"A pathetic political operation": De Ubeda and Masquelier at loggerheads over the monument to the victims of communism in Saint-Raphaël
The announcement in our editions of Saturday, August 9, of the upcoming inauguration in Saint-Raphaël of a monument to the victims of communism did not leave people indifferent. This initiative by the mayor of the commune of Est-Var provoked a strong reaction from André De Ubeda, communist municipal councilor of Toulon . The latter, whom we contacted after he sent a press release to the editorial staff of Var-matin , denounced: "We are in a world in full convulsion, with tragedies in every corner of the planet, and Frédéric Masquelier, the mayor of Saint-Raphaël, is preparing to carry out a pathetic political operation."
"In 1939, we know what Masquelier would have done."
If, of course, the opposition representative from Toulon does not question "the numerous crimes committed in the name of communism" , he considers that the inauguration of the monument in question is nothing other than " a smokescreen by which Frédéric Masquelier , entangled in the investigations and reports of the Regional Court of Auditors, seeks to make people forget the criticisms of his management" . Worse, he also sees this "anti-communism" as a gesture of goodwill towards the extreme right , with the hope, in the run-up to the municipal elections, of "not having a National Rally list in front of him" . And to drive the point home in unkind terms: "In 39, we know what Masquelier would have done" .
The round table that was to follow the inauguration of the monument did not find any more favor in the eyes of André De Ubeda. In addition to the names of the speakers, whom he ironically describes as "luminaries" , the communist elected official doubts the intellectual honesty of the said round table "in the absence of contradictory debate" .
Finally, referring to the plaques previously unveiled in Saint-Raphaël in homage to the Resistance and the Righteous , André De Ubeda, a bit provocative, asks: "When will there be a monument against the crimes of capitalism (...) A system that is out of breath because it is based almost exclusively on the pursuit of profit. A system that is exhausting the planet and people."
Asked to respond to these various criticisms, Frédéric Masquelier, who was clearly aware of André De Ubeda's press release, defended himself point by point. "The inauguration of the monument is absolutely not a political act, but an act of remembrance. And in the memorial education of what were the great totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century, we absolutely cannot ignore communism (...) Communism, to which historians attribute more than 100 million victims, is, with Nazism, one of the two great deadly ideologies of the 20th century. It is a fact: everywhere this freedom-killing ideology has been in power, it has ended in atrocities," recalls the mayor of Saint-Raphaël.
That being said, Frédéric Masquelier is not being kind to the Toulon communist councillor. "André De Ubeda is making a personal attack, insulting. To suggest that I would certainly have been a collaborator in 1939 is scandalous (...) As for the allusions to so-called investigations, there is no point: I have never been questioned by the courts. My criminal record is clean."
Var-Matin
