At the Seville exhibition center, a few meters from the 41st Congress of the PSOE, an evening of Easter music took place this Saturday. The music did not reach the audience of the socialists, converted into brothers of the brotherhood of the Exaltation who, instead of cornets and drums, accompanied their “saints” with applause. Whistles and other wind instruments also sounded on the sidewalk opposite, blown by a few hundred members of the legal profession monitored by the corresponding police cordon. Inside, all we could hear was Juan Espadas welcoming Chaves and Griñán with a standing ovation, and Santos Cerdán, who won’t win any public speaking contest, talking about an “authoritarian wave,” “lies in court” and “hunting for the man » » In the congress area, you move on the left. Literally. This is indicated by the corridor cordons and the red signage which establishes in its slogans the (semi) obligatory direction in the manner of Anglo-Saxon roads. At some stands, badges with the words “zurdo” and “zurda” were handed out as a proud proclamation of identity, but they weren’t really seen on the lapels. Everything is very well organized, based on open spaces for discussions (called agoras), the service staff are friendly and the meeting and leisure space is very spacious. The general atmosphere is much more relaxed than the speeches in the main hall, where speakers call for resistance at the opening of Pedro’s expected speech – there almost no one calls him by his last name – on Sunday morning. Ruling party congresses generally feature few conflicts. In this one, it is not even necessary to vote for the secretary general, already proclaimed on October 1 in the absence of an alternative candidate. The only suspense lies in the composition of the team, that is to say the Executive, and in the content of the boss’ intervention after the latest procedural and political events which the members of the nomenclature discuss among themselves and with the press in the corridors. The more than a thousand delegates and many other guests are happy to be a kind of activist elite, and it is always nice to meet colleagues and friends in a place like Seville, which receives them with ideal spring temperatures for do a little sightseeing. The ideological and sectoral presentations only concern “coffee” itself; the others are content to approve them without debate, knowing that these are questions subject to the now usual carousel of “changes of criteria”. In this atmosphere of North Korean unanimity, a representative of the socialist left, who should be from North Korea. On, invited to intervene in the management debate to complain about the lack of participation and question the excessive concentration of power within management. Creature. The president of the plenary session, Juan Espadas, somewhat disconcerted, very politely refused to speak and told him that his protest would be recorded in the minutes. There were a few smiles and things continued as if nothing had happened. The union’s spokespersons, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, who have been released from congress to congress all week, took the floor to join the argument for socialism surrounded by the political, judicial and media extreme right. That of the UGT spoke of “absurd trials based on lies and hoaxes” and that of the Commissions closed ranks with the sanchismo harassed by “reactionary sectors” who conspire against a social democracy “of reference in the world “. We then projected a historical video that began with Franco and in which then appeared, in very brief shots, a triumphant Felipe González who preferred – like Alfonso Guerra, who lives nearby – to be absent. The one who introduced herself and stopped to speak to journalists was Susana Díaz, who is fueling critical positions against her successor in Andalusia. “I have to take the bench,” he said, “but I’m still young.” He also dared to mention the “bad days” that the open fronts of Justice give them. “We all carry this in our bodies,” he added before describing Juan Lobato, another absentee, as an “honest and honest kid”, and concluding by calling for a “breathable and liveable party where talent does not not be marginalized. The quota of dissent, moderate and oblique, was completed by García-Page by recommending not to put one’s hand in the fire for anyone and to move away from “victimization which is the last resort of any project”. That’s all. But victimization and resistance are in practice the only argument of this meeting with no other specific objective than that of injecting adrenaline into the organic structure and tightening it around the Government. Zapatero had called for discipline and loyalty the day before, becoming a captor of flagging spirits and a champion against discouragement. This is going to be difficult because no matter how much the “war of rights” permeates the so-called officialdom, members still feel, and it shows, an inevitable respect for the togas. And corrupt people singing Traviata in court pose a serious risk factor. The motto is to protect the leader, to armor him with an iron belt. Faith and silence. Minister Diana Morant said as people mingled with local musicians on their way to lunch: “Thank God we have Pedro.”
