The new director of the Civil Guard promises to be "inflexible" with corruption in the armed institute

The new general director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, has taken advantage of her inauguration speech, held this Tuesday in the patio of the institution's main headquarters, to try to clear the shadows that have hung over the last few months institute armed for the cases of corruption that have led to the imputation of two generals and for the attacks launched by the PP against his predecessor in office, María Gámez.

"No political strategy and no particular abuse can march the immense cleanliness with which the Civil Guard faces its work for Spain every day," said González, before recalling that it was the armed institute itself, "through its internal mechanisms" , which made it possible to uncover the alleged rigging of the

and

.

"We will be inflexible," she stressed.

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has stated along the same lines, who has insisted that these "behaviors" affect a "very small" number of agents and that the ultimate goal is to "erradicate" these criminal behaviors within the institution.

González reaches the position of general director of the Civil Guard after two years at the head of the Government Delegation in Madrid and with a marked political profile, after leading the socialist federation in the capital and running as a PSOE candidate in the municipal elections next May 28.

However, a twist in the script caused by the resignation of Gámez on March 22 due to the accusation of her husband in a corruption case, has led her to assume the direction of the armed institute at a particularly delicate moment, precisely because of the alleged irregularities in the awarding of contracts uncovered by the

and

cases .

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In his speech ―in which he remembered the agents killed in the fight against ETA, but also the agent who died last Saturday during a cycling event―, González did not hide his political profile at the beginning of his speech, thanking the president for his appointment Pedro Sánchez, to whom he has said that he is united by "a relationship of loyalty, respect and consideration, but also of camaraderie" for "many exciting moments" in his "personal political life".

In the act was, precisely, Óscar López, Sánchez's right-hand man from his position as director of the Presidency Cabinet.

The new general director has had words of "recognition" for her predecessor, of which she has stressed that her "honesty and honesty are far above any attack or discredit", in reference to the criticism launched by the PP and other parties of the right against her for the alleged real estate enrichment of her husband.

In fact, she has assured that her intention is to follow the line set by her, which had focused on increasing the number of women within the armed institute.

González has highlighted that the number of female agents had increased by 1,800 in the five years of the Sánchez government, to now represent 9% of the total of 82,000 agents.

To further increase this percentage,

The act also served for the Ministers of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Defense, Margarita Robles, to re-stage the differences that have dragged on for a long time.

Thus, the former made a fiery defense of the role played by Gámez in his speech, as he had already done publicly and repeatedly after her resignation, and has highlighted the "personal imprint" that he has left in the armed institute in the three years that he has been in charge of it.

Robles, however, did not mention her in her speech.

The Minister of Defense never agreed with the appointment of Gámez to head the Civil Guard, as she made clear by not attending his inauguration at the time in a gesture that did not go unnoticed.

On this occasion,

The new director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, during the inauguration ceremony held this Tuesday at the General Directorate of the Civil Guard. Eduardo Parra (Europa Press)

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Grande-Marlaska and Robles have been in conflict for some time precisely over the management of the Civil Guard, a police force that depends on both ministries.

The friction caused by the appointment of Gámez ―which led to the dismissal of the first director of the Civil Guard of the Sánchez government, magistrate Félix Azón, a person close to Robles―, recently intensified due to the policy to be followed to increase the presence of the Woman in the Civil Guard.

Last December, the Council of the armed institute, a consultative body made up of 16 representatives of the professional associations of agents and many others from the Administration, endorsed by a narrow margin the reform of the personnel law that, among other novelties, includes the measures to facilitate the entry of women into the Civil Guard.

The support obtained was less than expected because, precisely, the two Defense representatives in this body showed their opposition to the reform.

The two ministers have also shown their differences in other specific events, such as the deployment of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) in Madrid during the

storm , in January 2021.