In the tumult of the recent riots outside Ferraz, the PSOE headquarters in Madrid, Dios, Patria, Yunque (Podium Podcast) begins. This documentary series, presented by journalist Miquel Ramos, reveals from this Monday the political, economic and international connections of a sect that was founded in Mexico in the 1950s and whose tentacles have spread in Spain since its death. Franco. Neither the church's unofficial investigations nor the pushback from Catholic parents who denounced the recruitment and abuse of their children could stop this advance. Some names from this secret organization now hold public office in Spain. Liberto Senderos, one of the Vox councilors elected in Barcelona, is the founder of this sect in Spain, as Miguel González, a journalist from El País who participates in this podcast, told us at the time.
No member of El Yunque acknowledges that El Yunque exists. And although 10 years ago his existence and his direct connection to associations such as Hazte Oír were proven in court, neither the Catholic Church, nor the public prosecutor's office, nor the Spanish media seem to have processed his influence on the political and social agenda of citizenship. This podcast, Ramos explains to this newspaper, tries to neutralize one of the most powerful weapons of this organization: the silence around it. Although he has spent two decades analyzing the far right, the journalist admits that until a few years ago he was unaware of the cult's reach. “I attributed it more to a fundamentalism that fought a religious terrain that, in my opinion, was rarely traveled in Spain,” he comments.
The testimonies of Catholic families affected by this aim to show that this is a threat “that triggers a comprehensive alarm” that goes beyond the rights defended primarily by the left, such as feminism, the right to abortion or sexual diversity . The Catholic Church is one of its main victims. The director of the podcast, Eugenio Viñas, points out that many of the statements contained therein remind us that the sect “exploits and abuses those it captures, even betraying the doctrine it claims to defend, in this Fall the Catholics.” This is a story in which believers of the Catholic religion are the victims and also the heroes who face this sect.
Across five chapters – appearing every Monday on all audio platforms – the podcast tells a story based on the investigations of journalists such as Santiago Mata, Jesús Bastante and Álvaro Delgado, who have been scrutinizing El Yunque in Spain and Mexico for years. It also takes up the statement of Victoria Uroz, which for Viñas is “one of the clearest proofs of the existence of El Yunque”, describing in the first person the ties of her husband Luis Losada with the sect and the actions of this organization at the international level Level. Also heard in first person are the memories of José Luis N. Quijada, one of the young Christians about to be captured because he met all their parameters. He has been committed to denouncing their activities for 15 years, including as author of the blog Conozca El Yunque. The characteristic testimony for Viñas is that of Inma García, former member of El Yunque aged 16 to 19 and daughter of the president of the Family Forum in Spain, Ignacio García-Juliá.
Miquel Ramos, journalist specializing in right-wing extremism and host of the podcast. Image provided by Podium Podcast
“Dios, Patria, Yunque” is “a warning for the future,” says Ramos. “It’s not just a cult taking money from people. It is an organization that is overfunded. That's why they can launch multi-million dollar and global campaigns. And that gives them the opportunity to influence on a political level and influence the life of society as a whole,” argues the podcast host.
Ramos defends that Vox and El Yunque are different things. But also that their paths run parallel and sometimes cross. “In Spain the extreme right was very held back by the Popular Party. But as it begins to split, coinciding with the rise of El Yunque, you begin to hear talk from the cowardly right that the PSOE's social laws, such as gay marriage or the abortion law, will not be reversed if they are comes to power. ' he remembers. Journalist. Everyone looked away more than they should. The rise of the far right also benefited the People's Party opposition bloc, “which was interested in divisions in the conservative sector.” He also doesn't see Ferraz's protests as a bad thing, because they caricature the opposition to the current government and it helps them to say: “It’s either this or me,” analyzes Ramos.
The unrest in Ferraz is linked to the first time the bishops took to the streets to demonstrate against a Zapatero government in 2004. Many of these economic and political connections resurface 20 years later and are of El Yunque's influence in this series.
The early chapters explain how the cult parasitizes campaigns, organizations, and causes in exchange for political and economic power. “One of the things they use to achieve it is faith or something as intimate as spirituality,” continues Eugenio Viñas. Through this sect, the global and diverse phenomenon of the extreme right is analyzed, which does not represent a homogeneous entity. Every country has different proposals. Fighting the Woke usually brings them many advantages because they also attract people who are not necessarily conservative, warns Ramos.
The expert on the rise of the far right believes that despite the global nature of this phenomenon, Ferraz “could never end up like El Capitolo… at the moment.” The far right, which demonstrated in front of the PSOE headquarters, “had the Ability to cause unrest for a few days. “If law enforcement wanted it, it would have stopped sooner,” Ramos said. “We had a lot of patience not to bully these people and not to create the conspiracies that benefit them so much and that they have used so well during the pandemic.” And to demonstrate the caricature of the extreme right that theirs interested in political rivals. “If different problems come together that the far right is exploiting, as is happening now with the farmers' conflict, perhaps it will come close to what is being seen in the United States,” concludes Ramos.
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