra-right”.
This, in his opinion, shows that the Popular Party “has nothing to say in foreign policy” and has emphasized that this situation is observed in a country like Spain that is “just over five months away” from holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
This morning, the leader of the popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has condemned the events in Brazil on Twitter. “We express our support for the Brazilian people and we call for the immediate restoration of constitutional order,” said the president of the PP. “You cannot give in to populism and radicalismwhich try to undermine respect for institutions, democracy and public liberties.
We express our support for the Brazilian people and call for the immediate restoration of constitutional order.
You cannot give in to populism and radicalism, which try to undermine respect for institutions, democracy and public liberties.
— Alberto Núñez Feijóo (@NunezFeijoo) January 8, 2023
“A Trumpist Trace”
Minister Albares has considered that comparisons are being made regarding an assault on a congress by far-right elements that attempt to impede a democratic process, an attempt is being made to trivialize an event like this without making reference to support for Lula and without even expressing rejection of these supposed parallel elements in Spain by retweeting a tweet from the President of the Government who did clearly support democracy in Brazil.
Regarding what happened in Brazil, the minister observes that there is a “trumpist trace in the way in which it was acted” with mobilized ultra-rightists entering Congress, not wanting to leave and, above all, the political background that is “not wanting to recognize clear, democratic results, after a vote that has brought Lula to the presidency of Brazil and that have been ratified by the Supreme Electoral Court of Brazil”.
Albares has added that these facts have to lead us to reflect that democracy must be defended every day, taking into account that an “identical pattern” occurred in the United States two years ago.
Likewise, he has reported that yesterday he had the opportunity to speak with his Brazilian counterpart shortly after the incidents began, to whom he conveyed all the support of the Government of Spain. In addition, he has highlighted that Sánchez was one of the first world leaders to send a message of solidarity in this regard.
Regarding whether it is difficult to achieve stability in Brazil, the minister predicted that yesterday’s scenes and everything that took place in the weeks prior to Lula’s inauguration “presage that these movements are not going to disappear easily and that the far-right forces that sow doubt about the electoral results in the end push little by little to actions like this”.