Former presidents from Spain reaffirm their support for Edmundo González and María Corina Machado

Former presidents Felipe Calderón (Mexico) and Guillemo Lasso (Ecuador), together with the former head of the Spanish government José María Aznar, defended this Tuesday the strengthening of institutions in Ibero-America in order to be able to defend liberal democracy and combat populism and the rise of drug trafficking, which threatens States.

The former presidents denounced the situation in Venezuela and supported the opposition members Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. Lasso stated that “the challenge for Latin America is to prevent it from becoming Venezuela.”

Calderonpresident of Mexico from 2006 to 2016; Lasso, president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023, and Aznar, president of the Spanish government from 1996 to 2004, participated in the panel “EU and Latin America: what future?” on the campus of the conservative Faes Foundation.

At the meeting, Calderón denounced that “drug trafficking is turning the region into a region of narco-states.” “Latin America is being captured by organized crime and drug trafficking,” he said.

Lasso warned of the threat posed by drug trafficking and micro-narcotrafficking because “they fight for power to try to co-opt democratic institutions.”

He acknowledged that there is and has been a crisis of institutionality on the continent, which he attributed to “the unmet needs of the population,” and therefore advocated strengthening trade and the economy to “achieve greater equity and more confidence in democratic institutions.” He argued that the quality of institutions will improve “if we achieve results in the fight against poverty.”

Calderón warned of a “very serious institutional collapse in Latin America” ​​and denounced that in addition to the cases of Cuba and Venezuela, the situation is also occurring in Mexico and pointed out that democracy in his country “has fallen.”

He denounced what he considers to be “the disappearance” of the independence of the judiciary, as well as what he called “the capture of the State by organized crime and drug trafficking.”

Aznar said that the first factor of security, stability and prosperity of a country is its institutions. “The weaker its institutions are, the weaker the countries are,” he warned.

The Spanish politician, who for years was the leader of the conservative Popular Party, denounced that populisms “take over institutions” and “take over them.”

After distinguishing between the United States and its allies and what he called the “axis of challengers,” which included China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, he called on Latin America to reflect “on where it wants to be.”

He praised the position of the European Parliament, which recognised Edmundo González as president-elect. “He has risen to the occasion,” he said. He also criticised the position of the Spanish government, which he considered “regrettable, a disgrace and a political mistake.”

Spain, like the rest of the EU countries, is demanding the electoral records from the government of Nicolás Maduro in order to be able to recognise the winner of the presidential elections.

#CampusFAES2024. Second day in https://t.co/ujut4Ht5c1

🔵 Jose Maria Aznar, @FelipeCalderon and @LassoGuillermo on the future of the EU and Latin America moderated by John Müller @cultrun

«Historically, Latin America has a tradition of institutional weakness»
1/5 pic.twitter.com/JGsZSp44eO

— FAES Foundation (@FundacionFaes) September 24, 2024