The Minister of Defense, Margarita Roblesappeared in the Senate to defend the management of her portfolio and of the Armed Forces during the DANA. The minister has assured that “almost five hours” passed since the Generalitat Valenciana requested the activation of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) “only for Utiel and Requena”. until the update is requested for the entire province of Valencia”..
Robles has clarified that “from the first moment” the military were in the assigned area and in pre-alert for the moment when it was requested for the whole region. “The chief general of the UME taking advantage of the advance deployment that was taking place in Utiel and Requena ordered the deployment of a section”. The Minister stressed that the Government quickly put at the disposal of the Generalitat Valenciana “all the resources available to deal with the emergency”.but it was not until 20:36 when the activation was requested to the entire province.
“Despite the difficulty of a crisis of this magnitude, from the first moment, since the level 2 was declared, there were already almost a hundred military personnel working in the area and, from then on, every minute, troops and material were incorporated to deal with the consequences,” explained the Minister of Defense.
The Minister of Defense has charged against the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, for to be at a lunch on the day of the DANA “much longer than necessary to make decisions” in the face of such a “dramatic situation”. Mazón was having lunch last October 29th with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana in a restaurant to offer her to direct the autonomic television, according to sources of the Generalitat. Robles has reproached the popular senator Eva Ortiz for being part of a party that “gives support” to an autonomic Executive “that in difficult moments for the citizens is in meals”.
On when the thousands of military and security forces displaced to the area to help in the work of cleaning, control and search for missing persons will begin to leave, Robles has assured that they will stay “until the last moment” and that “the citizens of Valencia say ‘go now'”. Robles stressed that “the response has been and is being of characteristics that had never been seen before in our country,” and covers more than 8,600 military belonging to the UME, the Army, the Air and Space Forces, the Navy and the Royal Guard, with specialties ranging from intervention specialists, health engineers, transmission engineers, air traffic controllers, pilots and psychologists.
“I expected more from you”
After the intervention of Robles, the popular senator has reproached the minister that the UME was deployed “in less than 24 hours” in Morocco after the earthquake in September 2023 and that, however, the UME troops arrived late to the Valencian Community. “I did not expect much from this government, but I did expect more from you“he said, addressing the minister’s seat.
Likewise, the PP senator recalled that the military associations were “eager to go out to help” but that the government “would not let them”. “I can not explain how it has been able to stand impassively in the face of a national emergency of this caliber,” he wondered. “What do we Valencians have to ask our government? Do we have to ask for humanity?”, he has launched, insisting that the executive “has not wanted to offer all the capabilities” of the Armed Forces.