Former Spanish PM Aznar: Morocco Outpaces Spain in US Influence

"We have lost many of our possibilities because our house is in disorder. We have less influence with the United States and anyone who has doubts should read the news about Morocco’s military agreements with the United States in the press," Aznar said in his closing remarks at the colloquium on "A renewed agenda for Latin America" organized by the FAES Foundation, of which he is the president, alluding to the military agreement under which Washington has authorized the purchase by Rabat of 18 HIMARS anti-missile systems and 112 ground-to-ground missiles.

Aznar also lamented that Spain has "less influence in the European Union and in Latin America". These statements by the former Spanish Prime Minister come after the announcement of Sanchez’s trip to Washington to meet Joe Biden at the White House on May 12, the day the official election campaign in Spain for the May 28 elections is launched. At this colloquium, Aznar stressed the need to "rebuild the credibility of democracies", which involves "rebuilding institutions" to give them "credit" and "prestige".

In his analysis, the president of the FAES Foundation pointed out that the position of political parties "around the world is being questioned". In the United States, for example, the Democratic Party is "largely led by very radical left-wing forces" and the Republican Party, "if it is not a little taken in hand, will end up being a Trumpist party" with a "populist" character, he said. In Europe, the traditional parties have disappeared in countries like France or Italy, Aznar continued, assuring that "in Spain, the left fortunately has a very solid constitutional pillar of the present and the future which is the PP".

Addressing the international situation, Aznar noted among other things that NATO "must be a global organization" and that "part of Latin America should be part of NATO". "We must review security policies, we must review defense policies, we must review economic policies," Aznar concluded, adding that "a global NATO is absolutely essential for the world to come".