The secretary general of Podemos, Ione Belarra, has proposed financing the public pension system with more taxes if the current level of contributions is not enough to pay retirees’ payroll.
It’s one of the ideas Belarra slipped into a congressional conference to discuss retirements. At the start of his intervention, Belarra also defended that the ordinary retirement age be lowered and that the current system be “protected” and “improved”.
“I think it is very important to tell people that, just as we finance all public policies, there can be financing through taxes,” said the Podemos spokesperson in Congress, referring to pensions .
But these taxes, explained the leader of the “purple” party, should go to the rich and, more particularly, to the investment funds that Belarra described as “vultures”. “These people should pay what they are not currently paying and those who have the most in our society should pay what is theirs,” he added.
Criticism of BlackRock and its CEO
As usual, Belarra specifically criticized the BlakcRock fund and its CEO, Larry Fink, who, the representative said, sent a letter to the company’s shareholders warning them that pensions are not sustainable and that it cannot be considered retiring at 65. but it will still take years.
In this warning, the leader of Podemos sees an “interest” on the part of the fund, but also the banks, in speculating on pensions: “They fly like birds of prey around our public pension systems because they want access to them.“, underlined Belarra, assuring that these companies could obtain a “huge economic benefit” with retirements.
“This reveals that the defense of public pension systems at the moment is absolutely essential to face those who want to commercialize all public life and all the rights of citizens,” he stressed.
Finally, Belarra defended an “alliance” between generations to defend the right to pension, both for those who receive it today and for the young people who will receive it in the future.
