More than a hundred victims of ETA, among them Marimar Blanco, endorse the slogan 'That you vote 'Txapote': "He was born from the people"

"The President of the Government will perfectly understand that 'Txapote' has real reasons to vote for him," they say

MADRID, 11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

More than a hundred victims of ETA terrorism, including Marimar Blanco --sister of the 'popular' councilor Miguel Ángel Blanco-- or Daniel Portero --president of Dignity and Justice (DyJ)--, have issued this Tuesday a statement in which they support the use of the slogan "Let 'Txapote' vote for you" considering that it is part of the freedom of expression of the "people", as well as that there are well-founded reasons to use it against the Government of Pedro Sánchez.

"The statement that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, tried yesterday to throw Alberto Núñez Feijóo in the face during the televised debate makes all the sense in the world at this moment," they affirm.

And this, they explain, because "these days mark the 26th anniversary of the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco, who gave his life because a democratic government did not give in to ETA's blackmail and refused to bring prisoners closer to the Basque Country." "The terrorist who pulled the trigger in that episode was Javier García Gaztelu, 'Txapote'," they recall.

In addition, they state that they endorse the use of this proclamation because "it is part of the people's right to freedom of expression." "It is impossible to eradicate from the collective imagination an expression that was born of the people. We cannot and should not do it. Furthermore, it is what hundreds of us feel," they maintain.

The statement comes hours after the Collective of Victims of Terrorism (COVITE), the Fernando Buesa Blanco Foundation and several individual ETA victims made an appeal "to society and the political class" not to use said slogan, understanding that "it supposes a trivialization of terrorism and terrorists".

The one hundred signatories point out that, although they understand "that there are other victims who may not feel represented by the phrase", "they should not take over the monopoly of the collective". "If they want to defend what Sánchez has done, it's up to them. For us, the behavior of the Prime Minister has been demeaning," they indicate.

For this group of victims, "those who, of course, should feel more than satisfied with Sánchez's prison policy are the terrorists." In this sense, they emphasize that "this year Sánchez has completed the plan to bring ETA members closer to Basque and Navarra prisons", which in their opinion "represents a betrayal of Miguel Ángel Blanco" and "a full-fledged cession of that historical claim that the 'bilduetarras' who have supported the current government still endorse".

Along these lines, they have argued that "the expression 'Que te vote Txapote' is perfectly descriptive" because, in addition to the fact that "during Sánchez's tenure, absolutely all the prisoners who were left outside the Basque Country and Navarre have been approached, they have Prison powers have been transferred, and a key role in state governance has been given to the political arm of ETA, which even in the last elections presented lists full of members of the terrorist band".

They reproach the Government that, "in parallel, Sánchez has never even wanted to meet with the victims of terrorism" to listen to their "concerns" and that he has not attended their tributes either. On the other hand, they have reproached him that, "when there were acts of praise and exaltation of terrorists who were released from prison, yes, no member of the Government has complained." "What's more, the Prosecutor's Office has allowed all these episodes of glorifying terrorism," they added.

For all this, they argue, "the President of the Government will fully understand that 'Txapote' has real reasons to vote for him, because it is he and the rest of ETA members who have obtained all kinds of privileges and attention during his term. "And not the victims of terrorism, that rather to the contrary we have been the object of contempt and ignored", they lament.

These victims denounce that "there is no ethical support to govern with those who have supported the murder of more than 850 people and even today they refuse to collaborate one iota in the clarification of almost 400 of those murders that still remain unsolved."

In his opinion, "Sánchez is the president of the Government who has culminated an unworthy and perverse pact with Bildu that has brought all the prisoners of the gang closer to the Basque jails so that those of Arnaldo Otegi can put them on the street when they foreseeably arrive at the prison. can".

In this regard, they believe that "the fact that Bildu filled out his lists for the last regional elections with convicted ETA members is a clear sign that this party is not the heir to the terrorist organization, but one more part of it." "Bildu is ETA because their lists were full of those convicted of being part of the gang," they assert.