I have been astonished by the controversy generated around the latest statement from the Nationalist Youth of the Canarian Coalition, in which they harshly criticize the agreement signed between the Socialist Party of the Canary Islands and Nueva Canarias to go together to the General Elections next December.
And although I would gladly respond to the content of the note, I am not going to do so. But I do want to comment on the nationalists' use of their youth organization, a practice much more shameful than any legitimate agreement between parties.
Just as youth is a preparatory period in our lives, of growth and formation to properly reach adulthood, participation in a youth political organization is the way for young people to begin to engage with public life and with citizen and community responsibilities. And it is true that it is not the only way, but it is one more and equally valid.
Therefore, it is important that these entities are independent and manage their own ideology, as their own and specific with their concerns, their demands, their vision and their historical moment. Young people must be protagonists of their collective struggles and not mere puppets of adults.
And I am not talking about an independent management and/or action of the parties with which they share acronyms, because the link goes far beyond being a breeding ground for future candidates or capturing votes or militancy among the young population. Values, objectives, ideology, goals, are widely shared by youth organizations and the political forces under whose tutelage they develop.
But in order for the work and social function of political associations of young people to be recognized, judged and valued, they must free themselves from the manipulation of their elders and stop being a battering ram in interested struggles, to offer their own voice that speaks and understands the language of their own.
And on this path of growth and maturation, the young people of the Canarian Coalition still have many steps to take.
Jimena Álvarez, General Secretary of Socialist Youth of Lanzarote