The appearance this Tuesday of Carlos Mazón in the commission of inquiry into the Dana of the Valencian Cortes was another chapter in his excruciating past of irresponsibility. Like that fateful October 29th a year ago, when the enormous catastrophe put an end to the lives of 229 people, this Tuesday too the interim president of the Generalitat Valenciana was not up to that office. On the contrary, he violated his obligation to answer MEPs’ questions truthfully.
This was his only duty before the victims and before the community institutions that he presided over until his resignation nine days ago. His first response, however, was to read a 23-minute speech he had written. During the speech he limited himself to throwing away the balls and accusing the central government and state bodies (Aemet and Júcar Hydrographic Confederation) of “lack of information”, something the judge repeatedly excluded in the Dana case.
Regarding his performance that afternoon, he said criticism of his “mistakes” was the great political excuse to avoid government responsibility for the tragedy. He went so far as to say that “operationally he had little to contribute” to the emergency and that he alone had assumed political responsibilities by resigning. What he did not explain to the deputies, the victims or the rest of the citizens are the facts for which he assumed these responsibilities.
After denying what he had done for a year – he provided a dozen versions that afternoon – and having adopted the strategy of victimhood – “I can’t take it anymore”, he said on the day of his resignation -, in those 12 months there was also a lack of contempt for the victims, who he treated as political ammunition, accusing them of being at the service of “left-wing” parties. Those who asked to attend Tuesday’s session as guests received a negative response and had to sit out.
The empty appearance at the Cortes was his request. His interest in clarifying the facts would be more credible if Mazón had ever gone to make statements to the Catarroja court, whose owner, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, has already invited him to do so on three occasions. But the fundamentals remain unclear: because at 5.37pm, when his Interior Minister, Salomé Pradas, informed him of the “extreme gravity” of the situation in Utiel – already underwater and with several missing – he decided to continue having lunch with a journalist instead of going to his place. Why didn’t you call the mayor of that city? Why didn’t you answer Pradas’ next call, at 6.45pm? Because it took 60 minutes to get from El Ventorro to his office. Many because they are summarized in the question of the parliamentary spokesperson of Compromís, Joan Baldoví: “Where was I when people drowned?”
This is the question that has been echoing for an entire year. On Tuesday, Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s nomination of the general secretary of the Valencian PP, Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca, as successor to Mazón, alongside whom he served as a person of utmost trust, did not even manage to silence her. If, thanks to Vox’s votes, his investiture goes ahead, he will have the reconstruction in his hands. Everything: a region devastated by mud, but also the citizens’ trust in the political leaders who were not up to the task of the most tragic day the Valencian Community can remember.
