(To our dear colleague Noelia Vera and all the women who leave their skin and lives in politics)
No one said that being on the political front line was an easy task, but when a few hours ago we learned that the colleague Secretary of State for Equality and State Secretary for Feminisms, Noelia Vera, resigned from all her positions, institutional and organic, in addition to awakening an immense wave of solidarity, more than one of us made us reflect on the cost of assuming responsibilities on the political front line.
And it is that we speak of the contradictions that are generated within our own discourse, before the demands of time to reconcile with family life, for self-care and the demands before government and militancy responsibilities that demand full-time days, of almost 18 hours a day, for seven days a week.
You have to have a lot, a lot of conviction and a lot of strength to resist that frenetic pace. And if you are also the mother of small creatures, it is no longer just about you or your needs, but also about what those dependent little people have of you, and this makes it even more unbearable.
In the end, when commitment, responsibility and the will to public service are so strong that they do not let us see the signs of exhaustion, it is the body that sounds the alarms that force us to slow down, depending on the circumstances, or directly to stop.
I know what I'm talking about, the difficulty that at some moments it means saying "no" when your colleagues ask you to make an effort, to resist, because you are needed in a certain moment and space and there are not so many people behind available or willing to cover you.
In the end, in the last instance, it is our bodies -which are wise and love us well- that 'make us sick' as the only tool capable of making us seriously reflect to make the right decisions, however radical or hard they may seem.
Noelia Vera is very honored by the step she has taken, there is no ego, no prestige, no salary, that is above the physical and emotional health of any person, and once again it is a woman who gives us an example with her resignation, with her honesty and ability to listen, with her knowing how to stop in time, order and prioritize needs without forgetting what is most important in each moment.
My life and political experience has taught me to distinguish and know that not all people who are in politics are the same, to differentiate the climbers, those of the hypocritical discourse that not even they believe, those who cling to a record like a burning nail, those who use the name of feminism in vain, those who exercise their work from commitment and coherence, assuming with honesty and sincerity the moments of greatest vulnerability.
Noelia Vera not only has my affection and unconditional support, but also my admiration and respect.
And, a warning to sailors, and advice to all the fighting women who, from different areas of Podemos or its coalitions, are leaving their skin and lives to defend this project: take good care of yourselves, comrades, that although this is a collective work, although none of us are irreplaceable, the truth is that each and every one of us are necessary and as such irreplaceable.
Listen to the signs, those that emanate from your bodies and those of the people who love you well. Do not force yourselves to be invincible or demand more than you can give, the greatness is in having the humility and lucidity to recognize the limits, do not let anything or anyone break you.
To all the colleagues to whom life has asked for a truce, I wish them all the best, may they recover their lives, their health, their strength, and recover themselves, may they take their time, may they rest and take strength, because I am sure that in one way or another they will continue there, and that from the rearguard, they will not stop supporting and pushing according to their possibilities, in the fight for a more just, more livable and egalitarian world for all.
And do not doubt that after the necessary pause, when the time comes, when they are ready to return, there will be many colleagues willing to stop the machine to embrace them and continue working together, side by side.
María del Río
President of the Parliamentary Group
Sí Podemos Canarias
