Open letter to the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, the quietness that gives
Your Excellency Madam Magistrate and Minister of Defence, number one in the Judicial Career in the 27th promotion of Judges and Prosecutors and holder since June 2018 of the portfolio that encompasses the Armed Forces of Spain.
I am writing this letter to you out of the immense sorrow I feel when I realise that you accept and support the terms of the pompously named Organic Amnesty Bill for the institutional, political and social normalisation of Catalonia, which was approved by the plenary session of Congress on 14 March.
A high state regulation which, in point 1 of its articles, states that "acts of criminal, administrative or accounting responsibility carried out in the framework of the consultations held in Catalonia (...) and actions in the context of the so-called Catalan independence process are amnestied".
A text that protects as amnestied actions "even if they are not related to the aforementioned consultations or have been carried out after their respective celebration (...) with the intention of claiming, promoting or procuring the secession or independence of Catalonia, as well as those that have contributed to the achievement of such purposes". Quite an example of the equality of Spaniards before the Law. It only remains to add... and two boiled eggs!!!!
The lost opportunity
A few months ago I wanted to believe that you would not go through the Horcas Caudinas of remaining in a government that endorses "finalising the execution of the sentences and judicial processes that affect all the people, without exception, who participated in the independence process".
Innocent as I was, I even thought that he would take advantage of the departure from the government of the first vice-president and Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, who at the end of December left the government to take up the post of president of the European Investment Bank. She then had a golden opportunity to avoid having to lower her head in the face of the outrage that was taking place and of which you had first-hand knowledge.
As a high-ranking civil servant, versed in law, having been a Supreme Court judge and a member of the General Council of the Judiciary, I assumed that your personal honour and professional prestige, of which you boast so much, would prevail. Accompanying Nadia Calviño in her departure from the Cabinet was her great opportunity to leave the Ministry of Defence through the front door and avoid being an accomplice to the degradation of Spanish politics promoted by the government to which she belongs.
But I was wrong in my assessment. I fear that the reward he hopes to obtain from President Sánchez and in maintaining his already semi-sunken public profile may have been more important. And in this line he made it clear on 13 March, in the session of control of the government in Congress. In response to a question from a member of parliament, who wanted to know your opinion on the Amnesty Law a day before it was passed, you replied that you were "proud to be part of the government", which, without answering the question, summed up which side you are on.
Avoiding the press to avoid giving her point of view
I have seen how in the past five months you have avoided meetings with journalists who follow defence issues. The reason could not have been other than to avoid questions and, above all, to avoid giving answers. Rather than give your opinion on the Amnesty Law, you have preferred to escape, which you have avoided by all the means at your disposal, cloaking yourself in a tepid half-smile and your cohort of close associates.
You, Your Excellency, for every four words you say, three are to say "I am proud of the Armed Forces". It is obvious that the military who listen to you will be satisfied. But at the very least, fed up. It is a tired refrain that she repeats every time she speaks at an official event, is approached by a radio or television microphone, or on the very few occasions that she appears before the Defence Committees of the Congress or Senate.
You already highlighted your priorities when you left the Secretary of State and Director of the National Intelligence Centre, Paz Esteban, at the feet of the Catalan separatists. It was on the occasion of authorised wiretapping of separatists who allegedly wanted to undermine the constitutional order. A few hours earlier he had defended Paz Esteban, whom I do not know. Then you sacrificed her twice, the second time when she was forced to wear a faint smile on her face on the day she was to be replaced in May 2022.
I remind you that, as you well know, there will come a day when Pedro Sánchez will cease to be president of the government and his current ministers will leave their respective posts. But your political dishonour, that of all of them, from the first to the last... will remain.