Pseudocracy and Political Lies: The Legacy of 11M in Spanish Politics

On March 11, 2004, a political divide occurred in Spain, deeper than the pain of 192 deaths and more than a thousand injuries caused by the jihadist attack on the Atocha trains in Madrid. That day, trust in the democratic institutions of our country was also broken. Truth, lies and legitimacy, from then on, would become three important elements that would define Spanish politics for the next twenty years. Voices 11M. Victims of Lies is the work that deals with the political legitimacy of a country from the perspective of the victims of the attack. That’s what the book published by the professor of political communication at the University of Juan Carlos I and a sociologist is about. Victor Sampedro Blanco free which was presented this Tuesday at the Gijón Cultural Association.

The hoax and the insult, the insult and the ban, the blackmail and the pressure on the victims caused a political revolution that has never been seen in the history of Spain that has accelerated its political polarization. In fact, Víctor Sampedro is the one who created the concept of “Pseudocracy” in 2010, which reached our reformed days in political habits and practices, where manipulation has received high levels of intensity, although we have the custom. The lie has become banal: “Lie Pablo Iglesias when he leaves the government Sánchez and is presented as a Podemos candidate in the Madrid elections. lies Yolanda Diaz When he says that he will reverse the labor reform and that he will only restore certain aspects, Sánchez is lying. Puigdemont “When she declares the republic, the Church is lying.”

This expansion of lay methods over time can be perfectly documented, with date and place, after the 11-M attacks and with the second government of José María Aznar who said that, in the first hours, all the signs pointed to a terrorist attack by ETA. After the socialist victory, the sadness continued with the 400 questions about the author of the attack sent by the president of the popular parliamentary group at the time, the Valencian Eduardo Zaplana, who put together the Zapatero government, throughout the first legislature. The conspiracy theory that denied the jihadist authority was told through the media written by PEdro J. Ramírez y Casimiro García Abadillo in the newspaper El Mundo and its Herzian and cathodic version through the radio, thanks to the COPE Radio Network of the Episcopal Conference which gave its power to Federico Jimenez Losantos.

The show that followed, on the eve of the 13M elections that won José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, “Against terrorism, with the constitution and with the victims” It was another electoral revolution that pushed an entire country, with its institutions at the helm, towards a place of no return. Víctor Sampedro recalled the calls Aznar’s government received from the CNI. “Osama Bin Laden put Spain under the spotlight in 2003 after Spain participated in the Iral War. The attack in Baghdad, in Casablanca…the next one was expected to happen here.” Although the evidence immediately pointed to Al Qaeda, the UN Council continued to emphasize that it was an attack that targeted ETA.

Not only did 11M victims find their cause in an attack. The lie given by the PP or FAES left another trail of names. Pilar Manjón, president between 2004 and 2016 of the Terrorist 11-M Association and member of the CCOO union, has suffered insults, humiliation and even, Víctor Sampedro says, physical attacks after the attack. His tolerance has been constant and has extended to the victims of ETA, as he has denied Consuelo Ordoñezthe sister of the popular parliamentarian murdered in San Sebastián, Gregorio Ordonez, who did not stop criticizing the idea of ​​the PP: arresting the pain of the victims and its political treatment.

Among the victims, remembers Víctor Sampedro, there was also journalism. An example of José Antonio Zarzalejos, who was then the director of the ABC newspaper, the most important conservative press leader in this country, was blamed after he refused to participate in the conspiracy theory. As Sampedro rightly says, Zarzalejos said “Up to now” when the National Court in 2007, first, and in 2008 the Supreme Court, dismissed any conspiracy in the attacks 11-M with permanent support from El Mundo and Cope. Both the newspaper and the radio network had turned the conspiracy theory into a strategy to dislodge ABC and Onda Cero from second place in their audience leadership . And they did it.

The victims of the State security forces were also pressured to handle evidence that would reveal who made the ETA. Juan Jesus Sanchez Manzanothen the chief commissioner of the Tedax no Rodolfo Ruizcommissioner of Vallecas, insulted by Esperanza Aguirre as “PSOE gestapo”, one of the first police officers to arrive at the Pozo station and from the first moment he saw what happened, he defended jihadist responsibility. “Thanks to that backpack, protected by Rodolfo Ruiz, there are those responsible for the biggest attack on European soil so far. Without the police there would be no criminals today.” Victor Sampedro noted during the show.

Voices of 11-M Victims of Lies is a recognition of the incredible work of police officers, journalists and victims of the largest attack in this country’s history, who saw their professional careers cut short and paid a vital price, despite being extremely good. servants.