In 2007 Leteo was singled out by the municipality and an article was published in the Council’s newspaper, “Gaceta del Honorable Concejo Municipal[5]”, arguing that the public order in the municipality had been disrupted after a concert that Leteo had organized. This information was contradictory to that of the commander of the Madrid Police Station who, after the event and through the article published by “El Periódico” (no. 49/ September issue) stated that there had been no public disruption in the municipality.
In 2009, members of the Leteo and young people from the municipalities took action to follow up the election process of the Youth Municipal Council (CMJ). Several inconsistencies were found in the process and these were denounced to the community through the divulgation of caricatures, making references to the low level of participation of young people in the election of this “participative” institution. Also, participants denounced that many of the young people were pressured or fooled by the teachers at some educational institutions to participate in exchange for a higher grade, among other things. Nevertheless, the National Police seized the caricatures that the young people were giving out on the streets of the municipality, hindering the right to freedom of expression and information, according to the Leteo Youth Association.
In addition to this, during 2009, an active member of Leteo, Edgar Medina, was followed several times by vehicles when walking through the streets of the municipalities, all the way to the doorstep of his house. This was accompanied with hostile attitudes and anonymous threats that were received through emails, directed towards Edgar.
To deal with this situation, Civis took action in several ways with the purpose of helping and accompanying Leteo and its members. During the past two years meetings have been held with the Mayor and with the Governmental Secretary of Madrid. The purpose has been to show our cooperation with Leteo and to express our concern about the situation that is being presented against Leteo and its work in the municipality. Also, Civis has assisted the Leteo members and their allied organizations in the areas of security and protection, increasing their capacity to deal with situations of harassments and threats that may occur. It is important to point out that these actions have had positive effects on the security and on the work of Leteo. Still, Civis believes that it is important to stay alert and maintain presence in the municipality of Madrid in order to prevent the reoccurrence of these types of situations.
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