Nine days have passed since the fateful October 29 of DANA and despite the fact that all the bodies of the missing have not yet been found and the death toll has not been finalized, the war to find out who is responsible intensified. In the media and networks, but also in a hidden way. And at the Palau de la Generalitat and the Valencian PP, they know it. Either they create a unified narrative among all their troops, or their news reputation risks spiraling even further out of control. And several PP mayors of municipalities affected by the floods, such as Alfafar or Massanassa, openly criticized the Generalitat for the lack of information and the late intervention which could have saved lives. If information and truth run out, so-called “friendly fire” does even more.
It is for this reason that the Valencian Government and the PP of the Valencian Community have distributed to all their public officials an argument to counter the information disseminated by the media or, directly, to attack the Government. The document entitled “DANA Arguments” to which elDiario.es had access and which was distributed on November 6, was produced on November 4 by the team of Carlos Mazón at the Presidency of the Generalitat. The communications director of the PP of the Valencian Community, Rocío Fernández Luque, also participated in the development of the document, which made the last modification before sending it. It was the party that distributed the document to all its officials.
The document is 13 pages long and is illustrated with links to favorable news, captures and photographs. Among other arguments used to defend the image of President Mazón in this crisis, they highlight the trivialization of the massive SMS of Tuesday October 29 at 8:12 p.m., the concealment of certain information which would allow a better understanding of the leadership or its responsibilities. The document goes so far as to state: “The Government could have perfectly and legally taken command by decreeing SITUATION 3 (alarm) and it did not do so. Cecopi therefore acted correctly. A full-fledged insinuation that the government should have taken control of the Generalitat, a situation that Mazón himself could have requested and did not.
The document goes point by point trying to explain to its officials the strengths of Mazón’s defense. Even if it is riddled with inaccuracies, omissions or half-truths, as explained after the document. In the communications war of the 21st century, anything goes.
“About the Valencian Emergency Unit”
Inaccurate: In the argument, the Valencian Emergency Unit (UVE) positions itself as “a fictitious organization”, “without a budget” or which “only created middle managers”. ElDiario.es explained in a very detailed article what the UVE consisted of.
“Request for military personnel”
Fake: The document defends that the request for troops “was made from the first moment”. In this sense, the document criticizes the fact that the EMU was activated at 3:21 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29, “despite the fact that the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar deactivated the hydrological alert that day.” Inaccurate statementas confirmed by the confederation itself. Furthermore, the document specifies that the Minister of Justice, Salomé Pradas, requested the intervention of the UME at 3 p.m. It is obvious that the government delegate, Pilar Bernabé, called the advisor up to four times to offer her troops.
“Since Sunday, the Generalitat has been sending constant messages”
“On Monday, October 28, the Generalitat’s warning and warning system was already informing municipalities and regional agencies. In fact, some municipalities have closed parks and gardens or schools. Inaccurate: The mayors denounced the constant disinformation and, on October 30, an official from the Generalitat called Marta Trenzano as if she were the current mayor of Algemesí. Trenzano ceased to serve as first mayor in 2023.
“Regarding the President’s statements, Tuesday, October 29, regarding weather conditions”
In this part of the argument, it is assured that the information which proves Mazón wrong and which says that the storm would end at 6:00 p.m. comes from Aemet, which transmits the report of this moment to the Emergency Coordination Service of the Generalitat by telephone. conversation. Aemet is the competent body in this matter and depends on the State.” This information contradicted with another point in the same section: “Mazón transmitted on Tuesday morning the same information that Pilar Bernabé and Aemet had transmitted in À Punt”. One thing or another. Or a call or I saw it on TV. In the second case, a fairly questionable performance.
