Dimitris Kouimtsidis
A DEPUTY Mayor in Jaen province has had to apologise for his comments comparing the Basque nationalist party Bildu and the Guardia Civil, in regards to terrorism.
Jose Cedillo, Deputy Mayor of the town of Begijar posted on Facebook about why it’s unfair to claim that Bildu and ETA terrorists are the same.
He argued that in the same way that people consider Bildu the same as the ETA, they should consider Guardia Civil agents nowadays, as terrorists, for what they did during the Franco regime.
“If Bildu is the heir of the ETA, then that means that the Guardia Civil now is the heir to the one that operated under Franco.
“Some put bombs, while others enter houses, drag people out and beat them before murdering them.”
The Socialist Deputy Mayor quickly realised the error of his ways and deleted his post after receiving an onslaught of backlash in the comments.
That backlash also came from rival political parties, with PP calling for his immediate resignation.
Following the incident, Cedillo has published an apology and has proceeded to close all his social media accounts.
The statement read: “This morning I wrote something that I am not proud of, I feel embarrassed and for which I publicly apologise.
“I assume all responsibility, those who know me know that this isn’t me.
“I simply wanted to say that approving a labour reform to protect the rights of all workers in this country, with the support of Bildu is not a pact with terrorists.
“In the search for an absurd comparison to strengthen my argument, I have had the opposite effect.
“I am deeply sorry for the disproportionate and unnecessary comparison.
“I express all my rejection of any violent act and all my respect for a body as honorable as the Guardia Civil has been for 176 years. I am sorry.”
