Associations of victims believe it is «outrageous» that he sees his «salvation» in the budgets
VALENCIA, 29 (EUROPA PRESS)
A seventh demonstration, with 15,000 attendees according to figures from the Government Delegation, has marched through the center of Valencia this Thursday to once again demand the resignation of the ‘president’ of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, for the management of the dana because «he did not warn, did not prevent, and did not anticipate.» «We have no peace,» representatives of the victims’ associations pointed out before starting the march.
In the protest, which coincides with the general strike called by the unions Intersindical, CNT, CGT, and COS seven months after the tragedy, they demand «political and criminal responsibilities, transparency, and truth» and remember the 230 people who lost their lives in the floods.
Behind the call for this afternoon are more than 200 civic, social, and union entities, along with associations of dana victims, local emergency and reconstruction committees, and the Valencian Social Agreement. This Thursday’s demonstration becomes the seventh mobilization after the one planned in April was suspended due to a blackout.
The march left the Plaza del Ayuntamiento de Valencia shortly after 7:00 p.m. amid applause, led by the victims’ associations, behind a banner reading ‘Mazón Dimissió,’ and amid shouts of ‘the president to Picassent,’ ‘Mazón resignation,’ ‘We do not want a puppet president,’ and ‘They are not dead, they are murdered.’
Along with the posters of ‘Mazón Resignation’ and ‘Justice’ for the victims, featuring images of the deceased, others have been shown referring to the time of the ES-Alert dispatch, 8:11 p.m., and the messages ‘228 victims. PP guilty, Vox accomplice.’
The march, led by a muixeranga, has traveled through the streets of las Barcas, Poeta Querol, La Paz, Plaza de la Reina, Bordadores, and Micalet, ending in Plaza de la Virgen.
The victims’ associations spoke before the start of the march. In statements to the media, the president of the Association of Fatal Victims DANA 29-O, Rosa Álvarez, accused Mazón of being a «squatter» in the presidency and urged him to leave a position that, in her opinion, «he should have left on October 30th.»
«Our relatives died because he did not warn, because he did not prevent, because he did not anticipate what everyone knew was coming. We demand that he leave that place and that someone else, even from his own party, take over,» she demanded.
She emphasized that, seven months later, they continue to protest to «pressure» Mazón and «so that people do not forget» and remember that on October 29th «negligence was there.» «He (Mazón) was not at his workplace. No matter how much he says he did not have to be at the Cecopi, what he did have to do was work. And the one who had to be at the Cecopi (referring to the former Minister of Justice and Interior Salomé Pradas) stated in court that she did not know about emergencies. He appointed her to that position and she accepted. They are responsible, both of them,» she criticized.
THEY BRAND MAZÓN AS «TOTALLY DEHUMANIZED»
On the other hand, from the Association of Victims of DANA October 29, Mariló Gradolí, reproached that seven months later they do not know «what Mazón did on October 29» and accused him of «continuing to lie.» «There are people who wake up and there is no good day after seven months, because we have no peace and because justice has not yet arrived,» she lamented.
Toñi García, who lost her husband and daughter in the dana, described it as «outrageous and insulting» that Mazón «talks about money,» in relation to the Generalitat’s budgets. «It seems like his lifebuoy, his salvation, but it is not at all ours,» she asserted, while accusing the head of the Consell of being «a completely dehumanized person.»
«That he talks to us about money to people who have lost human beings, how far does empathy go? How far is this man completely dehumanized?» García wondered, while stating that Mazón «has no dignity or shame.»
Asked if the associations will meet with Mazón, Álvarez criticized that they are trying to «dilute them like a sugar cube.» «Before we were in a situation where we couldn’t attend, and now absolutely everyone can attend,» she lamented.
THE CONSELL «LIES» TO «MAINTAIN ITSELF»
Already at the Plaza de la Virgen, shortly after 8:00 p.m., the organizers have assured that they trust that «the growing indignation shown by eight out of ten Valencians will end up scaring and ousting Mazón from the Presidency.» Subsequently, representatives of the victims’ associations read the joint manifesto of the protest.
They stated that the «cause of the magnitude» of the tragedy is the «negligence» of the Generalitat government, and point out that from the Consell «they want to impose a normality that does not exist» and «they strive for the economy to function while people’s lives remain shattered.» «The Valencian Government does not face up and constantly lies to the population to protect itself, control the narrative, and stay in power,» they said.
They also denounced the «lack of housing alternatives for the affected people,» as well as the exploitation of the catastrophe for «speculation.» They also demand that the dana ERTEs cover 100% of the salary or that access to public benefits for reconstruction be guaranteed for low-income individuals, among other things.
In their opinion, «this militarized Generalitat is deploying a reconstruction model based on the business of a few and turning its back on the affected people and scientific advice.» Therefore, they demand that «the manipulation of the citizens is not perpetuated: Carlos Mazón and his Consell are responsible for a natural disaster turning into a human catastrophe, when they shirked their responsibilities, in an act of complete incompetence.»
They also lament that «the negligence of all the companies that endangered the lives of their workers by prioritizing economic interests over their safety has not yet been investigated.»
A special tribute was paid to the workers who «lost their lives because of the people who failed to make the right decisions despite the data and sciences telling them what to do and despite having warning and pre-emergency mechanisms.» The manifesto of the general strike called for this 29M was also read.
In addition to the demonstration in Valencia, this Thursday, May 29, there have also been marches calling for Mazón’s resignation in Castelló, where 1,200 people attended according to the Government Sub-delegation, and Alicante, with a thousand attendees according to the same sources.
START OF «THE COUNTDOWN»
At the start of the march in Valencia, political representatives also made statements to the media, such as the Compromís syndic in Les Corts, Joan Baldoví, who accused Mazón of «selling his soul to the devil to survive» by agreeing to the budgets with Vox, a move that, in his opinion, marks the beginning of «the countdown to the exit» of the head of the Consell.
In the demonstration held in Alicante, the PSPV-PSOE syndic, José Muñoz, participated, stating that the social pressure «is unbearable» and Mazón is «cornered by society, which demands his resignation every 29th of each month, cornered judicially and cornered by his own party.» Therefore, he believes that Valencian society «needs to turn the page,» and that «can only happen through the resignation of Mazón and the entire Consell.»
From the Socialists, the spokesperson for the PSPV-PSOE, Jordi Mayor, attended in Valencia, and the first vice-secretary of the PSPV-PSOE, Tania Baños, in Castelló.
