During his intervention in CADE Executives 2025, the Spanish representative and journalist Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo launched a firm call to the Peruvian and Latin American business community: “Neutrality is not prudence, it is complicity by omission.” With this phrase, the parliamentarian of the Popular Party of Spain urged private sector leaders to invest in democracy, understood as an active commitment to freedom, truth and republican institutions.
Álvarez de Toledo warned that in times of polarization and distrust towards politics, the passivity of the business community in the face of institutional deterioration can have profound consequences. “Silence is not neutrality, it is passive collaboration with the deterioration of democracy,” he said. In his opinion, businessmen should not limit their role to the generation of wealth, but rather participate in the defense of the values that make prosperity and stability possible.
“Democracy does not stand alone; it needs committed activists, citizens and businessmen. Investing in democracy is investing in stability, prosperity and freedom,” he stated before the audience of executives gathered at the country’s most important business forum.
Liberalism
In her message, the Spanish representative also delved into her proposal to refound the liberal order, a system that—as she explained—has guaranteed progress and equal opportunities, but that today faces a crisis of legitimacy. “Liberalism has been the victim of a caricature and the cowardice of its own defenders. It is time to recover the pride of being liberal,” he said.
Álvarez de Toledo highlighted that the liberal order is not only an economic model, but a moral conception of life in society, based on respect for truth, merit, individual freedom and civic responsibility. “There is no freedom without responsibility, no progress without truth,” he emphasized, insisting that the defense of liberalism must transcend ideological labels to become a shared ethical cause.
Along these lines, he called on businessmen to regain confidence in democracy as the best vehicle for human and economic development, and not to give in to populist speeches that promise simple solutions to complex problems. “Populism feeds on the silence of the good. Therefore, neutrality is complicity,” he stressed.
His intervention combined political reflection and moral appeal, in a context in which the country’s business leaders debate the role of the private sector in institutional consolidation. “The defense of democracy is not an exclusive task of politicians. It is a collective duty that begins by not remaining silent in the face of lies and abuse of power,” he concluded.
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