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Santiago Abascal, the President of VOX and the think tank Fundación Disenso, will participate at the 2024 edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the main conservative meeting in the United States, which takes place in Washington, D.C. from 21 to 24 February. Abascal’s speech, which will take place on Friday, will focus on the defence of freedom and shared values between Europe and America, as well as the threats facing Western nations.
The CPAC is an event organised by the American Conservative Union, which since 1973 has brought together the leading figures in the American and international conservative sphere. At this year’s convention Abascal will be joined on stage by leaders such as Donald Trump, former US president and Republican presidential candidate, and Javier Milei, president of Argentina, among dozens of Republican congressmen and senators, journalists, academics, and representatives of civil society.
The event is organised with the support of businesses, private institutions and think tanks. This yearly gathering draws citizens from all corners of the United States and the rest of the world to attend workshops and talks, public speeches, and meet commentators, activists, and politicians, creating the perfect atmosphere for conservative networking.
In fact, the growing impact of CPAC, boosted during the Trump administration, has led the event to expand internationally as well, with CPACs organised in Hungary, Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea and México.
Other participants in this year’s conference include Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate who endorsed Trump after the Iowa primaries; Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador; Liz Truss, former British Prime Minister; J.D. Vance, Senator for Ohio and author of the bestseller Hillbilly elegy; Eduardo Verástegui, film producer and independent candidate for the Presidency of Mexico; and the political strategist and host of War Room podcast, Steve Bannon.
The leader of VOX had already attended CPAC, but as a member of the public. It was in 2020 when Abascal first attended the conference, where he met with the movers and shakers of the American and Latin American conservative movement. “Spain and the United States are friends and allies that are called to strengthen their bonds”, said Abascal after his trip.
This is the first time that he has been invited to participate as a speaker. It is also the first so many Spanish speakers will headline the conservative conference. As Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister and President of ECR Party did at CPAC 2022, Santiago Abascal will address the meeting in the main auditorium on Friday 23rd at 14:25 (Washington time). In his speech, Santiago Abascal is expected to underscore the need to bolster conservative links between the United States and the European countries.
During the trip to Washington DC, Santiago Abascal will be accompanied by Hermann Tertsch, MEP, vice-president of the ECR and president of ECR-Eurolat; Jorge Martín Frías, Director of Fundación Disenso, the Spanish think tank attached to VOX, and Eduardo Cader, director of Foro Madrid and the foundation’s International Area.
Since he launched Fundación Disenso, Santiago Abascal has developed an intense international agenda that has allowed VOX to consolidate itself as a political actor of reference in Latin America and Europe. In the last three years, Abascal has visited the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Israel and Italy, where he has been received by their main leaders, with whom he maintains constant communication and coordination.
Republicans will celebrate this CPAC in the middle of their primary process. Former President Trump is expected to secure the party’s nomination in the next couple of weeks. The Republican Party will make his candidacy official during the July GOP Convention in the city of Milwaukee.