Senators Come Out in Support of Anti-Corruption Demonstration

Osmany Salas

The unionists were joined by many others who support the call to end corruption, including the N.G.O.s and social partners. Among them were Senators Osmany Salas and Mark Lizarraga. The senators say that they support the demands made by the umbrella organization to ensure good governance. While Lizarraga says that today’s event is democracy at work, Salas says that there is need for systemic reform in government and the people need to keep pressuring G.O.B. for that change.

Osmany Salas, Senator for N.G.O.s

“What I have said and I will harp on later today again is that the politicians have become our patrons and we have become their clients. We have to turn that around; they need to be serving us. But at this stage it is almost like we are working for them. They have mastered the art—and that’s why we need campaign finance legislation—they have mastered the art to buy the elections. It has become a race of who spends the most. And that is a big part of the problem. So we as citizens, as voters, we need to be more engaged—we have to be more engaged—and we have to tell our area reps or the standard bearers that are hoping to become area reps that we won’t tolerate this nonsense anymore. But there shouldn’t be any let down. There was a demonstration in 2008 and here we are again. We need to keep the pressure on; that is the only way that the politicians will listen and there needs to be systemic change.”

Mark Lizarraga

Mark Lizarraga, Senator for the Private Sector

“Today, the people of the country, especially the workers, the N.G.O. community, they are sending a message and saying, we want our country back and we want our country to be a little different than the way it is now. And this is democracy; this is democracy at work. And kudos to everybody that’s out here today because if we want to see change in our country, we have to be that change.”