Dignity, Or Subjugation

To my neighbors in the Bronx:

This is Jose Vega, Independent Congressional Candidate running in New York’s 15th Congressional District against Ritchie Torres.

By now, you have all probably heard the story of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman in Spain who was forcibly evicted from her apartment (where she had lived for over 70 years!) after an investment fund, which had purchased her building, demanded a 230% rent hike! Her story has unfortunately become commonplace in Spain, Germany, and the United States, with many people seeing their rents and the cost of homes surging in recent years.

A video of Abascal, who is wheelchair-bound, showing her being forcibly removed from her apartment on a stretcher circulated worldwide. She appealed from her hospital bed: “Please fight!” She said, “I haven’t managed to defend my home, but I have fought so the others can learn to fight for what is theirs!“

People in Spain responded. Large numbers of people showed up two days later outside Abascal’s building to protest. The long-simmering anger against rent hikes and unaffordable housing ignited. Soon, there were protests in over 50 cities in Spain, bringing hundreds of thousands of people out into the street, with signs that read, “Not one more eviction, not one less neighbor, we are all Maricarmen” and “right to housing at a fair price.” Soon, the whole world was watching. As a result, Maricarmen Abascal has returned to her apartment. A power greater than money had prevailed.

A Spanish reporter asked Pope Leo XIV to comment about Abascal’s case on his flight back to Rome from France, and he responded, “How is it possible for something like this to happen? What is wrong with a system that allows an elderly woman, who is also disabled or facing some difficulty, to be evicted from her home?” People heard his message. After all, 1.2 million people had assembled to hear the Pope in Madrid on June 7, and hundreds of thousands more in other Spanish cities.

At the time of this writing, Maricarmen Abascal has passed away in a hospital. She was to be returned to her apartment following the justified anger by the Spanish population against her eviction. This was not an inevitable death; it was murder caused by depraved indifference.

Yes, “we are all Maricarmen.” We too, wherever we may be in the world, are victims of depraved indifference. Many living in the South Bronx, where I live, are the poorest in what is termed [the poorest Congressional district in the nation.] (https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2019/12/ny-has-the-richest-poorest-smallest-most-unequal-congressional-districts/176658/)35.8% of Bronx residents pay out half of their income on rent. If you’re spending 50% just on rent every month, you don’t have money for food, clothing, and other necessities. You can’t save anything. You’re paying way more than you can handle. You are being forced to become a debt slave, a criminal, or both.

You know the reality of Maricarmen Abascal’s own experience. You know not only “the costs of living,” but the toll it takes on human life and dignity. Evictions in Spain and Germany, rats in the schools in France, are also a daily experience in America, and in my district in particular. But our so-called “representatives” in Congress, including Ritchie Torres, who himself came out of Bronx public housing, won’t deal with the root cause of the housing, immigration, and poverty crises—the Epstein class and their commitment to a dying, 500-year-old imperial system, with their unpayable debt, and endless wars.

When I started my campaign for Congress, I emphasized that the fight we must engage in must be international, because the solution is International. I already knew that “We are all Maricarmen.” [When I personally faced eviction] (https://bronx.news12.com/morris-heights-apartment-in-shambles-after-portions-of-ceiling-collapse-38790211 ) for protesting against my family’s housing conditions in the Bronx, after asking for help from my treacherous representatives, I realized that my situation would only be addressed by going up against what I call the Epstein class. And I realized that my congressman, Ritchie Torres, would never do that, because he had joined the Epstein class, especially its population war against the Palestinians.

[So I intervened against Torres.] (https://x.com/votevega26/status/2003563372596588914?s=46 ) I intervened on his support for the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza, and the war against the poor right here in the Bronx, all conducted on behalf of the Epstein class. Torres sides with the international War Party that makes these wars that none of us want, and the international financial oligarchs that keep us all in debt. I don’t, and I won’t submit. I can’t make people vote for me, but I can speak the truth. So, here’s the truth:

First, on International Policy. To stop the killing in Palestine, there is a proposed [Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia] (https://schillerinstitute.com/the-oasis-plan-the-larouche-solution-for-southwest-asia/ ) that has been discussed and endorsed by Israeli, Palestinian, and international representatives. I also endorse it. The question is, will you send me to Congress to fight for it?

Second, my congressional contribution to National Policy. We need a national grid of 42,000 miles of high-speed, electrified rail, traveling at speeds of 150 mph and greater, which will lead to the creation of new cities across the country. China already has more than 45,000 miles of such rail. We need to create millions, perhaps as many as 10 million new productive jobs, and these jobs will employ people in their late teens and 20s. This will require the most massive training program that the United States would’ve seen for decades, involving manufacturing, construction, machining, and engineering. There should be scientific and skilled labor exchanges between the United States and China and other nations that have successfully extracted hundreds of millions of people from poverty and built new cities.

Third, of the 200,000 housing units in the Bronx, at least 50,000 need to be significantly rehabilitated or rebuilt. New housing should replace dilapidated, slum-lord owned buildings which should just be torn down. Financial interests will oppose that. Who will fight?

Whether you vote for me, or whether you vote at all, the question before you here is the same as the one that faced an 87-year old woman in Spain. In her name, I make the same request she made, to all of you: “Please fight!” You have a choice: Dignity, or Subjugation. All people always have that choice.

My congressional campaign is about independence from corruption, cowardice, and neglect. In the days that are left, I intend to stand up, and I want you to join me and declare your independence from the consultants, donors, and lobbyists who have stolen your vote to protect the Epstein Class. [You can volunteer with my campaign, and donate to support our efforts.] (https://secure.votevega.nyc/donate )