“It is the one who omits his duty, knowing that his omission may lead to the loss of human life, who commits the primary act that results in those deaths.” The phrase echoed like a roar in the enormous Príncipe Felipe Science Museum in Valencia. After the last word, a loud ovation began from the families of the Dana victims at the state funeral that was held this Wednesday afternoon.
It was Victoria Ortiz, niece of one of Letur’s victims, who spoke it. Ortiz was one of the three relatives who participated in the secular celebration in tribute to the 237 deaths – 229 in Valencia, seven in Castilla-La Mancha and one in Andalusia – in the floods of October 29, 2024.
Surely that was one of the most complicated moments for the president of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón. In a striking solitude and with a contorted face, he was rebuked with the cry of “Mazón resign!” or “murderer!” by family members upon arrival at the venue and when the event ended. In addition, Mazón was also pointed out by another of the relatives. Andrea Ferrari, who lost her mother, Eva María Canut Montoro, warned that “the most important thing right now is that truth, respect and humanity prevail.”
The state funeral may mark a turning point for Mazón. A loneliness was reflected in him that has intensified in recent hours. He arrived at the City of Sciences, where the Museum is located, accompanied only by his communication team and María Jesús García Frígols, the General Director of Organization, with whom he entered the premises. In the moments in which he could be seen in public, practically no one approached him to exchange impressions, as he was able to verify. on site elDiario.es. And that was attended by everyone from the mayor of València, María José Catalá, to the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. During the ceremony, he was flanked by Emiliano García-Page, on his right (whom he falsely accused of not having been at the Cecopi during the dana either), and, on his left, as Juanma Moreno finally did not attend, Frígols herself sat.
And it’s no wonder. What Mazón experienced this Wednesday at the State funeral is the result of a disastrous management, not only of that fateful October 29 in which he spent four hours eating at El Ventorro with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana, but also in the way of facing the subsequent days and months in a continuous flight forward with the sole objective of saving a more than finished political career. To try to achieve this, he has not hesitated to lie blatantly about his role during that day, about which there are still serious gaps to be clarified today. Added to this is his continued contempt for the victims, whom he has accused of being politicized when they demanded that he assume his political responsibility for having incurred a dereliction of duty on the day of the greatest catastrophe that the Valencian Community has experienced.
A year after the tragedy, unknown aspects continue to be revealed about his whereabouts on October 29. Like the fact that he accompanied the journalist Maribel Vilaplana to her car after lunch or that he arrived at the Palau de la Generalitat changed clothes shortly before 8:00 p.m., an hour and a half later than he had defended until now.
This same Wednesday, in fact, Mazón took advantage of his institutional statement to criticize the Government without assuming his own responsibility. “Today is not a day for confrontation, but we must reflect on the helplessness that so many Valencians felt, also in the following days, when we learned the magnitude of an unfathomable tragedy,” he said in clear reference to the central Executive. The closest thing to self-criticism was acknowledging that “there were things that should have worked better,” although he did not apologize.
Furthermore, although these types of statements are usually made without an audience, Mazón arranged for 160 Council officials to give him a standing ovation, in a crude attempt to disguise this increasingly evident loneliness.
All this breeding ground has led to such indignation that demonstrations took place on the occasion of the anniversary of the dana. In the morning there was a march from the Plaza de la Virgen, where 229 thermal blankets were displayed in memory of the deceased, to El Ventorro. And in the afternoon, thousands of people participated in various silent marches in Benetússer and La Torre. But indignation and rage were unleashed at the funeral under the gaze of a Feijóo who no longer defends his baron with as much enthusiasm as he did a few weeks ago: “He will have to give all the explanations,” he said recently after his latest lies about his whereabouts after the meal at El Ventorro came to light.
Source: www.eldiario.es
