Spain: From opposing US imperialism to defending the Putin-Trump pact
Izquierda Unida (United Left, IU) and its main component party, the Partido Comunista de España (Communist Party of Spain, PCE) have always presented themselves as the firmest opponents of US imperialism and NATO. As the Sandinista song goes, for them “the yankee [is] the enemy of humanity”, and is always on the wrong side of any conflict.
That was until last week when, suddenly, the old yankee “enemy of humanity” became a potential friend of humanity. According to IU, the first round of Russia-US talks held in Saudi Arabia — without Ukraine or the European Union — “between the US and Russian presidents has paved a solid path for ending a bellicose conflict in the heart of Europe.”
Some political twists and turns might seem implausible. But they can happen — and quickly. Such is the case with IU, which has gone from defending Putin’s Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine to now defending Trump’s United States and its “peacemaker” role. A magical synchronicity has been produced given that what Trump now says about responsibility for the Ukraine-Russia conflict coincides with IU’s views.
In a shameful statement on the eve of the third anniversary of this large-scale war, this party that calls itself “of the lefts” has made a 180-degree U-turn — one as big as that of US imperialism itself. Until now, IU had repeatedly said that the main obstacle to ending the war was the fact that the US had provoked the Maidan “coup”, had tried to incorporate Ukraine into NATO (by force, apparently), and had converted Ukraine and [president Volodymyr] Zelensky into mere puppets of US imperialism. How is it then that, suddenly, the worst enemy, with its most ultra-right-wing president ever, has become a force for peace and “paved a solid path for ending a bellicose conflict in the heart of Europe”?
In reality, these negotiations will not bring about peace. If anything, as the Ukrainians say, it will be a ceasefire imposed only until Putin is in a position to resume his goal of completely crushing Ukraine's resistance and sovereign state, as he has sought since occupying Crimea in 2014.
The statement says: “the only beneficiaries [of the war] have been arms manufacturers”. But they are not the only ones. Oil and gas oligarchs — whether Russians, Americans or Arabs — as well as many other sectors, including banking, have also benefited. This is true. But, so what? Will the US and Russia now stop selling arms and fuelling dozens of active wars across the world in pursuit of their imperialist interests?
IU clarifies: “From the beginning of the conflict we have opposed sending arms.” But its statement does not say that they only opposed sending arms to one side. They have only opposed sending them to the victim, to the weaker side, to the side defending itself against aggression: Ukraine. They have never raised an outcry against the indiscriminate and criminal use of Russian weapons against civilians, hospitals, nuclear power stations or infrastructure that is critical to people’s lives, such as dams. Instead, according to them, peace was being held back because Ukraine insisted on defending itself and asking for weapons to expel Russian troops from its territory.
The statement says: “The European Union (EU) has from the outset adopted an irresponsible position of subordination to NATO”. What they mean is subordination to the US. I am no fan of NATO. I have fought against it and believe it should be dissolved when there are guarantees for stable and lasting peace and security, just like any other military alliance. But this cannot hide the fact that the real driver of NATO expansion in the past three years has precisely been Russia's aggression and invasion of Ukraine. What else explains Finland and Sweden, countries that have hitherto been considered neutral, joining NATO?
But now that Trump wants to make a deal with Putin — and Ukraine and the whole of Europe has been marginalised — IU accepts these Russia-US negotiations without any European presence. So who is subordinated to whom? Why does IU call for “the fundamental involvement of the United Nations and the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]” but see no role for Ukraine — the main stakeholder — or the European Union in negotiations?
Curiously, after criticising the EU for its subservience to and military alliance with the US, they claim that “the same EU neoliberal parties that are now calling for more ‘strategic autonomy’ because of Trump’s announcement that the US will impose tariffs on their products should recognise their mistake and be self-critical”. Seriously? The European Union is an imperialist project, but are we saying that Trump’s policy of tariffs is better than the neoliberalism in place until now?
When it comes to defending democracy in Europe, IU has a very peculiar way of only seeing one side. It says: “Peace talks should not only be about rebuilding the infrastructure of a shattered country, but also about restoring democracy and political pluralism in Ukraine”. IU here is repeating Trump’s lies, who now accuses Zelensky of being a “dictator” with no more than 4% support, and demands he hold elections. For Ukrainian society, immediate elections are not seen as essential and the Constitution states they cannot be held in times of war.
But what about Russia? Is everything fine in Russia when it comes to democracy? Are elections in which Putin wins with 90% support and no opposition is allowed to participate (among other reasons because opposition leaders die of “natural causes” in prisons) an example of “democracy”? What kind of pluralism exists in Russia, where exhibiting any opposition to the war (sorry, I mean “special military operation”) leads to prison? What about in the occupied territories where you cannot even speak Ukrainian?
