The Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho, winner of the Julio A. Parrado World Journalists Award organized by EL MUNDO, has denounced that the Toledo City Council has censored the premiere of the work for ideological reasons Infamybased on his book Memories of an Infamy (Debate, 2008) at the Teatro de Rojas, scheduled for next November 25, World Day against Sexist Violence. Cacho has related the cancellation to the change of municipal government, which has been headed, since last June, by Carlos Velázquez, of the Popular Party, with the support of Vox, and with the “involution” in equality policies that Spain is experiencing From a few months ago.
Cacho has released a video in which he explains his case. The journalist describes the cancellation as an act of “censorship” that attends to “the reasons for its content.” According to Cacho, the play, a piece directed by José Martret and performed by Marina Salas and Marta Nieto, winners of the Max Award for Best Actress in 2023, portrays “How the political-criminal networks that allow the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents work” in Latin America and in the world. Something, according to Cacho, incompatible with the ideological agenda of the new right-wing municipal governments.
According to the Toledo City Council, the cancellation that Cacho denounces does not exist because the contract was never certain. According to her version, before the municipal elections, some technicians from the Consistory Women’s Council negotiated with the producer of Infamy the premiere at the Teatro de Rojas. There was even a negotiated budget, “seven thousand-odd euros plus VAT [9.200 euros en total]”, but not a decision approved by the responsible people. So, according to the City Council, there was not even an informal agreement, but a negotiated proposal. Instead, Cacho maintains that the exchange of emails ended with an “agreement” who is always given the value of a pre-contract in the theater world.
When the municipal government changed, they report from Toledo, the new team of the councilor for Inclusion, Family and the Elderly, Marisol Illescas, discovered a situation of “lack of credit” which led him to cancel some committed expenses. “There was no money for the Equality Plan that the City Council has to present to the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, nor for the purple dots that we install at the August festivities“, say sources from the Toledo City Council. In this budgetary emergency, the item committed to Infamy it was the largest and most effective as a trim.
Cacho has denied this version arguing that the budget for his work is committed for the 2024 financial year, which means that its cancellation will not immediately alleviate the coffers of the City Council. The journalist has also linked the case of Infamia to other cancellations / censorship denounced in town halls of the PP and Vox, she has reminded EL MUNDO that Infamy does not refer at any time to Spain and has considered that the work is a cheap assembly, which does not require large production costs.