Spain, immigrants and Rajoy

For some, Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy, who is aiming to lead his party to victory against the Socialists (PSOE) on March 9, is playing with fire by using the immigrant issue to sway voters on his side. While some Spaniards see Rajoy’s tactics as a desperate attempt to get more votes, the PP leader’s comments on the matter are getting more frequent.
At a campaign rally on Wednesday in Tereife in the Canary Islands, he reiterated his get-tough line on immigration by stating that the country was being flooded by foreigners and blamed the ruling PSOE for the situation. “Everyone who wants to, cannot enter this country at will,” he said. “There’s not enough room for all of us.”

Rajoy has recently suggested that one of the things he’d do if elected would be to force immigrants to sign a contract, which would oblige them respect Spanish culture and customs.

This ridiculous proposal by the PP leader is flawed from the start since we don’t know what he actually means by “Spanish culture.” Does it mean that a Muslim must abandon his religion for Catholicism? Must he eat paella on weekends and go to bullfights?

Why doesn’t Rajoy propose a similar contract for the sometimes unruly Basques and Catalans?

If the PP wins the elections with the help of immigrant bashing, we’re in for some very difficult years in Spain taking into account that the economic slowdown will exacerbate matters. Foreigners from South America and Arabic countries will be the hardest hit.

Rajoy should understand that it’s one matter to make populist statements and another matter to put them back in the cage.

Fairy tales by Argentinian politicians

Wouldn’t we live in a wonderful world if all that the politicians said is true?

I’d be especially happy living in a paradise called Argentina, where the president and government do not only make false promises, but directly cook the numbers of the national statistics agency INDEC to suit them.

Nope, it’s not true what others claim that annual inflation is running at 18% because the government says it’s way below that. Nor is it true that Argentina is about to be hit by one of the worst-ever energy crises in winter.

Never mind if the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, like her husband, former President Néstor Kichner (2003-07), plan to continue spending billions of dollars to subsidize industry energy prices.

The president said today that there’s no danger of an energy crisis in Argentina because the country has more generating capacity than the previous year.

“This year we are going to put online 2,569 megawatts of generating capacity,” she said, forgetting one very crucial detail in her speech: the energy to fuel those plants.

I will return to write about this matter when winter hits the Southern Cone in June-August. Let’s see how those 2,569 megawatts of power help Argentinians keep the lights from turning off.

March 9 election debate in Spain: Zapatero versus Rajoy

Today concluded the first of two televised debates between Spain’s Socialist (PSOE) José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and opposition Popular Party (PP) head Mariano Rajoy. The first polls that were taken right after the debate show Rodríguez Zapatero beating by an ample margin his PP opponent.

Television station Cuatro gave Rordíguez 45.4% versus 33.4% for Rajoy, while 45.4% of La Sexta viewers believed that the PSOE leader beat the head of the PP, who got 30.1%. Antena 3 was the closest of the three polls, with Rodríguez Zapatero getting 45.4% against 39.3% for Rajoy.

Spain will hold elections on March 9. Different polls taken so far show both parties running neck-and-neck.

In my opinion, Rajoy did a very poorly in the debate since he accused on a number of occasions the PSOE leader of being a liar. He attempted to capitalize against his opponent by using xenophobic scare tactics by telling viewers that Spain was being invaded by foreigners.

Rajoy said recently that all immigrants that come to Spain must sign a contract, where they’ll agree to learn and respect Spanish cultural ways. To be frank, it’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard from a politician who’s supposed to represent a responsible party like the PP.

Rajoy forgets his history when he makes such statements. About a hundred years ago, millions of Spaniards fled Spain to the Americas in search for better lives. Now people from such countries are moving to Spain and Europe in search of better opportunities. Is there anything wrong with that? How forgetful and ungrateful Rajoy is.

Moreover, what is Spanish culture? Why doesn’t he ask the Basques and Catalans to sign such a contract?

Unfortunately, there was little to no new information in the debate that highlighted what both parties plan to do if they win the elections.

If there’s one matter certain about the debate it is that Rajoy did poorly – and with it blew his party’s chances to win the elections.

First night under a Spain sky

Here’s one of the first picture I took from my hotel room of the Gran Vía in Madrid. Believe it or not, it’s about 2am. A travel guide of Madrid by the National Geographic asked where in Europe can you find a city where there are traffic jams at 5am Sunday?

Gran Vía is one of Madrid´s busy arteries at any hour.

The “dirty war” that lives inside every Argentinian

The truth about what happened in Trelew almost 40 years ago clearly shows who were Argentina’s real enemies. After shooting down in cold blood suspected left-wing guerrillas at a maximum security prison, the Argentinian navy covered up the incident by stating that the victims had tried to escape. New revelations, however, have shown a very different story.

The horrific events that happened in the southern Argentinian city of Trelew not only reveal the cowardice of the navy, they bring relief to many that these men in brass that once dominated the country are no longer in power.

While it is a good and healthy matter that Argentina is carrying out a long and painful historic psychoanalysis of its grim past, the outlandish events of the so-called dirty war era (1976-83) emphasize the importance of bringing to justice and putting behind bars those who committed crimes against humanity, be it the “security” forces, left-wing or paramilitary groups.

Until justice has spoken and until we know the whole truth, the dirty war will continue to live inside every Argentinian.

Many generations are going to have to pass before the wounds heal from that incomprehensible era. Being patriotic in Argentina doesn’t mean succumbing to silence in the face of the facts. It challenges us to speak out and bring to light what happened. We owe it to future generations of Argentinians and Latin Americans.

