Hazte Oír puts Vox in the crosshairs: from the blue PSOE to the green PP

MadridThe elections in Aragon on February 8th have opened a new chasm for the far right. The ultraconservative Catholic organization Hazte Oír – which is also involved in the legal cases surrounding Pedro Sánchez – has gone on the offensive against Vox with a bus that explore ZaragozaOther Aragonese municipalities and Madrid are wondering if Santiago Abascal's party is a "green PP." It's the same rhetoric he used a year and a half ago, on the eve of the European elections, to present the PP as the "blue PSOE." The recent Hazte Oír crusade It has even reached the ears of Santiago Abascal During the election campaign. A week ago, while the Vox leader was giving a statement to the media in Caspe (Zaragoza), a woman interrupted him and confronted him, reproaching him for doing nothing while the unborn are being "murdered in the womb." "Cowardly right wing," she snapped.

Where do these misgivings come from? Hazte Oír (Make Yourself Heard) drew up a ten-point plan to examine the parties' proposals for the Aragonese elections and asked candidates to commit, among other things, to defending the "right to life," protecting the "natural family," combating "ideological indoctrination," and repealing LGBTI and trans laws. Se acabó la Fiesta (SALF), the party led by Alvise Pérez, making its debut in regional elections, signed the commitments and earned a green light. However, Vox refused. And that, added to the alleged breaches attributed to Vox, has outraged the ultraconservative Catholic association. In fact, the open conflict has been brewing for some time. It dates back to... support given by Hazte Oír to Revuelta, the youth organization born under the umbrella of Vox and with which the party of Santiago Abascal broke down amid accusations of "corruption" for the use of the money raised due to the DANA (isolated depression at high levels).

"The only betrayal is promising to defend life and then approving 22 regional budgets [with the PP] that attack it," denounced Ignacio Arsuaga, president of Hazte Oír, a few days ago. The ultraconservative Catholic association claims that its mission is not to "applaud politicians," but to "monitor and demand accountability" and, if necessary, "denounce any breaches of promises, regardless of their political affiliation." Their aim, in Arsuaga's words, is to "influence" Santiago Abascal after seven years of "disappointment after disappointment," with a campaign that—they admit—is "uncomfortable" because it forces them to criticize people they feel "close to." "We ask that they not become what they have criticized," Hazte Oír sources told ARA.

Vox's response

Sources within Vox, consulted by this newspaper, responded that their "commitment" is to the voters and not to "any pressure group," and emphasized that their pro-life stance is "clear." Furthermore, they boasted of having opened "maternity support offices" in some city councils—such as Seville's—and denied that they had not "put forward" maternity support measures in regional negotiations with the People's Party (PP). "We negotiate according to our strength. When the Spanish people give us more power, we will be able to implement more of our platform," the same sources stated.

Speaking to reporters last week, Vox spokesperson Pepa Millán downplayed the offensive launched by Hazte Oír. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion," she replied when asked about the issue. She then defended Vox's "unique project": "We are the only party that has maintained absolute consistency since its inception in defending all the values ​​and principles that we believe are essential for Spain."

Allies against regularization

However, despite the clash, Vox and Hazte Oír have buried the hatchet and are joining forces to confront the regularization of migrants which the Spanish government has promoted. And they are working to overturn it in the Supreme Court. The far-right association will file an administrative appeal denouncing "the alteration of the electorate," and the extreme right-wing party will request precautionary measures to prevent the regularization process from taking place. However, in this case, they are completely distancing themselves from the Church: the Spanish Episcopal Conference celebrated it and sees it as an "act of social justice."