If we include Russia within Europe, which is totally legitimate and should be natural, the question is: which European values are we defending? The Europe that Trump and Putin want? Clearly, Putin and Trump have their own “models” of the Europe they want. To Putin’s support for far-right governments (such as those in Hungary, Slovakia and Italy) and phantom candidates promoted via social media (such as in Romania), we can now add Trump and [Elon] Musk’s support for the far right in Germany, France, Spain, England...
When talking about values, the statement only refers to the supposed situation inside Ukraine: “IU calls for the legalisation of the 11 trade unions and left-wing and nationalist formations banned in an authoritarian manner by Volodymyr Zelensky at the start of the war, followed by the imprisonment of opposition leaders on purely political grounds. We have been the only political force to denounce the Ukrainian government's repression of these parties, which include the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.”
Indeed, freedoms are an essential part of our values. In Spain, where we lived under a fascist dictatorship for forty years, we still remember how important they are: freedom of expression, of assembly, of demonstration. But you do not fight for freedom by repeating Putin’s lies. Ukraine is at war, not because it wanted to start one, but because it had to defend itself in order to avoid being destroyed or dismembered. And war brings limitations on freedoms. Limitations that Ukrainian trade unions, society and civil rights organisations have accepted as a lesser evil.
Moreover, it is a lie that trade unions are illegal. And although the neoliberal Ukrainian government has passed numerous anti-union laws, freedom of speech and even the right to limited protests still exist. Against the Zelensky government, we support the demand for the right to strike coming from unions such as the FPU [Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine], KVPU [Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine] and [nurses’ union] Be Like Nina, in order to confront bosses’ abuses. But there is much less opposition within society to the banning of “defeatist” parties that, influenced or paid by the Kremlin, defend Putin’s lies and provoke demoralisation among the population. Instead, there is strong indignation against these puppet parties. And what about Russia? Why does IU say nothing about the thousands of opponents, defectors or Ukrainian children that have been kidnapped or imprisoned?
The end of the statement says: “IU calls on Spanish and European society to mobilise for peace in Ukraine, to help build a Europe and world based on international law, cooperation, multilateralism and peace between peoples. The stability and future of Europe are at stake in these peace negotiations.”
Curiously, they call for a Europe based on international law while at the same time saying nothing about the country that tramples on it every day: Russia. Russia is now being supported by the world’s biggest imperialist power, the US, which also tramples on international law and is willing to steal whatever it wants: Greenland, Panama, Canada, Gaza… The “multilateralism” of IU — and other leftists that have turned their backs on Ukraine — is based on the naive idea of a global equilibrium resting on a status quo between great powers. For these leftists, there is only one imperialism: US imperialism. But now multilateralism means ... deals between the two most aggressive imperialisms in the world, between Trump and Putin!
We do not know how this attempt at negotiations between the Trump and Putin governments will end. But we do know their intentions: against Ukraine and against Europe. To once again divide up “spheres of influence” (that is, carve up countries between them they can each steal from and do whatever they want to). For Putin, this means the part of Europe he views as part of the “Russian World” ... and perhaps a few more. For the US, this means Ukraine’s rare earth reserves, as well as a free hand to do whatever it wants — even build “resorts” — in other parts of the world, such as those mentioned above, so that, in the medium term, it can take on China.
But even the most powerful imperialists forget at their own risk that oppressed peoples and nations exist, and that they have a life of their own and struggle, irrespective of any external military and economic support. The capitalist, imperialist, colonial system never learns the lessons of its defeats: Vietnam, Algeria, Cuba, Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan... But the left, which claims to fight against capitalism, should.
Ukraine has not yet had its last word, far from it. Instead of supporting the courageous and heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people in their struggle against the aggression and invasion of Russian imperialism, IU preferred to side with Putin and demand that no arms be sent to Ukraine. Now it complements this shameful support for Putin with its no less shameful support for a pact being prepared by Trump and Putin against Ukraine and, indeed, Europe. Ukraine will rise up one day, but such a left will be of no use for confronting what lies ahead.
Finally, the real left, the trade unions, feminists, environmentalists, should not only demand and pressure European governments to defend Ukraine, the current spearhead in the fight against the fascism of our times. They should also find ways to independently organise their own networks and forces in the face of all imperialisms: Russian, US, European, Chinese… The economic crisis and world order that has fostered this situation of increasingly violent imperialisms hurtling further towards fascism also provides them with opportunities.
The international conference in Solidarity with Ukraine on March 26-27 in Brussels, which is being hosted by Nordic MEPs and where Ukrainian and European trade unionists, feminists, students and environmentalists will come together to weave a European-wide network that can advance concrete proposals and actions for the new situation, will be very useful in this regard.
Alfons Bech is the trade union coordinator of the European Network in Solidarity with Ukraine.