The Kremlin's clowns, the harassment of its trolls and the bravery of a Spanish Admiral

@ElentirENG ES 3·28·2024 · 18:34 0

It is sad to see how a small but vocal part of Spanish society is allowing itself to be poisoned by the Kremlin's lies.

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This poisoning occurs between a part of the left and a part of the right that share their hatred of the US and NATO, providing Putin - more or less indirectly - with an ideological cushion to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its atrocities against the Ukrainian people, a people who are defending their country with a patriotism much more admirable than that claimed to be professed by those who justify Russia and its war of conquest against an independent and sovereign country, while they close their eyes to the Kremlin's support for the Catalan separatists and the anti-Spanish black legend.

Given this panorama, the work that Juan Rodríguez Garat, retired Admiral of the Spanish Navy is doing, with his articles in the newspaper El Debate, is worthy of applause. Some well-argued articles, which demonstrate great knowledge of the issues he addresses.

If I write this entry it is because today El Debate publishes an article by Admiral Garat titled "Los payasos del Kremlin" (The Kremlin's Clowns). His texts usually have many comments, largely with insults to the author - the usual style used by Putin's admirers - but this time things have gone even further, with almost 300 comments insulting in the most varied ways to this Admiral. It is not difficult to guess what these lynchings are about, because they have already been seen many times on Twitter. In the absence of an FSB dedicated to arresting those who oppose Putin, they intend to intimidate those who criticize him, using insults and harassment as tools to achieve the same result that the FSB obtains: instill fear of disagreeing with the Kremlin.

Admiral Garat has been suffering harassment from these trolls (as those who dedicate themselves to insulting and harassing other users are known on the Internet) for months, but maintains his critical position towards Putin. I thank the Admiral for his bravery in exposing the Kremlin's lies and contradictions despite the noise, insults and harassment of pro-Russian trolls to intimidate him.

I also thank El Debate for the opportunity it gives Admiral Garat to publish these articles, ignoring the harassment campaign against him. That position of firmness in a media outlet seems very important to me, because if we let that band of harassers at the service of Moscow achieve their objectives, we would be letting Putin take away one of our most precious assets in Spain, freedom, as it already does in Russia.

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Photo: Armada Española. The farewell ceremony for Fleet Admiral Juan Rodríguez Garat in September 2018 after his transfer to the reserve.