I was conscripted in the army in 1977-1978. I never killed anyone even though I was a very tiny part of a state that terrorized its people. Like many who lived during that period, the experience changed my life for good. Although 20 years have passed, I can still hear the muffled cries of the victims of that war. There are also those who did not disappear, like us, who continue to suffer for those that are no longer with us.

But it is misguiding to believe that people “disappeared” during the dirty war. If you think of it carefully, they’re still inside of us demanding justice.

En cada argentino vive la guerra sucia

Los hechos verdaderos de la Masacre de Trelew que se han destapado después de casi 40 años demuestran claramente quienes fueron los verdaderos enemigos de la Argentina. Los hechos no sólo ponen a la luz la cobardía de la marina sino es un alivio saber que estos hombres que dominaban una vez al país no están más en el poder.

Aunque es cosa buena y saludable que Argentina haga un psicoanálisis histórico sobre su sombrío pasado, los hechos viles de la época de la llamada guerra sucia ponen énfasis a la importancia de procesar y encarcelar a todos aquellos que cometieron crímenes de lesa humanidad, sean de las fuerzas de “seguridad,” grupos izquierdistas o paramilitares.

Hasta que no haya justicia y hasta que no se sepa toda la verdad, en cada argentino seguirá viviendo la guerra sucia.

Van a pasar muchas generaciones antes que las heridas se curen por esa época tan incomprensible. “Hacer patria” no es quedarse callado ni aceptar en silencio los hechos – es levantar la voz y traer a la luz lo que pasó. Se lo debemos a futuras generaciones de argentinos y latinoamericanos.

Yo hice la conscripción en 1977-1978 en el ejército. Nunca maté o reprimí a nadie aunque fui parte de un estado terrorista. Como muchos que vivieron esa época, esa experiencia cambió mi vida para siempre. Aunque han pasado 30 años, todavía sigo escuchando los gritos apagados de las víctimas de la guerra sucia. También están aquellos que no desaparecieron, como nosotros, que seguimos sufriendo por ellos.

Pero es una mentira que alguien haya “desaparecido” porque si lo pensás bien, cada uno de ellos están dentro de nosotros reclamando justicia.

The Ulysses syndrome: an illness of immigrants

I came across an interesting article Monday in the Ecuadorian daily El Comercio on what some psychologists call the Ulysses syndrome, which is an illness that inflicts some immigrants when they live separated in faraway lands from their loved ones.

The article continues: Norma lived in terror and in hiding. This 45-year-old single mother left her 11-year-old son in 1999 when she migrated to Madrid. When she moved to Spain, she didn’t know anyone never mind have have a place to sleep. She was an illegal alien.

The woman was afraid that the police would find and deport her. “It was that way nine years ago,” she admits. I would never go out for a stroll. I’d forget to board a metro at stops because I was in another world thinking of my child.

It took some time for the Ecuadorian to find work. She eventually got a low-paying job that paid 300 euros ($435) a month working four hours a day. She’d wire money to her family in Ecuador, pay debts and lived in extreme conditions.

This is one example of the Ulysses syndrome.

Immigrants cannot sometimes figure out why they feel depressed. Psychiatrist Joseba Achotegui of the Universitat de Barcelona describes the illness in the following manner, according to an article in the Naples Sun Times: It comprises loneliness, as family and friends were left behind; a sense of personal failure, and a survival struggle that takes over all other priorities. The syndrome is characterized by physical symptoms like headaches, and psychological symptoms like depression.

Those who are critical of immigrants and accuse them wrongly of being lazy and that they don’t want to learn the local culture, nothing could be further form the truth. The only way an immigrant can survive in a new country is by NOT being lazy and learning the ropes of the new culture.

The barber of Madrid…

Today is a beautiful sunny day in Madrid. It’s one of those days that so forceful that one forgets that there’s a season like winter. This would be a great day to go to the barber shop, I thought.

I walked into the first barber shop that I saw in the neighborhood of Salamanca, located pretty close to downtown Madrid. As I walked in an old man greeted me. He acted like the barber but I found out 10 minutes later that it was his daughter that was the one that was going to cut my hair.

“She’ll be right with you, señor,” the old barber said. “I can’t cut your hair because I’m retired. I’d get into a lot of trouble if an inspector caught me.”

The decor and feel inside the barber shop was almost like from the 1960s. All it needed was a portrait of former dictator Francisco Franco on the wall.

“How do you want your hair cut,” the woman barber says.

“Short.”

She started to do away with my hair with an electric razor in the same way as a harvester cuts wheat. I started to get worried.

As if we’d known each other for years, she started telling me about her intestinal problems and how she had to eat a restricted diet comprising of high-fiber vegetables and fruits.

After that she started to ramble on about how good the Republican Party was in the US and that Condi should run for president. The lady sounded like a neocon but a Spanish version of it, which is just as bad.

She didn’t have nice words for Spain’s socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “Es un hijo de puta (he’s a son of a bitch),” she said.

I was pretty happy that she was almost though cutting my hair, or should I say scalping it.

It’s the last time I’ll ever go to that barber!

First days in Madrid

For a person like me who grew up in Southern California, Spain in general and Madrid in particular have a special touch of home. Certainly if I’d want to get a good feel for the “European” Southern California I’d have to travel to Andalucia in southern Spain.

One of the matters that makes Spain such a special place is that it has developed socially in leaps and bounds during the past 40 years. It has a touch of Latin America but without the social problems. In many respects Madrid is a near-perfect city for me. I look forward to making this my new home.

Once I get an apartment and settled in, I’ll file some pictures of the city for everyone to feast their eyes.