'Maybe they'll shoot you': Podemos chief warned
A local politician with Spain's ruling Popular Party has caused outrage after launching a Facebook assault on the leader of Podemos, a radical party which is threatening to cause a major upset in next year's general elections.
“Let’s see if someone shoots you in the back of the head, you bastard,” wrote Jonathan Cabeza Infante on his Facebook page in a diatribe against Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
The comment was included with a series of insults directed by the PP councillor in Spain's Palencia province at the man whose party has taken Spanish politics by storm in its first year of existence, now topping opinion polls ahead of the PP and Socialist Party.
According to the Huffington Post’s Spanish news site, Cabeza also called Iglesias a "brave son of a bitch” before recommending that he leave Spain for Colombia "so you can do it up the arse with that fucking friend of yours, that dictator you love so much," in an apparent reference to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.
Read The Local's guide to Podemos and why it is scaring Spain’s traditional parties.
The incident comes after Spanish police on Thursday announced a series of arrests against people suspected of glorifying terrorism on social network sites — behaviour the security forces and prosecutors have taken a greater interest in since the murder of a PP politician on May, an event which was followed by a slew of online comments celebrating the crime.
Speaking for Podemos, leading party member Juan Carlos Monedero told the Público online news site that Cabeza’s comments demonstrated a propensity for "violence, political intolerance and hatred".
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“Let’s see if someone shoots you in the back of the head, you bastard,” wrote Jonathan Cabeza Infante on his Facebook page in a diatribe against Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
The comment was included with a series of insults directed by the PP councillor in Spain's Palencia province at the man whose party has taken Spanish politics by storm in its first year of existence, now topping opinion polls ahead of the PP and Socialist Party.
According to the Huffington Post’s Spanish news site, Cabeza also called Iglesias a "brave son of a bitch” before recommending that he leave Spain for Colombia "so you can do it up the arse with that fucking friend of yours, that dictator you love so much," in an apparent reference to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.
Read The Local's guide to Podemos and why it is scaring Spain’s traditional parties.
The incident comes after Spanish police on Thursday announced a series of arrests against people suspected of glorifying terrorism on social network sites — behaviour the security forces and prosecutors have taken a greater interest in since the murder of a PP politician on May, an event which was followed by a slew of online comments celebrating the crime.
Speaking for Podemos, leading party member Juan Carlos Monedero told the Público online news site that Cabeza’s comments demonstrated a propensity for "violence, political intolerance and hatred".
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