The declaration of the general director of the Civil Guard Mercedes González as accused of crimes of prevarication and obstruction of Justice before the magistrate Santiago Pedraz cannot be understood, according to sources consulted by this newspaper and familiar with her relationship with the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE Santos Cerdán, without going back to an old political “battle” fought years ago.
González expressed in court that she felt like a “victim” of Pedro Sánchez’s trusted man and that, if she had known that the former socialist militant Leire Díez was on her side, she would never have arranged meetings with her. “No one who came to my door hand in hand with Santos Cerdán was welcomed,” he declared in court.
But sources familiar with the internal relations of the PSOE consulted by this medium maintain that it is not trivial that the general director of the body has thrown “balls out” about her responsibility in order to point out the former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE (also accused and with a complicated procedural future).
The origin of their enmity, these sources explain, must be sought in the preparation of the socialist candidacy for the Madrid City Council in May 2023. At that time, the “political” head of the Armed Institute left her position to run in the general elections of July 23 on the PSOE lists for Madrid.
She was also general secretary of the party in the autonomy and wanted to position herself as a candidate for Mayor of the capital for the May 28 elections. But the party then opted for Reyes Maroto, then Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. That exclusion was the “beginning” of his enmity with Cerdán, since he was the “emissary” who communicated Sánchez’s decision to him, according to the sources consulted.
With this background, González’s judicial statement now acquires a political reading that gives context to his words. Not because it invalidates what was said before the judge, but because it adds a personal meaning to some especially forceful statements in another piece of Ferraz’s complex board.
The truth is that the “political” head of the Armed Institute tried to distance herself from the “sewers”, an alleged organization that sought to destabilize judicial processes, by telling the judge both that she felt part of the list of Cerdán’s victims and that, of the three meetings that the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard says it had with the former militant Leire Díez, it only recognizes two, since the third (when Díez was fined) It is not included in your agenda. These are dates that were, according to her story, for a “coffee”, despite the fact that in the messages intercepted to Leire express reference is made to the friendship and close relationship that existed between the two.
The internal war in the Government party is served. Now everyone looks the other way when Leire Díez’s name comes up. But also those of Cerdán, Antonio Hernando or Óscar López.