For some, inexplicably, it remains an acceptable government partner. For the Justice system, the cradle of an alleged illicit association. And for its militants, at the very least, a "madhouse," to put it mildly. And ...
For some, inexplicably, it remains an acceptable government partner. For the Justice system, the cradle of an alleged illicit association. And for its militants, at the very least, a "madhouse," to put it mildly. And what has happened in recent weeks with councilor Amor Castañeyra is nothing more than a reflection of what has been happening in the Party of Independents of Lanzarote almost since its creation. Resignations and defection seem implicit in its acronym, and it is hard to believe that the representatives of this party are really surprised by this new episode.
The political and institutional instability that has done so much damage in Lanzarote, and of which all parties so recurrently speak as if it were not with them, has been linked in the vast majority of cases to the PIL's own crises. To its corruption scandals, to the entries and exits from prison of its leader and guru, and also to the continuous walkouts of its public officials, who every so often abandon a ship in which there is no room for more captain than Dimas Martín.
Now Amor Castañeyra and also the president of the local committee of Arrecife, Antonio Barambio, have done so. And although the resignation of the latter does not affect the institutions, since he does not currently hold public office, the resignation of the one who until recently held the island presidency of the party is still striking. And it is that all those who have been at the head of the PIL, have ended up abandoning the formation, and always with harsh criticisms and even serious accusations, more or less veiled, to the leadership of the PIL and its eternal leader. The one who has continued to lead the party while serving a sentence, among other crimes, for embezzling the money of the citizens.
Antonio Hernández and Celso Betancort join the list of presidents who have abandoned the political formation in recent years, as did María Isabel Déniz and Juan Carlos Becerra in their day, who at the time were second in the organic hierarchy of the PIL. And all of them left with statements in which they hinted at the "unspeakable" orders they received from Dimas Martín. Some fled the party shortly after arriving. Others endured years on the front line.
As for Castañeyra, without a doubt, defection is something that democracy should not even allow, and it is certainly reprehensible. But it is surprising the harshness of the criticism she has faced from her own party, compared to the benevolence that other public officials of the PIL received in the face of infinitely more serious situations.
Judging by the facts, it would seem that for the party it is much more serious that a councilor votes against the budgets of his own government group, than the fact that a public official admits to having taken bribes.
Amor Castañeyra has been branded a blackmailer for demanding the return of her advisor to the City Council. Ubaldo Becerra and José Miguel Rodríguez, on the other hand, were given a silver bridge to the plenary session in which the motion of censure was voted on that returned the PIL to the government group of Arrecife and removed the Mayoralty from Enrique Pérez Parrilla.
In the case of these two councilors, it is true that they ended up resigning afterwards, but in the months in which they held the City Council in suspense, without appearing in the plenary sessions or handing over their act, the party took great care of its statements in this regard, and even continued to fly the flag of the presumption of innocence, even after the secrecy of the summary was lifted and it became public that both had confessed before the judge. But it seems that the crime is tolerable (in fact, they have always tolerated it with their leader), but the indiscipline is not.
However, that should have been explained to Amor Castañeyra, who has actually been faithful to what so many others have done before her in the PIL. And it is that if the party has endured silent power struggles with Ubaldo Becerra, José Miguel Rodríguez, Antonio Machín and Luisa Blanco, the four arrested in the "Unión" case, and the four protagonists of a long tug-of-war until they ended up submitting their resignation, the councilor probably thought that she was also going to get the party to give due value to her act.
Did the four former councilors arrested finally agree to resign only because of the oratory and persuasive capacity of Fabián Martín or his other colleagues? It is certainly hard to believe. And the problem is that whoever sows winds, reaps storms.
What happened with Amor Castañeyra is just one more storm, but the PIL has been bringing hurricanes to the island for too long. And the worst thing is that in their pre-election messages, they threaten that "the future of Lanzarote" will continue to pass through their hands. That is, through the hands of a prisoner.
