The NATO Summit revives the Spanish anti-militarist movement

USPA NEWS - Thousands of people demonstrated this Sunday in the downtown of Madrid against the NATO Summit that will begin next Tuesday and in favor of the dismantling of the Atlantic Alliance and peace. The Summit has revived the anti-NATO movement that emerged forty years ago, when Spain joined the Alliance.

According to the Police, there were 2,200 people who participated in the march, while the organizers - the communist Izquierda Unida, which is part of the Spanish Government integrated into the coalition Podemos - raised the figure to 30,000 people. Convened by the Popular Assembly against War, the State Platform for Peace and the NO NATO Madrid Assembly, the attendees chanted slogans such as 'No NATO, bases out' or 'military expenses for schools and hospitals,' and carried banners with slogans such as 'peace,' 'no to war' or 'we do not pay for your wars.'

The spokesman for the State Platform for Peace, Willie Meyer, who led the demonstration, explained to journalists that the NATO Summit to be held in Madrid is "very bad news," taking into account that society must give a "totally different" message, which is to demilitarize the Mediterranean, North Africa and contribute to an "alternative security system." In his opinion, “the NATO summit sends the wrong message about the role that Spain should play in Africa and towards the Mediterranean. They are going to approve a strategic concept that is '360 degrees NATO', that is, to intervene militarily outside of international law in any part of the world”.

Anticapitalistas MEP Miguel Urbán was also against “Putinist imperialism”, but also NATO's “North American imperialism” that “subjugates” Europe. Urbán asked that Spain leave the Atlantic Alliance and that military spending be used to finance educational programs, health and public services. “A few months ago Macron said it: NATO was brain dead. Now he lives his best moment thanks to Putin; in the end, the imperialisms are sought and needed,” affirmed the anti-capitalist leader.