(11-M) A chronicle of the four most intense days in Spain

malkuth, kuro5hin.org user, writes:

A personal chronicle about the four most intense days many of us in Spain have had in our whole life: from the 11-M killings, through the government disinformation, to the final results which kicked the Popular Party out of the government.

On thursday, we soon knew about what happened in Atocha, El Pozo and Santa Eugenia. At home we were unable to react: it is so much, to think something like that has happened. As time passes tears and horror for what has happened come. We don't understand anything, ETA has put Titadine explosives in several trains in Madrid, the death toll is higher and higher. We watch the images, all that has happened in this black morning. I remember I've been in that station, Atocha, hundreds of times to go to my university, in those familiar trains which I could mentally describe without any effort: and I know there are lots of tragedies everywhere, but the pain is unbearable as I only have to close my eyes to imagine the faces of the people who travel there with me daily,...

I remember I was a bit upset about the motto of the demonstration that was called for the next day: the 'for the constitution' part was a way to try to exclude some separatist democratic parties in Spain when the important thing was to be all together after this. Anyway, a friend tells me, the government could have used it much worse.

As the day passed, and friday dawned, it seemed Al-Qaeda terrorists had claimed the killings in a letter to a british newspaper. Otegui, leader of an illegalized political party near to ETA, says it has not been ETA, but the government discredits every opinion against the ETA theory, even as a van with a cassete with koranic verses is found on thursday afternoon. Something smells really bad, and friday there is the official march in Spain streets.

Soon in friday afternoon, the ABC (right-wing, pro-gov) newspaper and some others tell that the police says the explosives weren't Titadine as the government told us: the explosives composition and detonators have been analyzed, they do not come from ETA. Albeit, the government insists again it has been ETA though they do not discard 'other possibilities'. However, the only proofs for the present tell us it has been islamic terrorism: and we realize that the government has been lying us since the first time the Security Minister told us it was Titadine, which is why we were convinced it was ETA. They've been consciously lying us from the beginning, because they fear an islamic attack will make them lose the Prime Minister and parliament polls on sunday (they went to the Iraq war opposed to 90% of the spanish people who were against)

I go to the anti-terrorist march with a few friends, which is like a strange reality: the march is anti-ETA, and we are surrounded by people shouting things like "Otegui, get in the train". I have a placard which reads "no more lies", we distribute pamphlets, we talk with the people and tell them the Titadine thing, and all the reasons why they've been lied to: that we have to ask questions.

Saturday, it is our "reflection day", in which voters think about the polls and it is forbidden to make any political propaganda. Late in the afternoon, the Security Minister Angel Acebes tells five people - three arab, two hindu - have been arrested and are related to the bombings, but that still ETA is the main investigation line. Acebes is quite nervous, he avoids the questions he is asked on if isn't it logical to discard the ETA theory, as also ETA has denied it officially. In TVE (national public television), they cut the images before the journalists ask any questions. In Navarra, a policeman has killed one person related to ETA jailed support organizations, as he didn't hang a spanish flag with a black ribbon: what I know is, it is the hate that is being spread from the government through all their media since the killings what has provoked this spark which has led to yet another death.

It is too much. A friend calls me about eight o'clock, there are spontaneous marches in all Spain in front of the headquarters of the party in government (PP) to demand the truth; there is no political party behind the demonstrations, they've been started by SMS and Internet forums.

We get to the PP headquarters in Genova Street, Madrid, at about 9 o'clock. While on the bus we talk with people who is outraged on what the government is doing. When we walk up the Paseo del Prado street we hear someone shouting from a car: "Voto util!!!" ("useful vote", which means, voting the main opposing party to the PP). In Genova Street there are about five thousand people. We shout we want the truth, "your wars, our deaths", "liars", "we want to be on public television", "The bombs of Iraq explode in Madrid". The behaviour is civilized: shouting and asking for answers, but without any incidents. Some moments it is too much; nervousness, uncertainty, all the things that have happened these days come to my head; the deaths, the lies, everything is just too much, and there are some moments I think I just can't bear it anymore; but I compensate it with the enormous love to all the people that is around me wanting to know, sharing with them the beauty in moments like when a Samur Ambulance passes through the people to assist someone that has fainted and we let it pass making a clear line for it around which we give them a strong loving applause.

The elections legal organism decides we are illegal. Mariano Rajoy, PP candidate, the same one that has given an interview in the "reflection day" to the "El Mundo" newspaper requesting from people to have a sound victory, appears outraged on the public television, and demands us to leave: tells us we are illegal, we are pressing for the polls. When we are told that, the people react and all shout, "¡si esto es ilegal, lo vuesto que sera!" ("if this is illegal, how do we call what you're doing")

We then go to Sol Square, at 0:00 we continue the demonstrations in Madrid there. It is absolutely full, several thousands of people. As midnight comes, people shout to ask for a minute of silence for the victims, which will happen as the Sol clock bell strokes sound alone in the square. Meanwhile, in the public television TVE, a very popular program (Noche de Fiesta) is suddenly replaced by a movie-documentary about ETA terrorism. We go home at two o'clock, and as we go up Alcala, there are lots of people which are going to Sol to continue the march: they will go to Atocha then, then to Genova and the PP headquarters again, I read they end at six o'clock in the morning.

Pressured, fearful for the will of their people who want to know, who have organized themselves against their lies, the government tells us before dawn that a video was sent on saturday to Telemadrid TV station (regional public Madrid one): in it, islamic terrorism tells again they are the ones who bombed Madrid.

And the next morning, we've got to vote.

On Sunday, the Popular Party is kicked out from the government: the Socialist Party wins, and we breathe. Because a victory of the PP would have confirmed governments can lie in this democracy and avoid paying for it, that you can continuously lie and people will not ask. That media coup d'etats can be done. The confrontation politics that they've practiced these four years governing alone can get to an extreme on which they consciously lie about the most serious terrorist attack to Spain in its whole history: they lied about it to stay in power, and they did it even as they knew on monday we would know what really happened. Their only concern were the polls, from the beginning.

But the people have said we have enough: we don't want any more lies from those who got us into a criminal war we opposed and now play with those who have died in Madrid when the bombs got back. As we shouted on saturday, "The bombs of Iraq explode in Madrid".

The media coups d'etat by which the PP tried to silence us and conceal the truth from our eyes, was combatted against by our words in the streets, in every place where it was possible. Now, the elections are over, and our message is clear: no more lies, no more wars.