Latin America’s Leftists Denounce Free Speech and Capitalism, Push Social Justice at ‘Democracy Forever’ Summit

Far-left President of Chile Gabriel Boric and the leftist heads of government of Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and Spain vowed on Monday to “advance global cooperation and social justice” at a gathering in Santiago.

The leftist gathering, titled “Democracy Forever,” offered a platform for invitees to rail against the United States, U.S. tariffs, the “genocide” in Gaza, and capitalism. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gustavo Petro of Colombia delivered especially impassioned addresses against capitalism. In addition to the five heads of state, the encounter also featured representatives of leftist think-tanks and other like-minded civil society organizations.

The summit concluded with a joint statement in which all participating heads of state agreed on a series of initiatives in the defense of “democracy, human rights, and social justice” aimed at “defending democracy, multilateralism, and working together to address the deep-rooted and structural causes that undermine our democratic institutions, their values, and legitimacy.”

Some of the agreed initiatives call for supporting United Nations and UNESCO’s climate change initiatives. The United States announced its departure from UNESCO on Tuesday morning, stating its participation is not in the national interests of the United States.

During his opening address, Lula — while not directly mentioning the United States, its government, or anyone in particular — ranted against what he described as the “far-right Washington Consensus,” a purported “anti-democratic, denialist, and interventionist” group that he branded as “enemies of democracy.”

“The enemies of democracy no longer resort to the diplomacy of tanks and gunboats. They control algorithms, sow hatred, and spread fear. They promote a cultural war. They use trade as an instrument of coercion and blackmail,” Lula said. “They attack institutions, science, and universities. They undermine solidarity among nations.”

“The Latin American far right is subservient and nostalgic for former hegemonies. It is anti-sovereign and abdicates the self-determination of peoples,” he continued. “This is the main threat to the construction of an integrated, developed, and autonomous continent. Progressive forces need to reclaim various causes that were once ours. And we need to do this together, without dispersion.”

Lula reportedly claimed during the event that democracy is not “losing ground to socialism, but rather, to the extreme right, with Nazi, fascist behavior which does not respect civilized relations between equals and unequals.”

The Brazilian president also condemned Israel, declaring, “nothing justifies the indiscriminate killing of thousands of women and children in Gaza,” and called for the “regulation of digital platforms and ‘Big Tech.’”

“This is the great contemporary challenge facing sovereign states. What is a crime in real life must also be a crime in the digital environment. Freedom of expression should not be confused with freedom to attack,” Lula said. “Digital networks are not a lawless land where it is possible to attack democracy with impunity, incite hatred and violence. The Brazilian experience shows that the balance between the constituted powers, resilience, and the strengthening of institutions are crucial.”

Lula concluded his participation by stating that while he is 79 years old, he asks that God let him live to the age of 120 as “those who have a cause do not grow old.”

Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro — known for his wild, unhinged speeches — claimed during his speech that we are “living in times of capitalist collapse.” Petro used his time to condemn neoliberalism and opine on social uprisings in Chile and Colombia. He also added that he stopped participating at the World Economic Forum in Davos after they invited President Javier Milei of Argentina and made him “king of the gathering.”

This led Petro into a segment about the alleged “climate crisis.”

“And for a few years now, I’ve been studying the subject in depth, because the climate crisis is the thing that completely destroys the neoliberal paradigm,” Petro said. “Because if the neoliberal paradigm is that free markets lead us to happiness and the maximization of human well-being, it says, and it’s proven mathematically, the mathematical proof is interesting, it’s beautiful.”

Petro also claimed that “guaranteeing life today means ensuring that capital no longer dominates.”

Boric thanked all participants and said that he extended an invitation to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, both leftist leaders, who could not travel to Santiago due to scheduling. Boric explained that he held talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to expand the gathering to the United Nations in New York, asserting that Carney will participate in the New York gathering.

“So, I would also like to say to those who criticize this meeting that it is never a bad time to strengthen democracy, to reaffirm our convictions about multilateralism and unrestricted respect for human rights at all times,” Boric said.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.