Victoria Donda Perez ceased to be the controller of the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) after resigning from office with a letter addressed to the President of the Nation, Alberto Fernandezin which the Argentine government was not spared questions “because it stopped listening where it was most due.”
“Today I am writing these lines moving away from my institutional role as head of INADI, rightly convinced that it stopped listening where it should be done the most,” wrote the person who was to remain in his position until December 31, after an extension authorized by decree. since October. The now former official turned to social networks to publicize her decision and published the extensive text of her resignation on her Twitter account.
Donda maintained that her situation worsened “due to being a woman and not finding a legitimate space in the national government for our voices to be duly heard” and said that “a few minutes ago I found out through Juan Manuel OlmosChief of Advisers to the Presidency, on the possibility of my removal from INADI, mainly as a consequence –according to what I was informed– of my political position regarding the current stage, an element that I repeatedly made visible in my public speech”.
In this framework, a space was also made to praise the vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, “a person of flesh and blood, totally determined to develop his political praxis without quotas of rancor and depositary of a substantial attribute: listening”. On the contrary, assured that the Casa Rosada “stopped listening to the voices that for a long time we have been insisting on the need to establish instances to reach a necessary synthesis in the midst of a national management that each time left us with a more bitter taste and without capacity response to growing and complex demands for a society that expects more from us”.
Over time, the administration headed by President Fernández was “disillusioning it by moving away from what I believed was its most intimate essence – improving the material and symbolic conditions of the millions who voted for us full of hope in 2019”. “Only by listening, knowing and interpreting our people, we will be able to contribute to have the free, just and egalitarian society that we dream of but, above all, we deserve without further postponement, hesitation or marches and counter-marches”Shooting.
THE FULL TEXT OF THE HARD LETTER
Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, December 29, 2022
To Mr. President of the Argentine Nation
Dr. Alberto Angel Fernandez:
Because I am convinced that institutional responsibilities are stages of a more extensive and comprehensive journey in the life of every political militant who truly aspires to change painful realities, a cycle is closing today. Definitively, having once again become part of the Frente de Todos allowed me to rediscover comrades from the militancy that I had known several years ago, during the early 2000s. In 2008 I made the wrong decision to move away from our space, influenced by the fact of not knowing how to interpret what the people really felt.
In my reunion with the Frente de Todos, I discovered in my talks with Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the leader she is. Mainly a person of flesh and blood, totally determined to develop her political praxis without resentment quotas and depositary of a substantial attribute: listening.
Today I am writing these lines moving away from my institutional role as head of INADI, rightly convinced that it has stopped listening where it should be done the most. We stopped listening to the voices that for a long time we have been insisting on the need to establish instances to reach a necessary synthesis in the midst of a national management that each time left us with a more bitter taste and without the capacity to respond to growing demands and complex for a society that expects more from us. I regret that my departure from the Institute is happening just when we should be discussing the collusion of a sector of the Judiciary, with part of the business leadership and with officials from Together for Change.
Undoubtedly, the quarrels within the Front of which I continue to be a part only weaken our position regarding the defense of the democratic system, an element that today must be our priority. Strongly aggravating the foregoing, due to the fact that I am a woman and cannot find a legitimate space in the national government for our voices to be duly heard, a few minutes ago I found out through Juan Manuel Olmos, head of Advisors to the Presidency, about the possibility of my displacement from INADI, mainly as a consequence -according to what I was informed- of my political position regarding the current stage, an element that I made visible on repeated occasions in my public speech. Perhaps the fact of believing that a government effort can never be divorced from what the society it supposedly represents feels has always led me to say what I think.
In short, this fact, added to what I pointed out above and considering that our national management, little by little but increasingly, was disappointing us by moving away from what I believed was its most intimate essence – improving the material and symbolic conditions of the millions who voted for us. full of hopes in 2019-, precipitated my indeclinable decision. I believe that, after three years as part of the national management, working daily to honor the position for which I have been appointed, it is necessary to close this cycle. It is not the objective of this writing to detail each one of the tasks carried out by the organization, but yes, by means of a very brief summary of them, to record that leading an organization like INADI involved both me and the wonderful team that currently forms the organism, the greatest of commitments.
With the conviction that the fight against discrimination, xenophobia and racism is carried out day by day and only with the participation of all, we will be able to arrive at an egalitarian society free of all types of violence, is that we undertook the management. During it we formed and strengthened delegations throughout the country, so that in each of the provinces the awareness process can be carried out. We gave impetus to 168, a simple and effective telephone line for inquiries or complaints about episodes of discrimination. We also created the Commission for the Historical Recognition of the Afro-Argentine Community, with which we held the first and second National Meeting of Organizations of the Afro-Argentine Community, a milestone in the visibility of the Afro-Argentine community in the country. We carry out the campaigns for Schools without Discrimination and the Federal Campaign for a sport free of discrimination and violence, calling on civil society groups. In addition, we chair international forums of high renown organized for institutions with the same objective as ours, to which we bring the Argentine experience, turning it into a reference for countries in the region and the world, generating permanent areas of articulation with international organizations.
Knowing that this construction is always collective, we have prepared a new National Map of Discrimination, an indispensable input to carry out the appropriate public policies that the State needs to contribute to egalitarian societies. We also inaugurated the organization’s first periodical publication, the Inclusive magazine, which facilitates reaching those who are interested in learning about and working with these issues and who can also disseminate their knowledge to the community through it. Both examples are contributions that we started, but they are already part of our society because they are tools that will continue to be useful for any team that requires them. We aspire to its continuity and growth by those who come after.
I will always be grateful for the magnificent opportunity that was given to me to occupy this position during this presidential term. I believe that the Frente de Todos continues to be the place to build the political project in which I believe, the most efficient tool to transform reality. But I will continue to do so by being a daily militant and being a responsible national leader and with the conviction that only by listening, knowing and interpreting our people can we contribute to having the free, just and egalitarian society that we dream of but, above all, we deserve without more postponements, hesitations or marches and countermarches.
Regards to you attentively,
Dr. Victoria Analía Donda Pérez.
