Ayuso committed to Trump's war

MadridA war of the dimensions and transcendence of that initiated in the Middle East deserved from the outset a serious and documented debate on the background and possible repercussions of the conflict. The way this issue has taken shape in Spanish politics in general is already very disappointing, but if we move to another administrative level, that of the Community of Madrid, things worsen. It is not surprising, because during this legislature it has been common for the PP of Madrid, and especially its president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, to seek confrontation with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

But there are ways, and in this matter there are few limits left to overcome. On the one hand, the debate recorded is not constructive in any way, not even to know and confront positions, and, on the other hand, it does not help the popular leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, at all, who despite his approach to Vox – a consequence of the electoral results –, gains nothing from Ayuso's incursions into the area of international politics. The interpretation of the ongoing war as an inevitable and fundamentally positive situation because the aim is to bring down the injustices of the Ayatollah regime and immediately establish democracy in Iran afterwards was a version that could not stand up even to the part of public opinion that feels less knowledgeable about the conflict.

One of the contributions, referring to Pedro Sánchez, from President Ayuso to the debate has been: “We find it very striking that the ‘No to war’ comes from a person who promotes war among Spaniards”. To which the Minister of Public Works, Óscar Puente, replied that “in these days when we talk about declassifying clinical records, perhaps it is a good opportunity to declassify some”. Puente's phrase was related to the speculations and fables published about the health of the socialist leader.

And alluding again to Ayuso's record, he added that “to say that the President of the Government incites war among Spaniards is a blunder that does not fit with a minimally normal mental state”. More political is usually Minister Óscar López, who classifies Ayuso as “the leader of the Spanish far-right”, for reasons including her refusal to apply some state laws in Madrid, such as those on abortion or housing.

In any case, the exchange of blows over the war describes well the general tone that the debate on the consequences of the attack by Israel and the United States on Iran has taken, and which is spreading through various countries in the Middle East. Ayuso seeks to jump borders and acquire a certain international profile by trying to ensure that her statements have some dissemination and are well received, especially in the United States, but also in Israel, a relationship she has nurtured on several occasions. In principle, the trip of the Madrid president to New York last week was to attract “tourism and investments”. It has been published these days that she also wanted to convince a fund to build a new stadium for the Rayo Vallecano team.

I don't know what success Ayuso may have had on the New York island of Manhattan, but in the Vallecas neighborhood, she would not have had an easy time. A good part of the Vallecas fans do not want to hear about the eventual relocation of their stadium, which is old and deficient in various aspects, but it is with which the team's followers feel very identified. Apart from this anecdote, it has been important for Ayuso to make it clear that the official Spanish discourse, contrary to the ongoing war, is not the only one circulating in “terrible Spain”, as Trump says. The trip sought to reiterate the desire for identification with the administrations of Washington and Tel Aviv, that is, with their rulers, the current Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

For Ayuso, the European reference and a source of inspiration has been the Italian president, Giorgia Meloni, who is also a journalist. But this identification clashes at the moment with the problem that Meloni has not wanted to involve Italy in the war. In any case, the scare that Ayuso has received these days has been the indictment of her chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, for the alleged crime of disclosure of secrets for having revealed data of two journalists who investigated businessman Alberto González Amador, the president of Madrid's partner, accused of tax fraud.

The denial of Ayuso

In short, if Pedro Sánchez wants to be the antithesis of José María Aznar, who led Spain to support the invasion of Iraq and formed a famous trio with George Bush and Tony Blair, Ayuso wants to play a similar role, one of denial, in relation to Zapatero and Sánchez. When the Madrid president gets more headlines is when she attacks the latter. And regarding Zapatero, it should be remembered that he not only refused to stand up in 2003 for the American flag in the military parade on October 12th in Madrid, but he also ordered the return of troops from Iraq and on several occasions expressed his support for the Palestinian people by putting the traditional kufia around his neck.

Ayuso, on the other hand, responded to the mobilizations to prevent the Israeli team's participation in the last stage of the Cycling Tour by going to meet its members as a sign of homage and redress. And on the trip to New York, she combined the search for investments with the affirmation that Spain is “a country that cannot be trusted” because it has a president who walks hand in hand “with people who have represented ETA”. A curious allusion to terrorism to attack Sánchez, when a few days later Ayuso attended one of the events in memory of the victims of the attacks on passengers of three trains in Madrid, the 11-M of 2004, an action by a jihadist commando that Aznar's government attributed to ETA.

Ayuso is not the first to interpret respect for human rights according to convenience. Aznar himself said last Thursday regarding the attack on Iran that “the operations that are started must be finished”. The same day, the 11-M Association of Terrorism Victims asked in another event at Atocha station that “we do not repeat history”, because “every escalation can have devastating consequences”.