State security chiefs KO'd: Rajoy's chief arrested and Marlaska's chief resigns

The exposure of a clandestine operation by PSOE against UCO has "sparked a war" between the Civil Guard and the Government. It was this Monday, May 26, when El Confidencial published audio recordings from a meeting in which they discussed getting rid of Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas: "If Balas is dead, better".

Balas is the current head of UCO and is responsible for the main cases affecting the current government. Among them, the case involving President Pedro Sánchez's brother and the Koldo scheme stand out.

The aforementioned meeting took place in February of this year between Leire Díez, former deputy mayor of PSOE, businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, who is being prosecuted for subsidy fraud, and lawyer Jacobo Teijelo.

It was Alejandro Hamlyn, who was arrested by UCO for fraud in fuel sales, who was on the other side of the screen.

Allegedly, Leire Díez's intention was to obtain compromising information about Colonel Balas in order to discredit the authorities regarding justice. In other words, apparently, she sought to undermine the body that could put the Sánchez Government in check.

Politics tremble: One arrest and another resignation

PSOE quickly moved to protect itself and categorically deny this clandestine operation, but chaos had already broken out. That same afternoon, Rafael Pérez, the number two of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Secretary of State for Security, resigned for "personal reasons," coinciding with the unfolding scandal.

The political chessboard seems to be in check, as on this May 27 two significant arrests have also taken place, though not related to the case of Colonel Balas. The National Police have arrested Francisco Martínez, former Secretary of State for Security during Rajoy's Government, and the hacker Alcassec.

Pérez is a judge and legal advisor to the General Council of the Judiciary. In 2018, he became Marlaska's key man as his chief of staff. Three years later, he was appointed Secretary of State for Security.

In this case, the arrests are related to a case being handled by the National Court for membership in a criminal organization. They are also for money laundering and disclosure of secrets.

The reaction of Civil Guard associations

Returning to the case of Colonel Balas, what has happened has provoked a strong reaction. The professional associations representing the Civil Guard have issued a joint statement. First, they wanted to praise the work of UCO and Lieutenant Colonel Balas.

The message was clear: "The statement 'If Balas is dead, better' seems very serious to us and we believe that with it, they intend to tarnish the image of this elite Unit of the Civil Guard, which belongs to the Judicial Police Headquarters".

Elcierredigital.com has contacted Eduardo Cano, legal secretary and communications secretary of AUGC. "The Government is carrying out a campaign to discredit the Civil Guard. In this case, against UCO, which is the best investigative unit we have," he points out.

"UCO has amply shown their professionalism and we've never been close to any political party. We respect the laws and we enforce them. They want to delegitimize them to damage our prestige," adds Eduardo Cano.

"All this is to cover up their corruption and their dirty laundry. At AUGC, we support our colleagues 100% and we'll defend them as far as necessary. They've always tried to politicize it to be able to control it. But that's not going to happen in the Civil Guard," concludes the legal and communications secretary of AUGC.

In the statement, the associations highlight that this campaign to discredit did not only target Colonel Balas. According to the statement, just this month the vice president accused UCO of leaking WhatsApp messages related to the Ábalos case, and it became known that the Attorney General allegedly ordered his subordinates to discredit this Unit's reports.

"Let's not forget that it all started with the dismissal of Colonel Corbí as Head of UCO. The Civil Guard must be respected and valued for their work, not slandered," the joint statement concludes.