The members of the Madrid Forum, an international alliance of conservative parties, leaders and organizations, right and far-right organizations of Spain and Ibero-America, said today that their goal is to win the seven general elections planned in Latin America for this year and next, as they proclaimed at the closing of the meeting held yesterday and today in Asunción.
Participants in the IV Regional Meeting of the Madrid Forum, inaugurated this Thursday by Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, assured that conservative and ultra-conservative options have a great opportunity to win the elections that will take place between now and the end of 2026.
“For the first time in many decades there is a real possibility of opening a new era of freedom and prosperity with the defeat of socialism in the region and throughout the West,” said the project coordinator of Foro Madrid, Edmaly Maucó, when reading the declaration approved at the end of the meeting held this Thursday and Friday in Asunción.
This year there will be general elections in August in Bolivia, and in Honduras and Chile in November, while in 2026 elections will be held in Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru and Brazil.
According to the final declaration of the meeting, the countries of the region have suffered “in their own flesh the ravages” of left-wing governments, and “have understood that socialism corrupts societies, destroys the economy, destroys freedoms.”
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“From Asunción we send to the entire region and the world a message of optimism and hope: the triumph of freedoms, democracy and the rule of law in Ibero-America is possible and is within the reach of all our peoples,” says the text.
They also announced that they will continue to “denounce and strengthen the political struggle” against what they considered “dictators of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as against all those who support them.”
The Madrid Forum is promoted by the Disenso Foundation, the laboratory of ideas of the Spanish far-right party Vox, whose leader, Santiago Abascal, participated yesterday, Thursday, in the opening of the meeting, together with the president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña.
The director of Foro Madrid, Eduardo Cader, said this Friday that the right-wing forces can return to power unless, according to him, “the left resorts to fraud” or the disqualifications of the adversary candidacies.
“Every choice will be a battle, and every victory will require courage, strategy and, above all, unity,” he emphasized.
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Cader charged against what he called “soft right”, to which he attributed the claim of “managing what the left built”, avoiding conflict and not offering resistance.
The forum praised the figures of Argentine President Javier Milei; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
MEPs of the right-wing group ‘Patriots for Europe’ participating in the meeting questioned the role of the European Commission, chaired by Ursula von der Leyen, which they called a “mega-state” that makes decisions on issues such as immigration, placing itself, in their opinion, above the will of European countries.
Hungarian MEP Enikó Gyóri said that “there is clearly a turn to the right in Europe” and stressed that in the last elections to the European Parliament, held on June 9 last year, the far-right parties reached approximately 22% of the vote, which is equivalent to about forty million people.
Those voters are “those who think that the European Union would have to be as the founding fathers founded it, and not this new Europe that wants to exist above the nations, dictating things that perhaps they do not even want to do,” said the Hungarian MEP.
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Also MEP Jorge Martín Frías, director of the Dissenso foundation, said that everyone supports the European Union, but criticizes the role of the European Commission, he considered that “it has made a misrepresentation and has distanced itself from the initial European project”.
The members of the Madrid Forum, which has also been held in Bogotá (2022), Lima (2023) and Buenos Aires (2024), promised to intensify “political cooperation to achieve electoral victories,” with special emphasis on “the seven electoral appointments that are coming”, to – as they said – “reach a continent free of socialism.”
Looting Spreads in Venezuela’s Hardest-Hit Areas After Deadly Earthquakes
Not even the wires were left behind at a small grocery store. Before the ground had even stopped shaking, looting and theft began in the areas hardest hit by the double earthquake that struck Venezuela.
Reports of robberies have multiplied in the coastal state of La Guaira, located near Caracas and now transformed into a landscape of collapsed buildings and debris.
Videos circulating on social media show groups of people removing boxes of household appliances from a damaged store. Other images show similar boxes being carried on top of vehicles and motorcycles.
Social media platforms have also been filled with accusations against police officers and military personnel who allegedly stole from homes and even from victims who died during the disaster.
A branch of a major pharmacy chain was looted, along with supermarkets and other businesses. Some residents have described the situation as “disaster tourism,” while others say the looting reflects hunger and desperation among people who lost everything in a country already facing a prolonged economic crisis.
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“Is it fair that our own people turn against our own people?” said María Esther Bernal, 71, who rented commercial spaces to Chinese merchants, all of which were looted. “They left nothing behind, not even the wallpaper. They even took the cables,” she said.
“Next door, a man died. He was Chinese. People walked over his body while they looted the place. It was a supermarket,” she added.
An AFP journalist witnessed looting in La Guaira since Thursday, following the earthquakes.
Jenifer Mayora, 34, defended some of the actions, saying that “the things people took were because the owners of the stores allowed us to take them.”
However, she criticized the limited response from authorities. “I have been waiting for a mattress so my children can sleep,” she said.
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Residents have expressed anger over what they describe as a slow and insufficient response from authorities after the double earthquake, which has left around 1,450 people dead and tens of thousands missing.
Communities are demanding not only faster rescue operations in La Guaira, but also stronger security measures and urgent assistance with food, water, and medicine.
UN warns Venezuela earthquakes could affect up to 6.76 million people
Up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, according to an assessment released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency.
The organization said the projections are based on available population data and damage assessments, and include up to two million people living in Caracas, the country’s capital.
The estimates highlight the potentially massive humanitarian impact of the disaster, the IOM warned.
Entire buildings collapsed in La Guaira, a coastal area north of Caracas, following the powerful twin earthquakes that reached magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 on Wednesday.
The national death toll has risen to 920, while rescue teams continue searching for people trapped beneath the rubble in coastal regions and other affected areas.
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UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told AFP on Friday that more than 50,000 people were reported missing.
The IOM also revealed that it worked with Microsoft’s artificial intelligence laboratory on an initial satellite mapping analysis, which showed that 31.5% of buildings in the town of Catia La Mar had suffered damage.
Authorities and international rescue teams continue operations as Venezuela faces one of its largest humanitarian emergencies in recent years.
United Nations Coordinates Relief Efforts as Venezuela Death Toll Rises After Twin Quakes
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday expressed his condolences to the people of Venezuela following the two devastating earthquakes that struck the country and highlighted the ongoing coordination between UN humanitarian teams and interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
Speaking during the UN’s daily press briefing, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Guterres was deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread destruction caused by the disaster.
“The Secretary-General is deeply distressed by the loss of life and the widespread devastation caused by the earthquakes that struck Venezuela yesterday. He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured,” Dujarric stated.
Venezuela was struck on Wednesday by two powerful earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude. According to official figures, the disaster has left at least 164 people dead and 971 others injured.
Dujarric noted that preliminary reports indicate significant damage across several states, including the capital, Caracas. Numerous casualties have been reported, while other individuals remain trapped beneath collapsed structures or are still missing.
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“Critical infrastructure has been damaged and essential services have been disrupted,” the spokesperson said.
The United Nations confirmed that its humanitarian team remains in close contact with interim President Delcy Rodríguez and other relevant authorities as emergency operations continue.
To support relief efforts, the UN has established a coordination center in Caracas and is assisting local authorities to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches affected communities as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Guterres also welcomed the expressions of solidarity and offers of assistance from countries around the world that responded following news of the disaster, underscoring the importance of international cooperation in addressing the humanitarian emergency.
