From Lula to Schulz, Brown to Delores: Progressive Leaders Express Their Support for Sanchez

Not a day without a statement of support for Pedro Sanchez, already in the final phase of the 23J campaign. After the initiative promoted by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in which a large group of former socialist ministers from their own and those of Felipe González expressed their support for the head of government, another large group of progressive leaders from around the world signed another manifesto in favor of Sanchez who was released by the PT Socialist on Thursday, just three days before the general election. Among them are presidents and prime ministers from both sides of the Atlantic, such as the Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva or the German Olaf Scholz. But former European and Latin American prime ministers have also shown their support for Sanchez, such as Britain’s Gordon Brown, Italian Enrico Letta, French Jacques Delors or Chilean Michelle Bachelet.

The statement warns that “reactionary forces fuel a rhetoric of tension and delegitimization of institutions that could have disastrous consequences for global stability.”

The statement, signed by these progressive leaders, warns: “The importance of these elections is beyond question.” The world, and especially Europe, is experiencing an unprecedented wave of conservatism. And deeply reactionary forces fuel a rhetoric of tension and delegitimization of institutions that could have disastrous consequences for global stability,” the document states.

Many of the presidents and prime ministers who have signed this new statement have already expressed their support for Sanchez in person, last Tuesday in Brussels, at the meeting of the European Socialist Party (PES). Among them, the aforementioned Lula and Schulz, as well as the Argentinean Alberto Fernandez, the Danish Mette Frederiksen, the Portuguese Antonio Costa or the Maltese Robert Abela. They were also joined by former Colombian President Ernesto Samper and the Greek Jorge Papandreou, or the mayors of Paris and Rome, Anne Hidalgo and Roberto Gualtieri, among others.

“The emergence of climate change and science denial narratives, hostile to diversity as a value to be protected or questioning the progress of feminism, endangers uniting rights and freedoms in many societies. They can also make it difficult and prevent their expansion to other parts of the planet, where they are so essential to building more just societies and reduce unbearable levels of poverty,” the statement highlights.

“In the face of proposals that despise and deny the existence of collective values, we support societies that advance, advance and envision themselves based on solidarity between regions and generations. The document signed by progressive leaders states that they do not leave behind or abandon the most vulnerable people and regions to their fate, and that they assume progress Possible only if it involves prosperity for all citizens and the planet.

The statement highlights that “in these turbulent years, Pedro Sánchez’s governments have responded to the challenges they have faced with policies based on social justice.” “They have shown that it is possible to boost economic growth and job creation without weakening the welfare state, sacrificing the rights of the working class, or protecting the environment,” he adds.

Sanchez, according to the progressive leaders who signed the statement, “embodies the ability and commitment to govern with courage to turn this time of transformation into opportunities for the future.”

With these policies, Spain did not set itself as an example of progressive management in the face of serious crises. He also contributed to building a more equitable global peace system and to progress in eradicating this global disease called inequality, ”the text affirms. Pedro Sanchez, in his opinion, “embodies the ability and commitment to rule with courage to turn this time of great transformations into opportunities for the future.” His leadership has been instrumental in the European-wide response to the crises caused by the pandemic.The text highlights that next-generation funds and the unprecedented mobilization of resources for a response of solidarity and unity, strengthen the foundations upon which the ideal of a united Europe is built.

Progressive leaders thus express our “concern about the real danger of setbacks posed by conservative policies for workers, for equality between women and men, the rights of LGTBI people, children, the environmental transition, education, universal health and good public service, and the sustainability of the pension or decent work system.” For this reason, the undersigned have conveyed their support for Sanchez’s candidacy “as an option that can add the majority of progress that gives continuity to the reforms and transformations that have made Spain a world reference in rights, freedoms and prosperity”.