First Vice President of Spain María Teresa Fernández de la Vega Sanz advocated for multilateralism, social consciousness, and transparency during financial crisis at a Tuesday speech in Union Theological Seminary.
Hoping to bring an international perspective to the Seminary, UTS President Serene Jones introduced De la Vega to a receptive audience gathered in Social Hall. In a room lined with portraits of stern-looking, bearded old men, there was a palpable ambiance of change as the first female president of UTS shook hands with the first female first vice president of Spain.
Speaking about the necessity of international cooperation, De la Vega echoed John F. Kennedy's assertion that, "Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet." She explained that this was the first real global financial crisis, and she was pleased to see that the response so far has been accordingly multilateral.
"In barely a few weeks, the entire planet has been shook up," De la Vega said.
The solution, she said—with a ¡Si se puede! attitude—must be global and socially conscious government actions. "We have to be able to strengthen and spread the practice of good government and responsibility on a global level."
De la Vega encouraged her fellow leaders to speak through a "language of multilateralism" to insure peace in a time of fiscal instability.
As a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, PSOE, De la Vega has received criticisms that the government is intervening too much. De la Vega, however, believes in the power of the state to secure the stability of the people and says that inaction is the worst response in times of crisis.
"If there's anything we've learned from recent history, it's that it is dangerously naive to stay on the sidelines while the currents that affect the world float by," De la Vega said.
De la Vega and President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero have been working to protect Spanish businesses and families by demanding transparency and setting up "mechanisms of responsibility." De la Vega tried to assuage the voice of critics by noting that the proposed solutions are "far from putting the free market in danger" and are actually designed to strengthen the system of free trade.
De la Vega shed light on the recent election of Barack Obama and praised "the citizens of the United States [who] expressed their wish to uphold the values of this nation." She hopes that under Obama's leadership, closer attention will be paid to social issues.
Powerful economies, like those of the United States and Spain, have the responsibility to help developing nations even when their own economies are suffering, she said. Although the financial crisis started in wealthy nations, the countries that will suffer the most severe consequences are those with fewer resources.
"It is no longer possible to take refuge in isolationism or protectionism," said De la Vega in reference to the unavoidable presence of globalization. It won't be easy to dig out of the economic trench, she said, but "we have to be ambitious."
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