From those muds these silts

By Alexis Tejera There are two milestones related to island politics that cause me deep shame. The first is the fact that, on occasion, when Dimas Martín has left prison, many have gone to applaud him, and the second is ...

March 26 2013 (13:49 WET)
By Alexis Tejera
There are two milestones related to island politics that cause me deep shame. The first is the fact that, on occasion, when Dimas Martín has left prison, many have gone to applaud him, and the second is ...

There are two milestones related to island politics that cause me deep shame. The first is the fact that, on occasion, when Dimas Martín has left prison, many have gone to applaud him, and the second is what happened to Don Juan Brito and his frustrated appointment as Favorite Son of the island of Lanzarote. I feel the imperious need to value my perception of the political events of the island, but what is my surprise when, browsing the newspaper library of digital media, I discover that there is a relationship that could explain old behaviors in recent events.

The newspaper library tells that, back in 1991, an election year, the democrat Nicolás de Páiz presided over the Cabildo under the acronym of the CDS, a party that was beginning to decompose due to the abandonment of many of the public positions that were disembarking from the project in view of what, I suppose, they would consider better and "more profitable" projects, specifically, that of the fictitious, interested and ephemeral pseudo-nationalist unity of the time. As it could not be otherwise, the omnipresent Dimas Martín was among the dissidents and, judging by the large number of pages of different newspapers that he occupied, we can be sure that he was the leading voice.

His claims clearly responded to an attempt to place his party, the PIL, in a good position for the upcoming electoral race and, for this, he not only questioned the actions of his colleagues but also allowed himself the luxury of not attending many of the Cabildo's plenary sessions. And it is here, in the analysis of the different conflicts that open up between the president of the CDS and the dissidents, where my surprise lies, since in 2013 one of the two most shameful events that, in my opinion, have occurred in the recent history of the island is repeated. I am referring to the blocking of the appointment of one of the favorite sons of Lanzarote by the members of the PIL, in this case that of César Manrique.

If so, history repeats itself with protagonists, periods and commas, since before the regret of the president of the CDS and the socialist Enrique Pérez Parrilla, the response in the media given, for example, by Dimas Martín was just the same as that given by the PIL councilors and that the PP has bought to justify the embarrassing and recent lack of respect towards Don Juan Brito, and that, as happens today, the same conclusion was reflected: they wanted to kick the government group in the honoree's backside, and, in either case, in that of an illustrious figure from our island.

We are repeating patterns and behaviors that lead nowhere and that only deepen the well of citizen unease, the distrust of the public and the lack of respect for exemplary citizens who deserve to be left out of any political tactics or strategy.

The generosity in recognizing the best sons and daughters of this land cannot be captive to pettiness.

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