TRIBUTE TO GASPAR LLAMAZARES
Dear Gaspar,
I would have liked to be with you in this well-deserved tribute and on this day,
which, besides, is that of my 56th birthday. The fate written by hands not
friendly to those of us who believe in the force of truth and of true
justice has decided that it will not be so. But the physical distance between
continents cannot prevent the emotional closeness between those of us
who have much more in common than in opposition in the face of everything that is
happening in our country and in the world, in general.
We live in a world that calls itself globalised and, really,
what is increasingly verified is that it is a world marked by
inequality and by the sectarianism of those who have the most in the face of those who
can barely cope with that reality.
The crisis caused by the speculative economy of the markets, those
markets to which everyone alludes and nobody dares to put names and
surnames to identify those who pull the strings, has imposed the
dominion of a neoliberal culture that is cutting back in an excessive way
the ethical commitment and the solidarity among peoples. That is why
political and ethical reference points are needed, more than ever.
The masters of the world, those who direct the corporations that in turn do
so over the governments, are, as Jean Ziegler, vice-president of the
Advisory Council of the United Nations Human Rights Council, says,
authentic “mercenary organisations of big capital” that set the
margin left to the right to life of millions of people, in the face of
the “death penalty” that their speculative activities mean for
them.
According to the FAO, 925 million people suffered hunger in the world in
2010; 175 million children under 5 years old in the world suffer growth
retardation because of malnutrition; almost a quarter of
Spanish children are at risk of poverty, according to Save the Children; the
500 largest private multinational companies of all sectors
control 52.8% of the gross world product; basic foods have
increased by 30% in the 2nd half of 2010, thanks to the “efficient work”
of the financial speculators, who despite the crisis continue
accumulating their enormous profits. As a sample, just one more piece of data: the
world number of speculative transactions with basic food
products increased by more than 500% between 2002 and 2008 and continues
along the same line at present.
The question that arises is: which politicians should be counted on?; those
blind and deaf to this reality and who, to a great extent have consented,
when not fostered, the situation with their radically
neoliberal policies in which the same people always lose?; or on the contrary,
should it be done with those others who have shown that their mark is
ethics and coherence and who have risked everything for the defence of the
social rights that others have postponed?
Sincerely, I believe that the choice is clear in favour of those who
show, day by day, that what matters is critical conscience;
honesty in one’s approaches; the will to dialogue; firmness in
commitments from ethics and conviction, against war and in defence
of the victims, for justice and the recovery of historical memory;
for universal justice and the right of oppressed peoples; for the
defence of social services, education and public health care; for
the just claims and the demands of the workers against
job insecurity and unemployment and, in short, for respect for the procedures
of democratic participation.
Dear Gaspar, insofar as you represent those values, I join
this tribute, not only out of personal friendship, but also out of
respect and recognition of those values that you have defended as a
politician and as a person.
In the difficult times that lie ahead, people are needed who, like
you, have a very clear will to dialogue, integration and understanding
of social plurality.
A hug. Baltasar Garzón Real
Seattle, 26 October 2011