The moment revealed a coordinated attempt by progressive leaders \u2013 including US Democrats \u2013 to reclaim political ground. Host of the twin events, Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, said the far right vision was fading globally.<\/p>\n
Barcelona: Progressive leaders from around the globe gathered in Barcelona<\/a> on Saturday to try and galvanise their forces. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, an outspoken critic<\/a> of US President Donald Trump and the US-Israeli war against Iran<\/a>, hosted two overlapping events about democracy and progressive politics in Spain\u2019s second largest city.<\/p>\n Democrats US Senator Chris Murphy and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz<\/a> were present alongside the leaders of Brazil, South Africa and high-ranking officials from other left-leaning governments.<\/p>\n While no foreign leader criticised Trump by name in public, the staunchly unilateral position of the American president that breaks with decades of US foreign policy, including his derision of NATO<\/a> and the United Nations, hung over the meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all see the attacks against the multilateral system, the repeated attempts to undermine international law and the dangerous normalization of the use of force,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said.<\/p>\n Trump again lashed out on Saturday on social media at S\u00e1nchez, who has faced Trump\u2019s scorn for not allowing the US to use jointly operated military bases<\/a> in Spain for operations related to the Iran war and for refusing to raise military spending from 2% to 5% of GDP.<\/p>\n \u201cHas anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defence, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez says the right’s time is running out<\/p>\n Spain, like the US and other developed countries, is in debt, but it has one of the world\u2019s leading economies<\/a> under S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez told the rally of progressive politicians and party members held later on Saturday that the populist right \u201cscreams and shouts not because they are winning but because they know their time is running out.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know their vision of how the world should be ordered is falling apart due to the tariffs and wars,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir embrace of climate change denial, of xenophobia, or sexism is their greatest error.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have tried again and again to make us embarrassed of our beliefs. That ends now. From now on they can be the ones who feel ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a>, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and other leaders and officials, including Cabinet members from the United Kingdom and Germany, were in attendance at the IV Meeting in Defence of Democracy that kicked off Saturday’s double-header of political events at the Barcelona convention center.<\/p>\n Later in the day, S\u00e1nchez, Lula and Ramaphosa stayed put to attend the inaugural Global Progressive Mobilization, where some 6,000 left-leaning elected officials, policy analysts and activists exchanged ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe far right is international, so we must be too,\u201d German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told a crowd of activists.<\/p>\n Democrats join rally<\/p>\n Senator Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, spoke at the progressive rally and he didn\u2019t shy away from blasting Trump while celebrating the loss of power of Trump’s ally Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> in elections in Hungary last week.<\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump is out to end our democracy,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cWe are not on the verge of a totalitarian takeover, we are in the middle of it.\u201d<\/p>\n But, he said, \u201cAmericans are watching what is happening across the world, and the victory in Hungary just one week ago lifted our sails.\u201d<\/p>\n Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice presidential candidate who has faced a violent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement migration crackdown in Minnesota, threw barbs at US Vice President J.D. Vance, who campaigned for Orb\u00e1n and has backed far-right parties in Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike our current vice president, I\u2019m not here to arrogantly lecture or scold you, I am not here to pick a fight with the Pope or host a rally for any local wannabe authoritarians,\u201d Walz said.<\/p>\n New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders all sent video messages played at the rally.<\/p>\n Progressives exchange ideas<\/p>\n Among concrete proposals to come from the events, 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 UN General Assembly in September.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum plugged her idea that governments commit to spending the equivalent of 10% of their military budgets on reforestation projects.<\/p>\n \u201cEach year, instead of planting the seeds of war, we will plant the seeds of life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez 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 Lula’s Brazil on a tax for the ultrarich.<\/p>\n