The Killer Puppeteer. Op-ed

His name is Jahaziel Suárez, and he has been one of the foremost critics of the new mobility plan for the historical center. In those taverns that are the social networks, he has angrily expressed his disagreement with the changes implied by the project, especially with those that contemplate the relocation of the bus stops. 

In one of his multiple, furious interventions, he has questioned these changes by pointing out, for example, the distances he would have to walk if he had to take a second route to reach his destination. These changes, he argues fervently, “it is like a bad blowjob.” And so, Jahaziel lists, exemplifies, rants, encourages. 

Even with their coarse writing, these interventions would be of great civic value, of transcendent interest for the authorities involved in the implementation of this plan -presented in the past days, and that will start to be applied from September 13- unless… Jahaziel Suarez is not a person, like you or me: he is a fake social network account, an invention, an anonymous tool; Jahaziel is a bot. A troll. 

This account -which waters its purposes and nonsense in Twitter- was created only at the end of last August. It follows four other accounts and nobody, nobody follows it. Its ephemeral existence has only criticized the urban transport mobility plan: that seems to be its reason for being. And like Jahaziel, there are dozens. Puppets who try to present themselves as people; shadows of other shadows. It is a campaign, by all means, an orchestrated and financed offensive against the proposal presented a few days ago, specifically against the change of locations. 

In addition to these artificial voices, there are criticisms made by people, like you and me, with legitimate doubts and concerns: as mentioned, these are changes, some radical, of a reality that has worked for decades. Already in the past, proposals of this kind have been shipwrecked, torpedoed by the users themselves or by supposed beneficiaries of the status quo. 

However, never before have these changes been due to a health contingency: this time, the stops are not being relocated to speed up traffic in the center or make the area suitable for tourists: the changes are being made to avoid contagion or death. 

The sleepwalking army of which Jahaziel Suarez is a part prefers that everything remains the same – stops turned into breeding grounds – for economic or political purposes, the health -and life- of urban transport users doesn’t matter to them in the least. 

The puppeteer is, in the end, a murderer.

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