The former Spanish president assures that he did not receive any official document confirming jihadist responsibility and that he acted according to the indications he had
José María Aznar, through the Faes foundation that he chairs, has published a note in which he defends his management of the days following the attacks of 11-M, of which today marks 20 years. Aznar affirms that “no official document ever came into the hands of the Spanish government that definitively ruled out its authorship and unhesitatingly affirmed jihadist responsibility.”
The former Spanish president also rejects “the repeated lies” that, according to him, have come out of “certain left-wing media terminals” in recent days to “heat up” what should be a mournful ephemeris. “We regret that the spirit of division prevails over harmony,” the statement said.
Aznar reaffirms his version and cites the press as proof
Not only does Aznar not retract his action, but he vindicates it: “Neither were we aware of the evidence that they now say we concealed, nor did our action fail to respond to the indications that were there at the time.” To support its thesis, the Faes foundation mentions the initial reactions of the press, such as the first news of the chain Ser or El País, or the first evaluations of the then socialist candidate José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero or the then lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe , who also pointed to ETA as the author of the attack.
Garzón accuses Aznar of “manipulation, lies and conspiracy”
On the other hand, the former judge of the National Court Baltasar Garzón has harshly criticized Aznar for not having recognized that mistakes were made and that 11-M was “instrumentalized”. In an interview with Spanish Radiotelevision, he described as “very serious” the “manipulation, lies and conspiracy” that took place during those days, of which it is now two decades ago.
