No one can doubt that the most important news of recent days and the one that dominates all national headlines, and many international ones, is the indictment by the Audiencia Nacional of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a relevant figure for having been President of the Government of Spain between the years 2004 and 2011, and being a political reference not only for his party but for the left in general. We only have to listen to Rufián's intervention saying “thanks to him ours sleep at home”.
The reality is that his political legacy, whether or not you ideologically agree with him, contains some very important issues such as announcing the end of ETA, although afterwards this matter has been manipulated to claim authorship of the end of the group, something that is not true and that disrespects all those who participated in that struggle before his government. ETA fell after years of struggle by many professionals in different fields and the end during his government is a matter of coincidence in time, nothing more.
Other important issues, those indeed promoted during his government, were the Dependency Law, Paternity Leave, the Anti-Smoking Law, the Law against Gender Violence, the controversial Historical Memory Law or the regularization of immigrants. Undoubtedly an important political legacy, apparently with greater coherence than the others.
With this week's indictment, his daughters have also come into the spotlight, unfortunately mixed up in their father's activities and who are beginning to pay the consequences, both in negative visibility and in the probable future indictment in some of the matters related to the head of the family. Although I have to admit that when researching to write the article I noticed where they studied and I began to lose faith in that apparent coherence. The state for others and for mine the private. And here I take a stand by saying that sending their children to private universities is not only related to economic possibilities, but, usually, it is related to the inability to pass the entrance exams to public universities, which all children of the rest of the Spanish must pass.
His legacy clarified, I would like to write something about his professional and political career. He studied Law at the University of León and there he met Sonsoles Espinosa Díaz, with whom he would marry in 1990. He joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 1979, in his native León. Upon finishing his degree, in 1982, he was hired as a collaborating professor of Constitutional Law and requested successive extensions that allowed him to avoid compulsory military service. In 1986, just four years after finishing his studies, he obtained a seat as a national deputy for León. And from that moment, his only occupation has been politics, that is, from the age of 26 until 66, no other profession is known for him.
And you will ask yourselves why this review of the life of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero?. Well, the reason is very simple, to try to clarify why all the media, social networks and everyone who wants to contribute something to this matter, be it good or bad, do not even try to get to the bottom of the issue, into what is really important.
These days I have been able to observe journalists, acting with their “grateful stomachs”, dedicated to an all-out defense without blushing, fanatical journalists and commentators defending a “lawfare”, the one they bring out every time one of their own is charged with something, ignoring that to be charged there must exist, at least, reasonable indications of a crime, something that seems to be well argued in the order by Judge Calama.
I have also been able to observe journalists turned expert jurists, journalists alluding to a Judicial Coup d'état, always against their own and thus I could recount thousands of certainly shameful interventions and publications, both on one side and the other of national politics. When justice does its work, the only truly valuable thing would be to let it work in peace.
Having reached this point, let's put the arguments on the table. I act as a private consultant in that field to which I have dedicated my professional life, accumulating knowledge on the subject, both in my academic preparation and in the development of those tasks for years. In what professional work has Zapatero developed?, what can he advise on?, what is his true value?. Well, the answers to all these questions we all know, I don't think anyone doubts when answering any of them. The true value of Mr. Zapatero is not his knowledge of any professional field, his true value is the knowledge of the information that has passed through his hands in the development of his political work and the ability to continue relating to those who now occupy relevant political positions.
Stop analyzing that for which you are not prepared, of trying to deceive the citizen with interpretations from one side or the other, the reality, the sad reality, is that his value is only that of being able to exert influence over those who govern the country for his own benefit or that of others, that of managing his contacts to benefit his own businesses or those of others, that of even having an office, a secretary, and an escort that all Spaniards pay for.
His only value is his capacity in relation to the position held, his knowledge and contacts. The question I ask myself, in relation to the restrictions that others have after leaving our professional activity, is why they do not have the same ones. Legislation is necessary in this regard in which it is absolutely clear what activities a former president of the government can carry out and none should be dedicated to private businesses, they already have enough benefits when they are and when they cease to be, the least they can do is then remain in absolute remunerated inactivity. The problem is that they get used to living with expenses that they cannot maintain when they retire and this gives rise to this type of issue.
By the way, I have also seen and heard the sorrow because their daughters are also being judged by public opinion and, possibly, by justice. Look gentlemen, stop laughing at everyone. While these young ladies set up a company for being who they were, and began to bill millionaire figures, something that I have not been able to do in all the years at the head of my company, working hard from morning to night, the other mortals worked for reduced salaries, with significant hours and many sacrifices. While they could afford issues related to their benefits in these trap companies, my daughter, with a CV light years ahead of the two combined, has to work for a meager salary. Stop laughing now because they are being analyzed by their own merits and their father's and are being victims, conscious or unconscious, both being over thirty years old, of having abused the system and their position of privilege.
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