More of 60 intellectuals and people of culture signed the manifesto this Saturday ‘Culture must respond to the current authoritarian drift’, promoted by the May 1 Foundation, given the “global rise of intolerance and the authoritarian drift of the extreme right” that in his opinion is taking place.
The presentation of this manifesto served as the culmination of the ‘Society, rights and extreme right’ conference, organized by the May 1st Foundation and by CCOO this Friday and Saturday in Valencia. “In all unjust situations, there is a set of dynamics that justify them. Dynamics that invite selfishness, to degrade the ideals of fraternity, of equality, to convert freedom into the law of the strongest. And these dynamics create isolation, selfishness and a fragmented illusion. In the face of that, culture creates community,” declared the poet and director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero.
For his part, in statements to the media, the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, stressed that “in Spain and other countries in the world messages have been normalized that should not be considered normal, xenophobic, reactionary, sexist messages, or the normalized presence of the extreme right in the institutions”.
The manifesto, which has been signed by Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Bardem, Bernardo Atxaga, Juan Diego Botto, Elvira Lindo, Miguel Ríos, Rozalén, and Aitana Sánchez Gijón, among others, rejects that “hatred, resentment and fear return be used for justify dynamics that go against freedom, equality and fraternity” and that “reporting is necessary.