Zp 1, Spain 0

Lately in the Spanish media one would see the Spanish President, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, shaking hands with the new hope, President Barack Obama. For many this is great for Spain, a sign of great strength between two sovereign democracies, a bright new future between Spain and the United States, after all this is the first time Zapatero goes to Washington. Yet I wonder if this was a success. If after five years Zapatero finally meets the US president at the White House is called a success, his predecessors must have performed miracles. In eight years the former President, Mr. Aznar, visited the White House nine times. To be realistic, this event is a success for Zapatero’s image but not for Spain’s.

Former President Bush was no popular figure, adding that he made mistakes that affected the US negatively. However, blaming Mr. Bush for mistakes other countries commit is pathetic. Mr. Zapatero not only crippled Spain domestically, he especially destroyed Spain’s international image. We shall never understand Mr. Zapatero’s foreign policies, if he has any, for they have all been tragedies. Not only have they been catastrophes but the PSOE have the shamelessness of stating that Spain is a more important country than five, six or seven years ago, of course they would prefer to say before March 14, 2004.

What importance does it have now? Five misspent years without strong ties with the US, a change in European policies that destroyed Spain’s subsidies, becoming close to Chavez and Morales only to have a damaging effect on Spanish business in Latin America, sponsoring an international programme that has, so far, been useless and fruitless, allowing Gibraltar to interfere in Anglo-Spanish ties. If there has been a successful foreign policy that was convincing European countries to soften its demands on Cuba and ignore its pro-democratic dissidents.

In conclusion, if Mr. Zapatero has only created chaos for Spain's foreign policy, the only reason why he managed to meet Obama at the White House its simply: Obama allowed it. It was not Zapatero's hard work, it was not Zapatero's charm, it was Obama's will.

What is Left in Spain?

Numerous times we have been told that Social Democrats stand for social policies, defending the poor from the rich, improving healthcare and housing, integration, solidarity, dialogue and understanding. This as been repeated as if to point out that anything that is not Leftist would be the opposite: laissez-faire policies, defending the wealthy at the expense of the disadvantaged, destroying public services, exclusionary, discriminatory, ignorance and despotic. However when one looks at the PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party, member of the Socialist International and supposed advocate of social democracy, we see that this party is far from achieving Social Democratic goals.

We have seen that the PSOE has followed an anti-social democratic regime. Firstly it has weakened the state by removing its authority and giving it to regional governments. Secondly, it has weakened the nation by joining with separatist nationalists [such as BNG and ERC] in order to obtain power, endangering the common language and discriminating citizens from other states. Thirdly it has neglected the citizens in this recession, creating unemployment and increasing taxes, providing no aid, not presenting solutions to the crisis and eliminating promised assistance.

From these examples, there being many, one cannot comprehend why does the PSOE brag about Social Democracy and Leftist goals when this party carries out practices despised by Social Democrats. Could it be that Social Democracy in Spain has been neglected by its guardians or is it that those policies of social policies, defending the poor from the rich, improving healthcare and housing, integration, solidarity, dialogue and understanding are currently defended by splinter parties or even more astonishing, the People’s Party.