The Madrid Forum (Spanish: Foro Madrid) is an anti-communist organization created on 26 October 2020 by the Disenso Foundation think tank of the far-right Spanish political party Vox. Its founding document, the Madrid Charter, was primarily signed by conservative, ultraconservative, and far-right politicians from the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula, including members of the Republican Party in the United States, Venezuelan opposition members, Cuban dissidents, Fujimorists of Peru, and other representatives of political parties from Latin America.
Background
The Madrid Charter was a manifesto created as part of an effort to create the Madrid Forum, an anti-communist international organization with a "permanent structure and an annual action plan". Vox initially introduced the project to the government of then United States president Donald Trump while visiting the United States in February 2019, with Santiago Abascal using his good relations with the administration to build support within the Republican Party and establishing strong ties with American contacts.
In March 2019, Abascal tweeted an image of himself wearing a morion similar to a conquistador. ABC wrote that this event provided a narrative that "symbolizes in part the expansionist mood of Vox and its ideology far from Spain". On 3 March 2020, Abascal met with Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, to discuss the creation of the Madrid Forum. The charter subsequently grew to include signers that had little to no relation to Latin America and Spanish-speaking areas.
The Madrid Forum was destined to hold its first event in Madrid in June 2020; it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Madrid Charter converting into an online document presented on 26 October 2020.
Madrid Charter
The Madrid Charter: In Defense of Freedom and Democracy in the Iberosphere (Spanish: Carta de Madrid: en defensa de la libertad y la democracia en la Iberosfera), also known as the Letter from Madrid, was a manifesto created on 26 October 2020 by the Disenso Foundation think tank of Vox. The document denounced left-wing organizations in Ibero-America, said these groups pose a threat to liberal democracy through communism, and that part of the region "is held hostage by totalitarian regimes of communist inspiration, supported by drug trafficking and third countries, all of them under the umbrella of Cuba". The Madrid Charter was primarily signed by conservative, ultraconservative, and far-right politicians from the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. José Antonio Kast, one the document's signators, proposed in October 2021 that the signators of the Madrid Charter establish an International Anti-Radical Left Coordination, stating that "what is happening in Colombia is no coincidence. The model of the antisocial outbreak is repeated in Chile."
Content
In the document, signatories define two entities; the first is an allied Iberosphere of nations holding the same roots to the Iberian Peninsula and the second are left-wing groups, such as the São Paulo Forum and the Puebla Group, which the charter recognizes as an enemy and threat to the freedom. The letter condemns leftist groups as being under the influence of Cuba, stating that they are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime", describes part of the region as being "kidnapped by totalitarian communist-inspired regimes, supported by drug trafficking", and says that leftist groups hold an "ideological agenda" to destabilize liberal governments. The letter cites respect for the rule of law, separation of powers, and private property. It called for scholars, the media, and other groups to uphold the objectives of the Madrid Charter.
Promotion
Delegates of Vox travelled throughout Latin America to promote and obtain signatures the manifesto, meeting with politicians in Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. While promoting the charter in Ecuador, Vox delegate Hermann Tertsch said that signatures were necessary to counter "narcosocialism", arguing that "[a]ll Latin American countries are threatened by the same totalitarian project funded mainly by Venezuelan oil and drug trafficking", which Tertsch said was guided by Cuba. At the meetings in Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso's recently-nominated Minister of National Defense Fernando Donoso signed the document along with members of the Social Christian Party and .