Anti-NATO groups demonstrate against the Madrid summit, with the support of IU and without charges from Podemos

The organization affirms that 30,000 people have supported the march while the Government Delegation lowers the figure to 2,200

A massive demonstration has toured the center of Madrid this Sunday in rejection of NATO, on the eve of the Atlantic Alliance summit that starts this Tuesday in Madrid, and the increase in military spending, a mobilization that has had a large number of leaders of IU but without representation of the leadership of Podemos.

Convened by the state platform 'NATO No' and other groups, as the culmination of the alternative counter-summit for peace, the demonstration started at noon from Atocha to tour the Paseo del Prado, Cibeles, Gran Vía until arriving at Plaza de España, where A brief reading of the unitary manifesto has been carried out, which among its points demands the dissolution of this military organization.

The convening movement has exhibited muscle during this protest and, according to sources from the organization, attendance has exceeded 30,000 people, a figure that, however, has been considerably lowered by the Madrid Government Delegation, which estimates a total of 2,200 protesters, according to They detail Europa Press from this department.

The march has had the support of IU and it has been attended by the Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda and leader of the PCE, Enrique Santiago, the IU federal spokesperson, Sira Rego, the MEP of this formation, Manu Pineda, and the deputies in Congress Miguel Ángel Bustamante and Roser Maestro, together with other positions of the Federal Executive such as Carlos Sánchez Mato and leaders of the different regional federations.

However, the formation has remained in the background and the leading role of the header to the organizations and groups that group the platform, with the main banner 'No to war, no to NATO and for peace'.

In a statement last Friday, given the criticism that his presence in this mobilization provoked in Cs, PP and Vox, Santiago defended that "no one should be surprised" that the PCE supports the NATO counter-summit, given that its formation supports the dissolution of military alliances in favor of peace.

In the case of Podemos, no main position or representatives of its Executive have attended the march and, as had already been advanced from the purple formation that pointed to its low profile for this mobilization. As expected, no minister from the confederal space has attended.

Supervised by a large police force and without incident during its development, other prominent slogans have also been seen within the protest, such as 'No to militaristic budgets. We do not pay for your wars' and 'Bases (military) outside'. 'NATO No, bases out, the war is always lost by the people', carried by the representatives of the PCE, or 'Let's not take care of the planet at the gates'.

On the other hand, the BNG deputy in Congress, Néstor Rego, who was part of the header 'Galicia against NATO' and the leader of Anticapitalistas, Miguel Urbán, who led another part of the demonstration together with members of your party. An anecdotal presence has been that of the CUP deputy, Mireia Vehí, who has coincided with the demonstration while she was walking down Gran Vía.

Slogans have also been heard among the participants, who in various passages of the demonstration have chanted 'Down with militarism, NATO is going to fall', 'No NATO, bases out', 'Guilty NATO, military NATO' or 'Solidarity with the Dombas'. 'No to war' or 'Peace now'. In addition, some posters have been seen against the Executive's position before the Atlantic Alliance Summit, such as 'Accomplice Government' or shouts such as 'Imperialist vassal'.

IU REFUSES THAT HER SUPPORT FOR THE MARCH CAUSES PROBLEMS WITH THE PSOE

The IU spokeswoman has pointed out to the media that their participation in this demonstration will generate some conflict within the coalition with the PSOE, since they are "different" political forces that have been able to agree on a program of social government, but that it is normal for them to have "discrepancies or nuances" regarding some issues.

For example, he has emphasized that his training was conceived in full mobilizations against the entry of Spain into NATO, and since then IU maintains its "pacifist and antimilitarist DNA".

At the same time, he has defended that his organization places importance on the "culture of peace" and has again minimized that his support for the counter-summit generates a clash in the coalition, since, for example, his space has been able to agree with the PSOE the new measures of the anti-crisis decree.

"IMPERIALISM FEEDS BACK"

For his part, Miguel Urbán stated that the NATO Summit is "bad news" for Spain and added that the alliance has gone from being "brain dead", as French President Enmanuele Macron said, and is now "living best moment" thanks to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And it is that, in the MEP's opinion, "in the end, imperialism needs each other and feeds off each other", in the face of which a decided policy must be deployed "for peace" and against the increase in defense spending and "militarization", given that organizations such as NATO "the only thing they are looking for is war".

Among the organizations that have promoted the alternative summit, which started on Friday, are Ecologists in Action Madrid, Marea Ciudadana, Solidaridad Obrera, Desarma Madrid, NATO No Madrid, the 25S coordinator, CCOO, 'Fridays for Future', 'Transform Europe' , Greenpeace, the International Federation of Women, the Sao Paulo Forum, 'Rebellion or Extinction', the Polisario Front, the World Council for Peace, the European Social Forum of social and trade union forces, the Women's International Democratic Federation and the Rosa Luxemburg Federation.

The unitary manifesto of the collectives is committed to the dissolution of NATO and promoting a new demilitarized security system, a call to renounce violence as a means of conflict resolution, the rejection of raising military spending by 2% of GDP, reconvert the entire military industry and reorient arms spending to reinforce public policies on health, education, housing, care and equality.