Speaking to progressive leaders gathered at the IV Summit in Defense of Democracy in Barcelona, the Mexican president reaffirmed her country’s diplomatic tradition.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Barceona, April 18, 2026 / Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced this Saturday — in her opening speech at the IV Summit in Defense of Democracy being held in Barcelona — that she wants to propose a declaration against military intervention in Cuba.
“I want to propose a declaration against military intervention in Cuba. May dialogue and peace prevail,” said the Mexican president in her opening remarks at the summit in Barcelona, which was attended by progressive leaders from around the world.
The President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, are bringing together a dozen progressive leaders in Barcelona to defend democracy. Among them, in addition to Sheinbaum, are the presidents of Colombia, South Africa and Uruguay, as well as representatives of other progressive governments.
Sheinbaum questioned a freedom that involves submitting to “external interests” or “turning nations into modern colonies.”
Sheinbaum asserted that Mexico “has been able to uphold its principles even in solitude” and “that it raised its voice against the blockade of Cuba in 1962 when others remained silent.”
“To this day, we believe, speaking of that small Caribbean island, that no people is small, but rather great and stoic when it defends its sovereignty and the right to a full life,” she added.
In a speech in which she proudly highlighted some milestones in Mexican history, including the 2024 election of the first female president, Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico’s constitutional principles in foreign policy are “more alive than ever” on the world stage today.
Among them she cited respect for the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the rejection of the use of force, the legal equality of states and the permanent struggle for peace.
The president questioned a freedom that implies submitting to “external interests” or “turning nations into modern colonies” and argued that freedom “is an empty word if it is not accompanied by social justice, sovereignty and the dignity of peoples.”
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