The feeling is that the world is falling apart and that there is little to hold on to so as not to be dragged into this. avalanche of madness. We see world leaders saying and doing things that were once unthinkable, without there being outrage or firm opposition from a large part of the international community. We see world leaders mocking international institutions and blatantly disrespecting International Law with complete shamelessness, without consequences. We see dual criteria regarding Human Rights violations depending on who the attacker and the attacked are, which necessarily undermines general confidence in the strength we attribute to Human Rights. We see situations of complete dissonance between what is said and what is done: like Melania Trump’s speech at the United Nations Security Council meeting (already an absurd situation), focused on the need for “peace through Education” when two days before – on the first day of the attacks by the United States of America and Israel on Iran – a bombing killed 168 girls who were at their school in Minab.
If we don’t have a minimum understanding of what is acceptable, of what is moral, of the rules that govern us all – such as International Law and Human Rights, of trust in institutions, what are we left with? We are left with the law of the strongest. And the law of the strongest is clear: whoever has the weapons and the money reigns and everyone else is subjugated. And that’s why all this is happening: the strongest know that they will be kings and lords in the law of the strongest. And that they will be able to dispose and share the rest of the world for their benefit.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. The law of the strongest is not inevitable. We often say that unity is strength. It’s true and it’s the alternative to combating the imposition of the law of the strongest. But for there to be unity there needs to be a common project, rules and values that we can all cling to and prevent the institutional and emotional collapse that we are experiencing. That is why the words of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Davos about the need for international alliances went around the world and, now, the words and actions of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez who, repudiating the Iranian regime that oppresses his people, condemned the unilateral attack on Iran to the defiance of the international community.
They went around the world because they are words of courage and that they reflect the values and actions that we can cling to to combat the collective madness that is being imposed on us.
In this aspect, the Government of Portugal has failed us. Words are non-existent or carefully measured or even partial. The same with stocks. The explanations given about the use of Base das Lajes in recent days are disturbing. The problem is not just – as if that were not enough – Portugal may be complicit in an attack carried out in violation of International Law. The problem is that, with these dubious and conniving positions, our rulers contribute to disbelief in themselves and in the institutions they represent, fueling what gives strength to those who want to impose the law of the strongest – which calls into question the perspective of building the collective future to which we all have the right. And that is unforgivable.
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