Donald Trump launched a fresh verbal assault against Spain as the Iberian nation played host to a summit of progressive leaders from around the globe.
“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!”, the U.S. President posted on social media.
The latest barb against Spain came as left-wing leaders met in Barcelona at a symbolic summit to defend the rules-based order in a world turning to right-wing populism and violently torn by superpowers.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, an outspoken critic of Trump and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, hosted two overlapping events about democracy and progressive politics.
Spain has faced Trump’s scorn for not allowing the U.S. to use jointly operated military bases in the country for operations related to the Iran war and for refusing to raise military spending from 2% to 5% of GDP.
During the summit, while no leader mentioned Trump by name, the specter of the American president hung over events because Trump has broken with decades of U.S. policy by acting unilaterally and attacking NATO and the United Nations.
“We all see the attacks against the multilateral system, the repeated attempts to undermine international law and the dangerous normalization of the use of force,” Sánchez said.
“The far right is international, so we must be too,” German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told activists.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and other leaders and officials joined the IV Meeting in Defence of Democracy.
Later in the day, Sánchez, Lula and Ramaphosa took part in the Global Progressive Mobilization, where some 3,000 left-leaning elected officials, policy analysts and activists exchanged ideas.
Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sent a short video message to the rally, saying “we can shape a better future no matter what the odds may be against that promise.”
Ramaphosa said South Africa will present a draft resolution to establish an International Panel on Inequality, aiming to tackle the growing wealth gap both within and between nations, to the U.N. General Assembly in September.
He also urged a rethink of the Security Council of the U.N., pointing to the wars started by permanent Security Council members — Russia against Ukraine, and the U.S. against Iran.
“The United Nations has now become a toothless organization because those who are members of the Security Council are the ones who continue to violate all the laws and the rights,” Ramaphosa said at the gathering of socialists and progressives.
Among concrete proposals, Sheinbaum proposed the idea that governments commit to spending the equivalent of 10% of their military budgets on reforestation projects.
“Each year, instead of planting the seeds of war, we will plant the seeds of life,” she said.
Sánchez argued for the importance of regulating social media to stop the spread of hate speech and disinformation. His government also said that it is working with Brazil on a tax for the super rich.
Featured image: Donald Trump
Image credit: Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons
