On the same day they call censorship a 'right to honor' and call a journalist a 'bag of shit'

The government of Pedro Sánchez has entered into a drift of thuggery and degradation unprecedented in democratic Europe.

Sánchez, his mafia-like exercise of power and the silence of a large part of journalism
Javier Milei's forceful response to the defamation of a minister of Pedro Sánchez

Sánchez appeals to the 'right to honor' to disguise his censorship of the media...

Yesterday, in an interview, Sánchez explained his plans to retaliate against critical media for having brought to light the corruption scandal that affects his wife and that has already given rise to an investigation by the Spanish justice and the European Prosecutor's Office. The socialist leader will do so with a modification of the law on the right to honor, a law approved in 1982 and which has reached the present day without anyone missing any changes.

With this announcement, Sánchez wants to convey the idea that cases of corruption have not been uncovered, but rather that those investigated have been insulted, and that they need a new law because, apparently, they do not have It comes with the mechanisms that have served Spaniards who have requested judicial protection for their right to honor for decades. If this law does not serve you, it is because, evidently, the government's plans are not about the right to honor, but about political corruption and how to cover it up, even twisting a fundamental right such as freedom of information to convert the government untouchable.

... and the same day one of his ministers calls a journalist a 'bag of shit'

Hours after those statements by Sánchez were published, his Minister of Transport, the socialist Óscar Puente (the one who defamed Javier Milei a month ago insinuating that the president Argentinean was taking drugs and causing an international incident), called a journalist a "bag of shit" in a public message on Twitter and threatened him with these words: "I am going to personally make sure you pay dearly." Everything This is because the journalist, Vito Quiles, reported that Óscar Puente had parked his car incorrectly at a concert.

An intolerable insult that could constitute a crime of libel

Regardless of what that journalist says is true or not, it is intolerable that a minister treats a citizen in this clearly insulting way, as if instead of a politician who receives a public salary (paid by all taxpayers, including the injured party) was a common neighborhood bully. But in addition to being ethically reprehensible behavior in a public official, Puente's insult could constitute a crime of libel classified in Articles 208 and 209 of the Penal Code:

Article 208.

Insult is an action or expression that harms the dignity of another person, undermining their fame or attacking their own self-esteem.

Only insults that, due to their nature, effects and circumstances, are considered serious in the public opinion will constitute a crime, without prejudice to the provisions of section 4 of article 173.

Insults that consist of the imputation of facts will not be considered serious, except when they have been carried out with knowledge of their falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth.

Article 209.

Serious insults committed through advertising will be punished with a fine of six to fourteen months and, in other cases, with a fine of three to seven months.

A government that wants to degrade public debate and generate tension

In any other country, for a minister to insult and threaten a citizen like this would imply his immediate dismissal. This is not the case of Spain, because Sánchez put the current Minister of Transport in the government with one purpose at a time. clearer: Puente is there to poison and degrade public debate and generate tension, which is what the socialists need to mobilize their voters in the midst of the corruption scandals in which they are immersed. Sánchez and his party are the real "mud machine" that they talk about.

The paradox is that just yesterday Sánchez stated that "some try to create an unbreathable environment", in a reference to the opposition. It is an unbreathable environment for a government mired in cases of corruption to threaten judges and journalists, as Sánchez has been doing. An unbreathable environment is for the government to grant criminal privileges to its partners in exchange for their support, as Pedro Sánchez has done with his amnesty law. It is an unbreathable atmosphere for a minister to call a journalist a "bag of shit" and threaten him in public. A government like this is a shame for Spain and for democracy.

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Photo: Efe. Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government of Spain, with Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport.