The PSOE of Lanzarote has demanded that the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, "stop using the highest institutional representation of Lanzarote and La Graciosa to fuel discourses based on fear and confrontation," after his involvement in the concentration held this Wednesday for the situation in Ceuta.
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, considers it "especially serious that the president of the island's main institution has decided to support and encourage a mobilization developed in a context where the far-right is using the migratory situation to spread messages of rejection, fear, and social confrontation."
“We are talking about a humanitarian crisis that demands responsibility, prudence, and institutional stature. The last thing our society needs is for those who occupy the main institutions to contribute to amplifying the discourses of those who seek to turn migrants into a threat and use their suffering to divide us,” stated Corujo.
Corujo also questioned that Betancort "has decided to get involved in this way in this call when he has not been seen alongside the citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa in some of the biggest social mobilizations in recent years."
“He was not with the people of Lanzarote when thousands of people took to the streets to say enough to tourist saturation. Nor was he there when the island mobilized massively to defend the permanence of the Insular Hospital and its care model. However, now he has found reasons to mobilize and to publicly ask citizens to accompany him. That political choice says a lot,” stated Corujo.
For Corujo, "the issue is not about showing solidarity with Ceuta, but about the political context and the discourses that are trying to be normalized around this crisis." “With Ceuta, all our solidarity. What we are not going to accept is that a crisis that demands responsibility, serenity, and humanity becomes an opportunity to sow fear, target migrants, and confront society,” she pointed out.
Corujo recalled that in recent weeks far-right leaders have even publicly spoken of "hunting immigrants," an expression that, in the socialists' opinion, "shows how far a political strategy built on the dehumanization of migrants can go."
“It is outrageous that the president of the Cabildo decides to fuel a mobilization in this climate. Whoever holds the Presidency of Lanzarote and La Graciosa has the obligation to measure their words, their gestures, and the causes to which they lend the authority of their office. The Presidency of the Cabildo cannot become a loudspeaker for hate,” he insisted.
The PSOE considers the difference between the position adopted by Betancort and that maintained by the President of the Canary Islands Government and Secretary General of Coalición Canaria, Fernando Clavijo, who distanced himself from the call, to be especially significant. “While the President of the Canary Islands himself understands that institutions must maintain prudence, Oswaldo Betancort has decided to do exactly the opposite: to put himself forward and encourage the population to attend. He even used official channels linked to the Cabildo to disseminate that call,” said Corujo.
Corujo recalled that "Lanzarote has historically been a land of emigration and welcome, and defended that these values must be especially protected at times when certain sectors seek to turn immigration into a tool for political confrontation."
“Lanzarote is an island of welcome, solidarity, and peace. Here we know what it means to leave in search of a better life, and we also know what it means to lend a hand to those who arrive. That is the people who should be represented by whoever presides over the Cabildo,” he affirmed.
The Secretary General of the PSOE of Lanzarote concluded by demanding "responsibility, coherence, and institutional stature" from Betancort. “Whoever presides over Lanzarote cannot use their position to fuel fear and confrontation. One cannot represent an entire island and, at the same time, contribute to normalizing the frameworks and discourses of those who make hatred of the different a political strategy. The Presidency of the Cabildo is there to unite, protect, and represent Lanzarote and La Graciosa, not to divide them,” Corujo concluded.
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