Ione Belarra attacks Sánchez over the Ceuta crisis: "Why does he protect Morocco and deny the obvious?"

Ione Belarra has launched from Congress one of the harshest criticisms from the left against Pedro Sánchez's management in Ceuta. The general secretary of Podemos has accused the Government of "capitulating" to Morocco, deliberately prolonging the humanitarian emergency, and keeping thousands of people in the city as a deterrent message against possible new arrivals.

During the president's appearance, the deputy of the Mixed Group demanded that Spain speak "with total clarity" about Mohamed VI's regime. "Morocco is a totalitarian regime, Morocco is a dictatorship and its people are victims of King Mohamed VI," she proclaimed from the rostrum before asking Sánchez, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and Santiago Abascal to repeat that statement.

Belarra has demanded breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with Rabat until the country respects human rights and stops using its population as an instrument of pressure. She has also asked the head of the Executive to explain the economic and geopolitical interests that, according to Podemos, condition the Spanish response.

"Why do you protect Morocco? Why are you denying what is evident?" she asked. The purple leader believes that the version maintained by Moncloa about the lack of conclusive evidence contradicts the indications collected in the police report that attributes an "active guiding" of people towards Ceuta to Moroccan gendarmes.

Belarra has gone so far as to compare Sánchez's position with other episodes that marked the end of previous governments. She cited José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's "green shoots," Felipe González's denial about the GAL, and the initial attribution to ETA of the 11-M attacks during José María Aznar's mandate. "It seems that all presidents of bipartisanship end the same way, with a big lie," she stated.

The humanitarian response Podemos demands

The intervention maintains the line defended by Podemos since the beginning of the crisis. The party has been denouncing for days the conditions in which numerous people remain in the streets and beaches of Ceuta, demanding attention for those seeking asylum and demanding the identification of those who died during the crossing.

Belarra has thanked the work of the neighbors, volunteers and organizations that have distributed food and provided first aid. In her opinion, the Government could have deactivated the emergency in a matter of days through transfers to the Peninsula, an option that the Executive has generally ruled out while processing returns, expulsions and international protection requests.

The leader of Podemos has linked what happened to the European policy of border externalization. That strategy has given Morocco a position of strength to pressure Spain and the European Union, she has argued. The party already demanded a dignified reception last week and supported Margarita Robles' version about the existence of prior warnings handled by intelligence services.

Belarra maintains that the lack of attention has turned the migrants themselves into an element of pressure. "They think they are better than Morocco, but they have done the same, using people as a weapon to dissuade them from coming again," she snapped at Sánchez. That "calculated inaction," she added, has fueled the racist discourses that have grown around the crisis.

The president has responded that his position before Rabat is due to prudence and a state-level view of neighborhood relations. Sánchez has insisted that he still lacks conclusive evidence about the organization of the massive entry and has promised to act forcefully when the evidence is clarified. He also reproached Belarra for comparing the management of Ceuta with the lies of 11-M and asked her for respect towards the victims.

The clash with the Popular Party and the far-right Vox

The general secretary of Podemos has also directed part of her intervention against Feijóo and Abascal for presenting what happened as an "invasion." Belarra believes that both use fear and the origin of the people who crossed the border to spread an openly racist discourse.

"An invasion is what Israel does in the Gaza Strip. A few thousand people in flip-flops will never be an invasion," she defended. Afterwards, she attributed the rejection to the fact that they are "black and Moorish" people and told the leaders of the PP and Vox to "go to hell."

The president of the session, Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis, announced at the end of her intervention that this last expression will be removed from the Session Diary.