Against the war, more democracy and more rights

There are moments when politics demands more firmness and clarity than ever. This is one of them.

The illegal and unjust war unleashed by Trump and Netanyahu against Iran and Lebanon has already caused thousands of deaths -among them, hundreds of boys and girls- and the displacement of more than a million people in the country of cedars. Faced with this massacre, only one position is possible: defend international law and human rights. Say NO to war.

Spain, with a Government progressive at the helm, has said NO to this illegal and unjust war. NO to the invasion of Ukraine and NO to the genocide in Gaza. This is called being coherent.

That consistency also obliges us to look at other conflicts and other injustices that often remain outside the media spotlight. The blockade that Cuba suffers does not respond to security reasons, but to a logic of punishment and suffocation that violates international law. And the Spanish Government has to give a response to this.

Betting on renewable energies is not just a climate issue: it is a matter of sovereignty

Regarding the conflict in Iran, it is also having consequences that are already felt in prices, in energy, in the uncertainty of millions of families in our country.

The energy dependence is revealed once again as a structural vulnerability. Betting on renewable energies is not just a climate issue: it is a matter of sovereignty, of reducing exposure to the blackmail of those who turn chaos into business and protecting families from market volatility.

Spain has shown that this path is possible. Therefore, going back now -for example, extending the life of nuclear power plants- would be a strategic mistake. The energy transition must be fair, planned, and with real alternatives for the territories, but it cannot stop. In this transition, we are playing for something more than the energy model, we are playing for the country's autonomy.

The other great battle is social. Every war brings with it an evident risk: that its costs fall upon the usual ones, those below, those who have the least. Against that, the duty of a progressive Government is to raise a shield that protects the majority. Preventing companies that receive aid from firing, controlling business margins or extending rental contracts -to prevent the price from rising up to 50%- is not making concessions, it is doing justice. And we have achieved it thanks to the five female and male ministers of Sumar.

There are those who say that the extension of rentals goes against small landlords. But this is not true. It is just an excuse from someone who wants to vote against it. On the one hand, all landlords will continue to collect their rental income (the current ones, plus 2%). And on the other hand, in Spain, those who  cause the serious housing problem are not small landlords, but large players like CaixaBank or Blackstone, who concentrate tens of thousands of homes. Limiting abusive rent increases is not capriciously intervening in the market, it is protecting millions of people against speculative practices.

Given this, the right offers nothing or offers contradiction. The problem of the Popular Party is not only the lack of concrete proposals, but the absence of a country project. In foreign policy, Feijoo and his people are incapable of defending Spain; their indefiniteness ends in subordination. Even more worrying is the role of the far-right, which has made politics an instrument at the service of particular interests while systematically blocking any social progress.

Given the global challenges, the answer cannot be retreat nor fear

But in the face of that noise, there is something that remains, and it is the conviction that a social majority shares: Spain cannot go back towards a more unequal, more authoritarian, and more dependent model. Faced with global challenges, the answer cannot be withdrawal nor fear, but more cooperation, more rights, and more democracy.

The central task we have today on the left is to care for that majority. It is not easy. It implies seeking unity. It implies debate and confrontation, contradictions and renunciations.

But we are driven by a certainty that we see day by day: when the left governs, people's lives improve. It shows in employment, in salaries, in the electricity bill or in the rights conquered.

In an increasingly uncertain international context, Spain has to decide what role it wants to play. It can be an actor subordinate to the interests of others or it can be a country with its own voice, committed to peace, to multilateralism and above all to social justice.

In Sumar we have it very clear. Against war, more democracy. Against fear, more rights. And against uncertainty, useful policies for the social majority.