Today I have been the object of an orchestrated public attack in different media on the island of Lanzarote by Councilor Don Jacobo Lemes Duarte, through an episode that, unfortunately, does not surprise me.
Who should be a colleague in the institutional politics of Lanzarote has preferred to resort to insult and provocation instead of dialogue and democratic coexistence.
It is not the first time that the aforementioned has acted with this type of attitude. Back in the day, about three years ago, being colleagues in the government of Arrecife and at the entrance of a pre-plenary, he tried to physically assault me.
At that moment, all I did was take his hands away and remind him that politics and the frustrations that each of us may have in life are not resolved by force.
At that moment, I opted for forgiveness, convinced that violence, whether physical or verbal, only reflects the frustration of those who cannot find arguments.
Today, however, he relapses again, and not by chance. Just when a new government group is consolidated in the Cabildo of Lanzarote, of which I am a part, precisely to give more stability to what I believe worries us all, Lanzarote.
The aforementioned activates the fan of hatred with a single objective: to generate internal tension in his own party in the face of the next Island Congress of the Canarian Coalition on our island.
It is a clumsy strategy, for two reasons, the first because for me personally this has zero interest, but if I think I should respond, the second because only with said action does it weaken what it says it defends and paradoxically, it reinforces my determination to build a stable island institution focused on solving the real problems of Lanzarote.
I am not looking for confrontation, nor do I waste time on personal battles. I do not believe in the politics of insult or in tension as a tool of influence. I believe in respect, even towards those who lose it. And I firmly believe that people who live trapped in aggressiveness need, more than rejection, compassion and help. Not out of weakness, but out of humanity.
The only thing that worries me about all this is something much simpler and at the same time more important: next week and as councilor of the area I must call Mr. Lemes, in his capacity as councilor, to discuss issues related to animal welfare. I hope that, when that moment comes, he will be able to live up to the animals themselves, who so often give us an example of tolerance, nobility and common sense.
Because if there is one thing I am clear about, it is that while others insist on dividing, I will continue working to unite and serve Lanzarote.
Without noise, without hatred... and without fear.