Political parties are fighting among themselves in Spain, as Putin and his war against Ukraine have challenged political integrity. Both the Right and the Left are divided over the question of sanctions. Although this scenario is played out by major governments on both sides of the Atlantic, in the European context, this divide is most pronounced most clearly by the “Lefts” in Spain.
While the senior partner in this country’s governing coalition, the socialist party (PSOE), headed by Pedro Sánchez, is supportive of U.S. President Biden’s approach, members of his coalition, including Podemos, who are proximate to the Grupo Puebla, have taken a more ambiguous position.
For its part, the Foro Madrid, a network of Latin American (as well as North American and European) partners hoping to counter the influence of the Grupo Puebla, has issued a statement in which it implies that the Spanish head of government’s “disapproval of Russia’s invasion” is largely rhetorical, pointing out that his government “maintains prominent members of the Puebla Group within key positions of its administration:”
Foro Madrid thus demands that Pedro Sánchez immediately dismiss the members of his government who are part of the Puebla Group, on risk of becoming himself an accomplice of Putin.
We therefore see how political and geopolitical (ideological and strategic) commitments are not entirely aligned, and how international conflict can draw out fault-lines that could otherwise be papered over.
