OPINION: A  speech lacking empathy

The speech of the President of the Republic was detailed in some of the issues he addressed, highlighting that of vaccination, in which, without a doubt, the Government has done a great job. And although the country’s growth will be almost 15%, the president did not mention in his speech that we also suffered a spectacular drop in the Gross Domestic Producer, nor did he tell us how much we have borrowed. Nor did he address the issue of the state payroll: personnel and amount, which, in these months of the pandemic, have grown irresponsibly. Each year, the Government hires the equivalent of twice the personnel who work on the Canal. If that represented efficiency, productivity, something that justifies that huge whopping almost $5 billion a year in wages, but what we see are bottles, jugs and demijohns, because no one gives justifications as to why the National Assembly, for example, needs more employees while the private company must dispose of many, because it cannot give them jobs. Mr. President, sacrifice is a form of example, and since this pandemic began, empathy has been nil. His speech does not change that lack of solidarity in any way.- LA PRENSA, Jan. 3.