The estrangement between Pablo Iglesias and Juan Carlos Monedero, the co-founders of Podemos, had been evident for months. The former vice president of the government has now gone a step further and made the divorce official by stopping the broadcast of the political scientist's show on Canal Red, the television channel he runs. In his reflections on networks and media, Monedero has for some time been formulating a critical stance towards the strategic line of the party's former general secretary, with whom he openly contradicted in December for defending that Podemos would not run in the autonomy elections in Galicia next 18. February and support the BNG instead. Just ten days ago, the man who until last September was president of the Republic and Democracy Institute, an organization linked to the training, also expressed clear criticism in an interview in El Mundo: “Canal Red must de-podemize and.” Podemos must lose control .”
“Dear disobedient people: This week En la Frontera stopped airing on Canal Red. Those in charge of the station want to reinforce their ideological line, and it is obvious that my disobedient Lennon glasses obscure this goal. Pablo and I talked about successes, friendship and disagreements. And done. “It's not easy to fight from the left, it's annoying,” Monedero explained in a long message on social networks, in which he attributed his departure directly to a decision by the chain. “No one can deny the siege of Podemos and Canal Red's willingness to close ranks in the face of the siege is obvious. I don't think it's the most effective, but I understand. The battlefield is huge, I remain convinced of unity – without naivety – and we will meet like the rebels on one of the paths. “The enemies are somewhere else,” he defends himself, thereby distancing himself from television’s position.
The co-founder of Podemos, who very soon withdrew from all leadership positions of the party, although until recently he acted as a kind of informal advisor to the hard core of the party, leaves several messages in his farewell: “I always thought that was the maximum .” The expression of intelligence is kindness, and I feel sorry for those who confuse generosity with weakness or lack of enlightenment. The fight for a more humane world must be characterized by generosity,” explains Monedero. “For a few more days I ran for mayor of Madrid, but I realized that reflection was best for me. My statements, far from the ambitions that so worried me among some of those with whom we began this fight, had to do with tactics or strategy, not with personal plans. If you don't take advantage of it, you forfeit that privilege. And anyone who doesn’t dare to have a different opinion should devote themselves to something else,” he demands.
“Today and beyond disagreements, I want to prioritize friendship with someone I have known since college, whom I admire and whom I love. Friendship, like kindness and generosity, has these qualities. “Que tinguem sort.” [”que tengamos suerte”, en catalán], which Lluis Llach sang. “I wish good luck to Pablo and Canal Red, with whom I have worked with all my strength since long before the beginning,” admits Monedero, before attacking the “Spanish media panorama”, the “corrupt journalists and the police sewers”. “Difficult times are coming across the planet and we must keep rowing. Without fear and with memory,” Monedero warns towards the end of a message to which Iglesias quickly responded: “Thank you for everything, friend.” We will meet, as we often do.”
Monedero – who, when asked by this newspaper, refers to the published text – has never hidden in recent years when it comes to expressing his opinion on certain decisions made by the former Podemos boss. The university professor disagreed when he chose Yolanda Díaz as his successor at the head of the political space, sharply criticizing the vice president's strategy towards the party throughout. The break with him is definitely another example of the crisis that Podemos is going through, which has lost its cadres in recent months, many of whom ended up in Sumar.
The suspension of En la Frontera comes just days after Sergio Gregori, the anchor of El Tablero, the channel's morning news program, was removed from his position. “At Canal Red we have always made it clear that we want to work rigorously, but we are not neutral and we have an editorial line that will more or less please, but which is ours. We are pleased that different voices are coming together here and giving a voice to those who almost never have a voice in the media, but at this point we will not attack what Canal Red represents or the colleagues who represent it, accept “We are pushing this project forward with great commitment and a lot of militancy,” said the new presenter Laura Arroyo this week when she took over from him.
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don't miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to