On the one hand, the worsening of social inequalities, the erosion of labor rights, and the consequent precarization of lifestyles are some of the variables most directly related to the virus’ mortality rate. On the other hand, the degradation of public services made it impossible for the States to provide the best response to the health emergency.
As we enter an intermittent pandemic, taking human rights seriously means immediately reversing public investment logic. A stable policy promoting human rights and democracy forces us to confront without calculation the degradation of these values in Hungary and Poland carried out in the name of a so-called “anti-liberal democracy,” a contradiction in terms. Liberal democracy can and should be criticized for being too little, not too much.
Peace and Cold War
Taking human rights and democracy seriously means pursuing with conviction a peace policy, which has both internal and external repercussions. Contrary to what would be expected in a period of a global health emergency, the new cold war between the United States and China has become more violent in recent months. Faced with its decline as the world’s leading power, the United States has been using increasingly aggressive mechanisms to contain what they call ‘Chinese imperial expansionism.’
The magazines that formulate U.S. foreign policy (e.g., Foreign Affairs) speak openly of the possibility of armed conflict in the next ten years. The powerful military-industrial complex supports them. The United States wants to involve all its allies in this process and demands unconditional solidarity. Since the most unequivocal U.S. superiority over China is military and since the EU is an insignificant partner in this field, an alliance on these terms is not in Europe’s interest unless NATO becomes an instrument of military aggression (more so than it has been in recent times, from the Balkans to Libya.)
The terms that matter are these: in the long historical period (when the United States did not exist), China was, until the 19th century, the largest economic power in the world; according to McKinsey, in 2040, China will represent 40% of the total consumption of goods and services; China has just promoted the Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership, which is much broader than the European common market; India, currently governed by the extreme right, cannot be an unusual ally of the E.U. just because it does not belong to this partnership. The E.U. cannot be an unconditional ally, either of China (it is not a democracy and human rights are seen as obstacles) nor of the U.S. (which only accepts unilateralism; Biden will be less pro-European than imagined; the fight against the privileges of the North American communications giants, GAFA: Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, must continue).
Furthermore, the E.U. must quickly free itself from the persecution crusade against Iran and Venezuela. Will the puppet Juan Guaidó, who is no longer even a parliament member and is being challenged by the Venezuelan opposition to Nicolás Maduro, continue to be considered the country’s legitimate president and preside over the plundering of Venezuela’s international reserves?
Portugal has the right conditions to be the E.U.’s helmsman in this period. It has performed well in defending life during the pandemic, which is unequivocally evident in the data; the politicization of the pandemic was relatively low; it maintained a level of political cohesion and consensus with the scientific community that only the most reactionary right-wing does not recognize; despite the systemic behavior of the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service), it has a more favorable immigration policy than other European countries; being one of the United Kingdom’s traditional allies, it can be an architect of understanding in a period of friction. But it will be a pity if it does not take advantage of this enviable position to free itself from the blackmail of frugal countries and fully comply with the Basic Health Laws, giving the NHS (National Health Service) the centrality it deserves.
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Translation by Oriana Fuentes
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Boaventura de Sousa Santos | Radio Free (2021-01-12T08:49:43+00:00) Europe in 2021. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/01/12/europe-in-2021/
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