The sixth edition of the “Transatlantic Summit” of the Political Network for Values, an international far-right organization against abortion and gender equality chaired by the ultra-right Chilean José Antonio Kast, has sparked strong controversy in Spain after this newspaper published that the Senate appeared as a “collaborating entity” of the meeting scheduled for December 2 in Madrid. The list of speakers at the event includes more than 20 names of politicians and activists from America, Africa, and Europe, most of them from the far-right sphere. Among the names provided to EL PAÍS by the network are two Colombian senators, Paola Holguín, from the right-wing Democratic Center, and Karina Espinosa, from the traditional Liberal Party. They will participate alongside Kast, members of the party of Argentine President Javier Milei, or parliamentarians from around the world known for opposing the right to abortion. The summit’s motto is “For freedom and the culture of life.”
In its introductory documents, the network’s director, Lola Velarde, states that “the trend that aims to pass abortion as a ‘right’ is not irreversible” and that, on the contrary, they are convinced “that it is possible to stop it and even change course.” Kast states in the promotional video for the meeting that his goal is to “influence the international political scene and mark a change of direction in favor of freedom and the culture of life.” The Political Network for Values considers voluntary abortion as “murder of innocents.” The celebration of this transatlantic summit, or at least its venue, is now in doubt, as the Spanish government’s PSOE party, other left-wing parties, and the Catalan separatist Junts party state they will challenge the Senate’s decision to host the event, considering it “unacceptable” and “intolerable” for a public institution to support it. The network has condemned in a statement the attempts to “ban” the summit, arguing that it is a clear example of cancel culture against those who have a divergent position and express it peacefully.
Senator Karina Espinosa, one of the two Colombian speakers, entered Congress in 2022 with no previous political experience. A member of a powerful family in her native department of Sucre, her brother Héctor Olimpio was governor of that Caribbean region between 2022 and 2023. Although she was elected by the more than a century-old Liberal Party, the same as her father and brother, as a legislator she has been very active against abortion and same-sex marriage. One of the staunchest defenders of the traditional family in Congress, she became known for pushing the controversial “zero nonsense” law project, which aims to implement teaching values in schools that threaten “the family institution” and prevent “immoral behaviors” such as infidelity. She is part of the “pro-life bloc” in the Colombian Congress and has stated that abortion “is murder” and “the worst of all wars.”
On the other hand, Paola Holguín, from Antioquia, is known for being a close ally of former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez since she was his presidential advisor. As a legislator since 2014, she has promoted a conservative agenda in general and is a strong critic of abortion in particular. For the Uribe supporter, the right to life “begins at conception,” and she argues that the Court’s ruling “goes against” what is enshrined in the Constitution. A member of the Political Network for Values for several years, Holguín explains that she will participate in the panel ‘The Challenge of Freedom in Current Democracies’ at the summit and that the organization will cover her expenses in Madrid, while she will pay for her trip to Spain. Regarding the controversy in Spanish politics, she argues that “it is strange that, despite some members of the PSOE approving the use of the Senate room, they are now opposing it.” She finds opposition to a summit defending freedom and the culture of life notable.
The network has also confirmed Brian Brown as a speaker, the president of the International Organization for the Family, which promotes the World Congress of Families, a global meeting of the Christian far-right that opposes both abortion and equality of rights. Other figures include EU parliamentarians Kinga Gál, also vice president of the Hungarian Fidesz party led by ultra-conservative Viktor Orbán, and Nicolas Bay from the French right. It is worth noting that Senator María del Rosario Guerra, a Uribe ally, serves as vice president on the advisory board of the Political Network for Values. Previous editions of the summit were held in New York (2013 and 2014), Budapest (2021), Bogotá (2019), and Brussels (2017), in venues of public institutions like the UN, the European Parliament, and the Capitol buildings in Washington and Bogotá. The sixth edition is taking place at a time when Europe is the epicenter of an organized effort to classify abortion as an alleged right and impose censorship or limit the freedom of those who defend the culture of life.
