The letter X will haunt Felipe González wherever he goes, and the anti-Sanchista press wants to take advantage of the trial of Ábalos and his associates so that the current president also bears the weight of being at the apex of a criminal organization. The judge is not assigning any criminal responsibility to anyone beyond those seated in the dock, and there are newspapers on the right that are already satisfied with this trophy, which is no small feat. La Razón, for example, headlines: "The dozen pieces of evidence from the UCO that demolish Ábalos for his 'fundamental role'." On the other hand, for the hungry jaws of El Mundo, the ex-minister's bones are not enough to satisfy, because it needs to believe it can sink its fangs into a juicier jugular. And that's why it leads the front page with the headline: "Ábalos gave the highest level to the scheme: 'they have access to the president'." This practice of turning the words of the accused – who, understandably, try to shift blame and responsibility – into biblical truths is a curious and profoundly asymmetrical practice: I don't recall the conservative press sanctioning Bárcenas's words when he started to spill the beans.
From this Tuesday's newsstand, and continuing in the realm of judicial messes, I also highlight this headline from La Razón: "Sáenz de Santamaría's 'it doesn't appear on my record' leaves the Kitchen case trial at a dead end." Well, the judge will decide if it's at a dead end, won't he? I say this because, for much less, the newspaper has flown into a rage, accusing right and left of attacking magistrates and not defending judicial independence. (Canned laughter when 'judicial independence' is heard.) Believing that the stench of corruption emanating from the case is resolved with a simple 'Well, look, it doesn't appear on my record' is an exercise in magical thinking, or cynicism, that is quite blunt. But it's about pointing the way to the judge, and for that, anything goes.
