The president of the Cabildo of La Gomera claims dialogue, trust and the capacity of institutions to respond to the needs of citizens
Defends territorial cohesion as a democratic requirement and appeals to memory to face the challenges of the present
The president of the Cabildo of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, has invited the open reflection to be prolonged during the institutional event of the LXV Columbian Days, held this Sunday in San Sebastián de La Gomera, and has placed the ability to improve people's lives as the main measure of the quality of a democracy.
A day after the commemoration of the 534th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' departure from the island, Curbelo has insisted that the Columbian Days should not be limited to remembering a historical event, but should serve to interpret the present and contribute to building the future. Under the motto «In the footsteps of history. The value of democracy", his intervention raised a reflection on the erosion of public trust, polarization and the responsibility of institutions.
“Democracy is freedom, but also respect, justice and trust,” said the island president, who warned that rights and freedoms cannot be taken for granted definitively. In his opinion, democracy is a collective construction that requires permanent care and the commitment of each generation to strengthen it before transmitting it to the next.
Curbelo recalled that democracies do not usually disappear suddenly, but can progressively weaken when dialogue is replaced by confrontation, disqualification impoverishes public debate and politics is no longer perceived as a useful tool to solve citizens' problems. “Trust disappears before institutions,” he said.
Faced with this scenario, he defended the need to recover the culture of dialogue and consensus. “A solid democracy does not need citizens who think alike, but citizens capable of living together from differences,” he said. He also stressed that discrepancy is inherent to a plural society, but it should not become an excuse to discredit those who think differently.
A democracy that is perceived in daily life
The reflection of the president of the Cabildo had as its central axis a question: “What good is democracy if it does not improve people's lives?” For Curbelo, its true value does not lie solely in the rules and institutions, but in the results it offers in everyday life.
Democracy, he explained, becomes tangible when a family receives quality health care regardless of their place of residence; when education guarantees equal opportunities; when young people can access employment and housing; when older people receive the care they deserve, and when justice and administrations act with equality, closeness, effectiveness and transparency.
In this sense, he pointed out that freedom only fully achieves its meaning when it is accompanied by equality of opportunity. “We cannot speak of a fully solid democracy if the place where a person is born conditions their access to education, health, housing or employment,” he stressed.
Territorial cohesion as a democratic requirement
Curbelo transferred this reflection to the reality of the Canary Islands and, especially, to that of the non-capital islands. He recalled that distance and double insularity generate costs and difficulties that must be compensated through public policies adapted to the particularities of each territory.
"Territorial cohesion is not only a public policy. It is a democratic demand," he stated. Likewise, he reiterated that defending the interests of La Gomera does not mean claiming privileges, but rather guaranteeing that residing on a non-capital island does not limit the opportunities or future of any person.
The president focused especially on the young population. The administrations, he indicated, cannot ask for training, effort and initiative without at the same time offering him quality employment, access to housing and real possibilities of developing his life project without having to give up his roots.
He also recalled the responsibility of institutions with older people and with those who go through situations of vulnerability, illness, disability or unemployment. “The true quality of a society is measured by the way it treats those who need it most,” he said.
Memory as a democratic commitment
Another of the pillars of his intervention was democratic memory. Curbelo appealed to the experience of generations that experienced scarcity, emigration and sacrifice, and defended the need to know history, dignify the victims and preserve the commitment to truth and freedoms.
This reflection was linked to the presence as an official speaker of the doctor specializing in Legal and Forensic Medicine and forensic anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria Gabilondo. The island president highlighted his contribution to the investigation of missing persons and his work to put scientific knowledge at the service of the truth, the dignity of victims and the right of families to know.
Curbelo pointed out that knowing the past does not weaken coexistence, but can strengthen it when approached with rigor, respect and humanity. This memory, he added, must also help to confront current migrations from legality, solidarity and respect for human dignity, with a response shared between Europe, the State and the autonomous communities.
A reflection from La Gomera
The president finally vindicated La Gomera's ability to participate in the great contemporary debates. The island, he assured, has been a meeting place between routes, cultures and continents for centuries, and that vocation continues to be valid.
“Great ideas are not born only in big capitals,” said Curbelo, who defended the Columbian Days as a space to listen, learn and think collectively.
For the island president, the current challenge is no longer to discover new territories, but to contribute to preserving a peaceful society, in which freedom is stronger than fear, the truth has more value than lies and progress does not leave people behind.
“The greatness of a territory is not measured by its size, but by the ability to contribute ideas, build bridges and keep hope alive in a shared future,” he concluded.
