The Ibero-American Summit comes at a very complicated time for the Government of Pedro Sánchez. The train accident in Urda (Toledo), which left 69 dead, has disrupted an event that the PSOE saw as one of the milestones of its pre-campaign. What should have served to project the president's political agenda has now become a kind of hinge: after a week marked by tragedy and the management of that crisis, the socialists are preparing to regain the electoral pulse and resume the events this Friday in Valencia. In this return to the campaign, the presence of Javier Milei and other leaders of the Latin American right can offer them a useful framework: that of recovering messages against the extreme right.
Just two weeks ago, the Argentine president visited Spain and called Sánchez an "unpresentable dictator." The socialists then took advantage of Milei's visit to attack the PP and Vox, ensuring that these parties do not propose "alternation" but "involution", pointing to Milei's Argentina as an example. Now they trust that Milei will serve them again to recover the tone of political confrontation, although the accident will continue to weigh on the agenda and on a questioned Government, with Óscar Puente recently resigned. The minister was the most political figure in the Sánchez Government and, until this Tuesday, the most exposed in the crisis. His resignation makes them lose not only a key profile in the 29-N campaign, but also the president's political battering ram.
Two important supports for Sánchez were also on the horizon at the summit that opens this Wednesday: the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Mexican Claudia Sheinbaum. Finally, neither the Brazilian president nor the Mexican president will travel to Madrid. Nor will the president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, on whom sanctions from the European Union weigh. The three countries will be represented by their Foreign Ministers. But, precisely, their absences can offer a photo of the summit that Moncloa tries to use to relaunch that campaign message against the extreme right.
Most of the leaders who will attend are on the right or center-right, with Javier Milei and the Chilean José Antonio Kast as their greatest exponents. Among those attending will also be the presidents of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Costa Rica, Laura Fernández; Honduras, Nasry Asfura; Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; and Andorra, Xavier Espot. In this way, the socialists could try to recover the idea of presenting Spain as one of the few left-wing spaces that resist the advance of the right, a political message that could act as a bridge to the return of the rallies. That framework will have another ingredient starting this Tuesday, with the midterm elections in the United States and the confrontation with Donald Trump also on the horizon.
In Moncloa they assure that Sánchez and Milei do not plan to hold a bilateral meeting. The tension will rather come from the Argentine president's last visit to Spain, two weeks ago, when he called Sánchez an "unpresentable dictator" and a "delinquent thief." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs then condemned "the insults and slander" directed by Milei at the president. The possible crossover between the two, therefore, will be carried over to Thursday's plenary session, which Felipe VI will preside over in the Gallery of the Royal Collections. In the Government they assume that there will be discrepancies: the summit brings together leaders with very different positions and that diversity is part of the forum itself. Milei and Kast can concentrate much of the attention, although other clashes during the debate are not ruled out. Moncloa also points out that artificial intelligence and its application in public administration will have weight among the issues of the summit.
As for this Wednesday's event, it will have a more institutional profile, although it will also include the Ibero-American business meeting, in which Sánchez will participate. The official inauguration will be in the afternoon at the Teatro Real, presided over by the Kings. According to Moncloa, Felipe VI, Sánchez and the Ibero-American Secretary General will intervene. Afterwards, the Kings will offer a dinner to the delegations at the Royal Palace. On Thursday the most political day will arrive, with the plenary session, preceded by the official photograph of the leaders and followed by lunch.
