The PP opens a schism in the victims of terrorism by using them against the Democratic Memory Law

The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has met this Thursday with 19 associations of victims of terrorism. An appointment that was not announced by the party, but that Feijóo himself has confirmed this morning in an interview on Telecinco. The official reason for the call was to "vindicate the Spirit of Ermua" in the week that marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco by ETA. But in a subsequent statement sent to the media, the PP points out that "this meeting also takes place on the day that the Democratic Memory Law, agreed between the Government and Bildu, is being debated in Congress, a formation that continues without condemning The terrorism".

The PP appropriates the memory of the victims of ETA to place itself "in front of the Government"

Know more

Despite the fact that the leader of the PP is a Senator, some of the most important associations in number of associates and media presence did not attend the meeting with Feijóo in Congress. Even some victims, individually, have publicly rejected what they have considered a use of terrorist attacks in the debate on the state of the nation and to attack the Democratic Memory Law.

Feijóo himself acknowledged in an interview on Telecinco that the purpose of the meeting with the victims of terrorism was not to talk about them, but about the rule that will be sent to the Senate this Thursday. “What do we explain to these people? Are these people really going to approve this law of democratic forgetfulness? Do we explain to these people that Bildu, co-author of the law, does not even condemn the murders of his relatives? This is not how it is built, it is destroyed”, explained the president of the PP.

Feijóo has lacked the truth at least twice in the interview. "After the Spirit of Ermua we were all committed to a clear anti-terrorist policy, not to give prison privileges to ETA prisoners and not to accept homage to terrorists." But the leader of the PP has ignored the fact that his predecessor in office, José María Aznar, not only brought ETA prisoners closer to the Basque Country or allowed them to be released from prison under a third-degree regimen, but also that a year after the kidnapping and murder of the Councilor of Ermua opened a negotiation with the terrorist organization.

The leader of the opposition has also said that "all associations" would attend. “Rarely have we had the opportunity to sit at the same table with more than 20 associations”, he assured. But the reality is that not all of them have gone. The PP has reported the attendance of 19, some of them very minority. And he has tiptoed over the absences, some very relevant.

Among the associations that have not been there is the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, whose patronage includes Ángeles Pedraza (former president of the AVT and whom Isabel Díaz Ayuso placed manager of 112), Francisco Tomás y Valiente or Gorka Landaburu, among many others. The Foundation in fact represents different organizations and brings together thousands of members.

Nor has COVITE attended, chaired by Consuelo Ordóñez, sister of the Basque PP leader assassinated by ETA in 1995). Ordóñez showed this Wednesday his rejection of the use in Congress by the PP of the memory of the victims of terrorism, and specifically of the blue ribbon that Gesto por la Paz constituted a symbol against political violence in Euskadi.

Look at @popular Gregorio tells you what the blue ribbon was, where it came from, why and for what, what it meant and the consequences of wearing it. He admired those brave citizens who created him as @GestoporlaPaz.

Enough of creeping use! pic.twitter.com/NmexTpiGQI

– Consuelo Ordóñez (@ConsuorF) July 13, 2022

Other victims have also positioned themselves in networks. The daughter of Juan Mari Jauregui, who was the civil governor of Guipuzkoa with Felipe González, assassinated by ETA in 2000, denounced the use of the blue ribbon and expressly demanded that the general secretary of the PP and spokesperson in Congress "respect the people who suffered threats, aggressions, etc. for carrying that symbol of freedom against ETA”. “Don't get hold of him to star in campaigns for very different purposes for which it was created”, settled.

respect you @cucagamarra to people who suffered threats, attacks, etc. for carrying that symbol of freedom against ETA. Do not appropriate it to star in campaigns for very different purposes for which it was created. #GestoPorLaPaz #Year 2007 #ZeNazka

— Maria Jauregi (@MJauregiLasa) July 12, 2022

Rosa Lluch, daughter of the former Minister of Health Ernest Lluch, also assassinated by ETA in the 1990s, has spoken in similar terms. Lluch has even thanked the words of the EH Bildu spokesperson, Mertxe Aizpurua, who in the Congress tribune said: “We want to convey our sorrow and pain to the victims of ETA. Nothing we say can change the past, but memory and respect can ease it."

Thank you. Thanks. A sincere and personal thank you. I can only speak in the singular, but eskerrik asko, @MertxeAizpurua.https://t.co/19krRKgqlL

– Rosa Lluch Bramon (@RosaLluchBramon) July 13, 2022

Nor have representatives of the 11M Victims of Terrorism Association attended, which has also expressly denounced "the use of terrorism victims as an argument to oppose the Democratic Memory Bill."

Our opinion regarding the use of victims of terrorism as an argument to oppose the democratic memory bill https://t.co/52Be4eYGbVhttps://t.co/52Be4eYGbV pic.twitter.com/f7i6IijIOK

— Association 11M (@associacion11m) July 12, 2022

Among the associations that have attended are, among others, the AVT, the Dignity and Justice Association, the Association to help the victims of 11-M, the Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Foundation against Terrorism and Violence or the Miguel Ángel Foundation White, among others.