José Manuel Cuenca, who was chief of staff of the former president of the Generalitat Carlos Mazón, sent messages through the WhatsApp application to Pilar Montes, former general director of the Cabinet Secretariat of the former head of the Consell, in which at 11:35 p.m. DANA’S DAY informs him that he is still arrested in Carlet: “I’m still in the same place. But I’m fine. Calm down, rest. Really. Situation under control. Just patience, honey. Just that.”
This is clear from the messages that Montes voluntarily transmitted to the Catarroja judge who is investigating the management of the disaster, which left 230 dead in the province of Valencia. In these messages, which the judge already included in the file this Thursday, Cuenca told him that he had gone to Xàtiva “for a party matter”.
Mazón’s chief of staff testified on November 6 before the DANA judge, to whom he assured that around 5 p.m. it was an incident. on the day of the flood, informed the president —who at that time was eating at Ventorro with journalist Maribel Vilaplana—, that the situation in Utiel was getting complicated: “I told him on WhatsApp.”
However, Cuenca, who was called to testify regarding the defense appeals of former Minister of Emergencies Salomé Pradas and former President of the Commission of Inquiry Les Corts, He did not transmit his messages to the court of this application because he pointed out that in July he had changed his phone and did not have a backup.
In his statement he said that in addition to other calls that day, at 7:41 p.m. he spoke with Mazón and he told him that when he returned to Valencia he should go to L’Eliana, where the Cecopi was meeting, and that he would go there as well. He spoke in the afternoon with the former regional secretary of Emergencies Emilio Argüeso – investigated with Pradas – about a detention during which he was returning from Xàtiva. At president informed him that I was in the hold this afternoonat that time he told her he was moving to L’Eliana.
“Thrown” on the Carlet road
In the WhatsApps provided by Montes, Cuenca tells Montes that at 8:02 p.m. he went to his home. he is “lying” on the road near Carlet and they are talking about canceling the agenda. “Yes, of course. I already told Carlos. He will inform Madrid,” she said in three consecutive messages.
At 9:10 p.m., Montes expressed concern about his situation. “Calm down. Everything is under control”, he tells her, who is still on the road and emphasizes that he had left “for a party” and that he was coming back by train but “he didn’t leave” so he had taken a taxi.
A minute after 10:00 p.m., Mazón’s secretary asks him to notify her when they know if they are canceling the schedule “to warn everyone that they are waiting to cancel the trips.” “Cancelled of course,” Cuenca told him. Ten minutes later, Montes asks him if an afternoon meeting with police and firefighters is also canceled. “I think so. But wait until early in the morning,” he replies.
More than an hour later, at 11:23 p.m., Montes asked him if he had arrived yet. “I’m still in the same place, but I’m fine. Calm down. Rest,” he replies. “But how am I going to rest!!” she says, to which Cuenca responds, “Really. Controlled situation. Just patience, honey. Just that,” in four consecutive messages.
Messages with Mazón and Pradas
Montes exchanged messages with Mazón in the afternoon from DANA to inform him, at 2:48 p.m., that they were taking him to the El Ventorro restaurant – where he was eating with journalist Maribel Vilaplana – papers for an “urgent” signing. Specifically, the resolution of certain scholarships that were to be published in the DOCV. In addition, he offers him tickets Valencia-Madrid/Madrid-Alicante and at 11:07 p.m. he gives him the telephone number of the Lehendakari of the Basque Government.
With Pradas, at 10:46 a.m. the next day, the former minister sends you a first report from DANA and asks Montes to print it for him. president. At 11:06 a.m., he sent two summaries of the situation to be printed in triplicate and taken down to the Consell Hall, where a plenary session was being held that morning.
That of November will not be Cuenca’s only statement before the court since is scheduled again for this Friday after the ‘whatsapps’ contributed to the procedure on the 5th by Salomé Pradas, from which it appears that the former advisor warned Cuenca at 4:28 p.m. on the day of the flood, they had been informed that there was a death in Utiel. On this point, Mazón’s chief of staff did not mention anything in his first statement.
Pradas and Cuenca exchanged several messages following the storm and the situation Utiel was going through: “Things are getting complicated,” the first told him at 2:25 p.m. Two hours later, at 4:28 p.m., the former councilor sent him another message to warn him of a deceased person: “We have been informed of a deceased person in Utiel.”
After 15 minutes, Cuenca, without referring to the deceased, transmitted a text from the former president which said “at 7 p.m. we go to 112”, to which Pradas replied: “perfecte (perfect).”
From that moment on, there were other messages between them in which Cuenca asked him not to confine the population. It was already around 8:00 p.m. — when Cuenca was arrested in Carlet —: “Salo. Nothing to confine please. Calm down.” The former advisor then replied, “Things are very, very bad,” and he told her, “Now, woman.” To which Pradas adds: “Excesses throughout the province”.
Cuenca insisted: “But confining a province is barbaric. It’s one thing to create zones. Regions. Ribera Alta. Coastal. Whatever it is. But not the whole province.” Pradas responded: “It’s just that few things are left out. And communications affect everyone. We are working on it. We ask everyone to be careful. Containment of affected areas and distancing (downloading of plants) from a few municipalities.” It was at 7:58 p.m.
And the chief of staff continued his arguments against these measures: “Salomé, to confine (confine) you need a state of alarm. And this is decreed by the girl next to you, the delegate. Calm down.”
Pradas responded at 8:15 p.m., once the Es-Alert was sent to the population: “Yes, but confinement we can decree emergencies by law.” Cuenca replied: “Trenze açó del cap please (get that out of your head). Don’t worry, man.”
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