Armando G. Tejeda

Correspondent

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 18, 2024, p. 23

Madrid. The president of the Spanish government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, presented to the Congress of Deputies the general lines or the skeleton of his calling democratic regeneration planwith which it hopes to reform a series of laws to punish more harshly the campaigns of intoxication through the so-called fake news and to define the legal and administrative framework for advertising campaigns in the media, with the aim of leaving aside the pseudo media either pseudojournalists.

Sanchez appeared before Parliament without a concrete plan, and said that he will start In the next weeks a round of contacts with parliamentary groups to push forward their initiative.

More than two months ago, Sánchez considered resigning after the news published about his wife, Begoña Gómez, and the start of criminal proceedings against him for alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption. The Spanish president attributes both the news published in the press and the legal proceedings opened against him to a campaign by the far right and fruit of the mud machine activated against him since he assumed power five years ago.

Sánchez also announced a package of 100 million euros (1.8 billion pesos) for the digitalization of the media, in addition to the approval of legal reforms to strengthen the right to rectification of citizens and changes in the so-called gag law regarding freedom of expression.

The president warned that democracy is at risk from old enemies who question the election results, distort reality with hoaxes, misinform and poison public debate.

From the opposition, both the PP and Vox questioned Sánchez’s underlying interest in approving these new laws and reforms, arguing that he intends to silence the media that have published in recent weeks the news that links his wife to the corruption plot.