The Madrid Student Union has joined the call for a general student strike at the state level this Tuesday. The students wanted to show their solidarity with those affected by the DANA that has hit the Valencian Community hard and have demanded the resignation of Carlos Mazón, president of the Generalitat. The central protest event was held at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol at 12:00 p.m., where dozens of students and representatives of social groups gathered.
Under the motto “València you are not alone, we are at your side”, the protesters have gathered with banners, flags and protest slogans. The mobilization has had the support of various student and social organizations, and has been a cry against the management of the Generalitat Valenciana: “its incompetence, our dead” or “Mazón, resignation and also to prison” have been some of the slogans of the concentrates.
The young people wanted to remember that the catastrophe is not only the result of the natural disaster but is the “result of years of cuts and policies that have put the benefit of a few above our lives.” In that sense, Ana Mayoral, a Philosophy student, has explained to elDiario.es that they consider the PP’s elimination of the Valencian Emergency Unit a “shame” and ask for more resources for the reconstruction work.
Zadquiel, a member of the Contracorriente organization, one of the many that have joined the protest, has denounced the “negligence” of the Generalitat and the “dereliction of functions” of the central Government and wanted to remember that these environmental catastrophes are going to be increasingly recurrent due to the effects of climate change.
The Student Union’s manifesto directly points to Carlos Mazón as one of the main people responsible for the tragedy, accusing him of not having acted in time despite the weather alerts. In addition, they criticize the central government of Pedro Sánchez for its inaction and lack of immediate intervention in the affected areas.
The students also point to large employers, whom they accuse of having forced their workers to stay in their jobs during the red alert, prioritizing economic benefits over people’s safety: “Our lives, their profits” and “with such to produce, they send us to die,” the concentrated young people have chanted.
The demonstration has also become a tribute to the thousands of volunteers, many of them young, who have worked tirelessly to help those affected in Valencia. “Long live the struggle of the volunteers,” the young people have cried, in contrast to the fierce criticism of the “institutional apathy” shown by the authorities.
The protesters have also taken the opportunity to denounce the police action in the massive demonstration that took place last Saturday in Valencia: “I wish they would bring out the shovels as quickly as the batons,” claimed Jorge, a high school student.
The student organization has called to hold assemblies and committees in all institutes and universities in the country to express their support for working families and Valencian youth, who face a complicated situation after the floods. “We have to fill the institutes and universities with activity, with banners and posters, with actions demanding justice and reparation,” says the union’s statement.
At the end of the demonstration, the students have asked that the situation not fall into oblivion as the days go by and that solidarity and the demand for responsibilities continue to flood the streets. “Today we students say: València, you are not alone,” the spokespersons for the Student Union concluded.
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