Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

"Fear is the weapon to control society"

  • Sara González (Sant Celoni, Catalonia, 1985) is a journalist and political analyst. He has highlighted the criminalization of dissent in his book Per raó d’Estat (for reasons of state), delving into the political, police, judicial and media structures of the Spanish State’s strides.
"Hedabideek akusazioaren kontakizuna egia osotzat jotzen dutenean kontakizun jakin bat mamitzen laguntzen dute". (Argazkia: Jordi Borràs)

Is it clear who is behind the sewer structures of the Spanish State?What
has made it clear to me
is that it cannot be ensured that there is a certain group of people who work hierarchically and decide how, when and how to act in an office to protect state funds. If so, it would be easily detectable. The proof is that the closest thing to this system is the so-called “patriotic police”, which has been identified after a war between commissioners.
Unfortunately, the system is much more complex, a web that has several elements: an ultra-conservative political tendency; exceptional legislation reinforced for 40 years against ETA terrorism that is maintained despite the disappearance of the organization; a broad-based police culture; judges prone to accepting police accounts and a media system acting as a loudspeaker.

What is the challenge of this structure?The deactivation
of the movements, political ideologies and phenomena that they consider to pose a threat to reason of state. It can be said that there are three aspects he defends: territorial unity, the principle of order and power and the defense of the capitalist system. To do so, they try to make public opinion dependent through police and judicial actions. Fear is the weapon to control society.

Photo: Jordi Borràs

You claim that punishing dissent is not a new thing. To what extent do you believe that in Catalonia knowledge of the repressive reality has only spread to the independence process? Physical
and temporal distance distort reality, even more so when the memory of society is short. The majority of Catalan society has not known the Basque conflict for a long time, since for decades the persecution of movements such as the Abertzale Left or anarchism in the fight against terrorism has been justified. And there is no awareness of what has been done in Euskal Herria until it has been applied in the Catalan conflict. Then comes the awareness that there is a model that repeats itself over time and exceptional legislation, with a decisive difference: The absence of a terrorist organization in the conflict in Catalonia.


Martxelo Otamendi and Iñaki Abadena are the testimonies of the Basque dissent in their book. What did the conversations look like?
They were very emotional and paradigmatic precisely to understand that model I'm talking about. As I have been opened to understand their suffering, both are a clear example of the generosity of the book's testimonies. Otamendi is a great communicator and is able to explain in detail the tragedy experienced, even after seventeen years. Abad, which is still serving its sentence, conveys the helplessness and despair to cope with its daily life.

What reading do you do after interviewing?First
of all, that being a victim of such an operation causes a collision and that there is no repair. The torturers of Otamendi have not been censored; both the police and the summary reports are scrambling like a pickle. On the other hand, after the accusation of terrorism there are other plans and it is in the political interest to keep the ghost of ETA alive. A model that has recently moved to Catalonia, for example, linking CoR activists with violence or terrorism, as was the case with Tamara Carrasco.

You mentioned that the media are part of the stools.
When the media disseminates to the headlines the report of the accusation as a complete truth and presents as “presumed” police suspicions, they contribute to the public producing a concrete report. No doubt. And then, when that story goes apart, if journalists don't give acquittal the same importance as accusation, they cause double injustice.

He has also spoken to former Spanish Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz. What was it like?
I asked him everything I had to ask and he answered everything, although I did not agree with my approach. And, of course, his intention was to defend, first his own purity and then that of police and judicial action.

It has shown that independence in Euskal Herria and in Catalonia and the environment of Podemos have been harassed by the security forces. Do you think you have cooperated sufficiently with each other politically?
By no means. Repression and being a victim of the same network should promote solidarity, which has not been for the party struggle. On the contrary, when the sewers have activated the disputes against independence, We can have tried to move on tiptoe, especially since they rule in the Moncloa. And vice versa, when Podemos has been in the eye of the hurricane. Instead of squeezing out the shared struggle between the two movements that have most shaken the status quo in recent years, each has prioritized its benefit to the detriment of the other.

Journalist
“I did a technological baccalaureate with the intention of studying architecture. But on the selectivity portal, I changed my mind: I've always liked to write, especially to describe the reality around me. With regard to the attacks of 11 September 2001, I was interested in the role of the media. The newspaper is my natural habitat. But I learn a lot from my radio and television collaborations: having a microphone in front of me or signing the articles I write is a big responsibility. That’s why I make a special effort to reason clearly, taking into account all the ends of a reality and understanding that there may be different views.”

 


You are interested in the channel: Espainiako politika
Public transport will be free for children under the age of 12, although two years ago it was not viable
Public transport will continue at half the price next year, after the Spanish Government has announced that it will keep the share of its subsidies.

PP, Vox, PNV and Junts strengthen the abolition of excise duty on energy
On Thursday these four political forces refused to extend the tax imposed on large energy companies. The Government of Spain imposed a special tax on the huge profits of the energy multinationals following the war in Ukraine.

TAV: The Spanish Government is considering a "third" alternative for connecting the Basque 'Y'
The Secretary of State for Sustainable Transport in Spain, José Antonio SANTANO, has stated that the Basque Government has admitted a resource on the connection of Ezpied-Itsaso, which would not "harm" Aralar.

2024-11-12 | Julene Flamarique
Jarki will speak on 6 December against the Spanish Constitution
Jarki has asked that "the day of enemy hegemony" be "a day of struggle" for the Basque working class. They have encouraged the citizens to fight and go out in the street in the face of the “regime of interests and property of the bourgeoisie”.

EUR 31,000 million: The Valencian Community is asking the Spanish Government for the same amount of money as in its annual budgets.
The Valencian Generalitat has declared the flooded area "catastrophic" and has asked the Spanish Government for assistance of EUR 31,400 million to alleviate the damage caused by the cold drop in the area. President Pedro Sánchez made it clear at his hearing this Tuesday at noon... [+]

Banquet
Iberdrola has earned a profit of EUR 5,472 million until September of this year, which is a new revenue record in 2024, 14% more than last year. Repsol had in his pocket EUR 1.626 million for the month of July, and the EUR 3.168 million he won in 2023 seem to outnumber this... [+]

2024-10-24 | Gedar
61 per cent of the persons to whom the Amnesty Act has been applied are policemen
The amnesty has been applied to 154 people, more than half of whom are mossos, civil guards or National Police officers.

Puig Antich, the state never apologizes
The Spanish Government has sent the sisters of Salvador Puig Antich a document from the hand of the Minister of Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres. This is the "act of invalidity" of the death sentence imposed by Franco on the Catalan anarchist. It is surprising how little... [+]

2024-10-17 | Gedar
The Spanish Government does not offer housing alternatives to five families in Gaza located in Vitoria-Gasteiz
After the Government ' s repatriation, they have had to reside for almost a year in private shelters and accommodation, and have been continuously displaced. The last time they were informed that the shelter they are currently using was to be abandoned on 31 October,... [+]

Carrefour, the distribution company association comprising Ikea and Eroski, is opposed to the reduction in working time.
The Association of Large Distribution Companies (Anged) has opposed the project of the Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz: It doesn't support "change of game rules."

They propose that the Summit be the “home of the victims of the State”
Memorialist and family groups of Joxean Lasa and Joxi Zabala have proposed that the Palace of the Summit should become a space for the recognition, reparation and dissemination of victims. According to the Democratic Memory Act, the building will remain in the hands of the City... [+]

Recasting EU sanctions will affect 45 Basque prisoners
The revolt, and after overcoming the Spanish Senate, the legal reform to recast the penalties in Europe will go ahead. Thus, the derogation granted by Spain in 2014 to the European directive on the recasting of penalties adopted in 2008 disappears, which will affect 45 Basque... [+]

The Navarre Parliament calls on the Spanish Government to suspend the deportations of Sahrawi refugees in Barajas
The Committee on Coexistence and International Solidarity has approved the request of Doctors of the World, despite the fact that the PSN voted against. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has forced sixteen of the 40 people who travelled from Western Sahara to Madrid in September... [+]

Israel and Spain maintain an agreement to keep arms sales secret
The agreement began with the presidency of the Spanish Government, José Luis Zapatero, and took place in 2014 with the presidents of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, and Israel, Shimon Peres. The agreement has been announced by the Public Journal, which publishes the news of it.

Eguneraketa berriak daude