The global chessboard of geopolitics and the interests of the world’s economic power is making us more and more prone to a world war if we do not avoid it. On such a chessboard, political leaders instead of uniting to try to establish peace between warring nations, increase the possibility of such a confrontation with warlike actions and declarations that attempt to justify it. We see this clearly with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead of striving to create peace delegations to end the suffering and pain, they are sending weapons, logistical war materiel and now battleships to continue fuelling a conflict in which, in the first place, no one called us and in which they are participating illegally without the consent of Congress or the citizens, and the consequences of which, however, are being suffered by civil society.

In the media, in the statements of politicians, in the rise in food prices, in the increase in the cost of energy, in economic councils…, there is talk that we are at war to convince us that we are living in a war economy. Against whom? Who has declared war on Spain? By what right are our taxes being used to send material to kill? Is this a democracy? Where is the socialist spirit of “No to war” when millions of people took to the streets against the war in Iraq? Or is it that the socialists acted in this way because the Popular Party was governing? It is inconceivable that a party that says it is progressive should sign up with its eyes closed to sending war material to kill human beings with public money and without consulting civil society. Where is the commitment of all countries to the United Nations Charter?

This is the unprecedented scenario in which we are immersed in these complicated and dangerous times in which not only Europe, but humanity is going through. The Secretary-General of NATO is not capable of trying to engage in dialogue so that this escalation of warfare can be reduced, nor is the European Union. They are only busy adding warmongering statements, adding fuel to the fire with the intention of igniting the forest instead of extinguishing it.

In the media, we are shown Spanish mercenaries who have gone to Ukraine to kill, as if they were “heroes”. Some polls show 50 percent support for sending arms and even, if necessary, military personnel to Ukraine. Haven’t we learned our lesson from the Spanish Civil War?

Meanwhile, senior US defence officials have warned of the possibility of war with China in 2025. The head of the US Air Mobility Command has requested his staff to accelerate preparations for a possible conflict. Have all world leaders gone mad? Are they all looking forward to a world war in order to set up the new world order?

Survival International denounces the health emergency of the indigenous Yanomami people in a genocide premeditated by Brazil’s former president, Bolsonaro, and which has been years in the making, allowing miners and gold diggers to spread disease, pollute rivers and poison the people with mercury, destroy forests and violate human rights, and wantonly dismantle the indigenous health service. It is estimated that more than 570 Yanomami children under the age of five have died from preventable diseases. A genocide in which the international community looks the other way, like the famines in many African countries or other war conflicts that are not reported at all.

The only political person who seems to have any sanity and who is continuously trying to stop this madness from going ahead, albeit with little success, is the UN Secretary-General, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres. His many appeals to the world’s governments to get things right do not seem to touch the hearts of world leaders who continue with their abusive policies without any thought of unity for the future of humanity.

In recent statements, Guterres has made it clear that we are at a dead end and that we urgently need to get back on a new course. The mindset of decision-makers needs to change and he has identified seven priorities:

  •  The right to peace: “If all countries fulfilled their obligations under the UN Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed […] I fear that the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. It is doing so with its eyes wide open. It couldn’t be said any clearer or louder.
  •  The right to development: “Something is fundamentally wrong with our economic and financial system”. On poverty, rising hunger, junk contracts, and social protection. “The global financial architecture is at the heart of the problem and a radical transformation is needed to correct such excesses.
  •  The right to the environment. He requested “an end to this ruthless, flawless and senseless war against nature”. He requested this from the nations, i.e., the politicians who are responsible for environmental degradation. Not the citizens, as it is common practice to blame civil society in order to wash our leaders’ hands of the problem.
  •  Respect for the diversity of cultural rights. “Wherever we are from, wherever we live, culture is the heart of humanity”, in clear support of indigenous peoples, who are being persecuted all over the world. “Stop the hatred. Establish strong security barriers.
  •  The right to gender equality. “At the current rate, it could take 286 years for women to achieve the same legal status as men. And things are getting worse. We are facing a crackdown on women’s and girls’ rights”.
  •  Civil and political rights. “The pandemic was used as a cover for a pandemic of civil and political rights violations. Repressive laws restrict the freedom to express opinions. New technologies often offer excuses and methods to control freedom of assembly and even freedom of movement […] The space for civil society is vanishing before our eyes”.
  •  The rights of future generations: She says that all the threats we face also undermine the rights of future generations.

These seven priorities, which Guterres has denounced, are aimed solely and exclusively at the politicians and world leaders who are responsible for the fact that none of them are being met and that we are doomed to failure as a civilisation. That is why it is urgent to raise our voices and make them understand that the way they are leading us, we are heading for an apocalypse with unforeseeable consequences. We pay them, not for armchair warmth, but so that we can move forward with dignity on the seven basic rights announced by the UN Secretary-General.  We cannot remain impassive in the face of the grave emergencies we are confronted with. Humanity has a vested right to live in peace with its fellow human beings. Have we not learned our lesson from the past world and civil wars? Society needs hope and a dignified future, a path to empower human knowledge, to advance together with technologies towards a promising future in which future generations can enjoy the true meaning of life, the happiness of having a job with basic needs met, a true democracy where truth and the public good are immovable pillars and Congress is really the House of the People, where there is no confrontation and wisdom prevails.

I know that, in the future, Guterres will be remembered as the great peacemaker of humanity, the one who tried, by all means, to convince the world’s rulers that they were on the wrong track and gave them directions and charts to steer our battered ship Earth in the right direction. His struggle must be our struggle.