The images don't lie: the Greenpeace zodiac was brutally rammed by another from the Navy.
One of the keys to the social contract, increasingly breached, is the reservation in favor of the state of the monopoly of violence. To legitimize the use by the state of force against its own citizens, two essential circumstances must occur: that it is necessary for the defense of the common good and that its use is proportionate both with respect to the intensity of the aggression, and to the value of the good to be defended.
However, the violence exerted by the military vessel is not at all proportional. It was not intended to repel an aggression and the crew or the ship in charge of the prospecting or the ship itself were not at any risk.
The action has been more like that of a nightclub bouncer than the armed forces of a democratic country. It has been the thuggish display of a bully. A pure exercise of brute force that seems to want to mark the territory by sowing fear.
This savage display of power cannot go unpunished. Responsibilities must be demanded, starting with the skipper of the vessel, who demonstrated a total lack of sensitivity with respect to the consequences of his action. It was not a video game, it was not a war game. It was launching a military vessel against another manned by civilians, putting their lives at risk. Of course, it must be determined who ordered the action, in what terms and with what limits.
But, and perhaps more importantly, we must reflect on the advisability of entrusting this type of mission to the Navy. By definition, those who make up the Armed Forces receive combat training. It is assumed that they have an enemy in front of them.
However, those who have the mission of controlling public order must be aware that in front of them they have a citizen who, on occasions like this, is not even someone who commits a crime, but a group of people who express their legitimate opposition to an unfair decision.
Perhaps for this type of mission the Civil Guard should be used. It has sufficient means and more adequate training as its members are prepared to guarantee public order.
The brutal aggression carried out by our Navy must reach Parliament, it must provoke an in-depth debate, beyond simply resorting to the self-sacrifice and spirit of sacrifice of our troops and the criminalization of activists.
The same Armed Forces that have earned our respect for their humanitarian interventions cannot leave this brutal and despicable intervention without consequences.
By Carlos Espino