Who is who in the PSOE of Argentina, epicenter of the Nietos Law
The controversy over what is known as Grandchildren Law has occupied the center of the political debate these days, after various information that reveals the scope of the norm, approved in 2022 by the socialist Government. OKDIARIO has revealed the political intention of the law, which has one of its cardinal points in Argentinawhere a million descendants They aspire to obtain a Spanish passport. The PSOE has deployed an intense campaign in this country, aimed at mobilizing the grandchildren – and great-great-grandchildren – of Spanish emigrants to apply for nationality, also aware of their voting potential. This newspaper revealed, for example, the strategy of capturing the vote of descendants registered in the “small provinces”where fewer ballots distance the socialists from the Popular Party.
This was revealed, in a meeting at the headquarters of the Argentine PSOE, by consultant Facundo Cruz, after the 2023 general elections. This political scientist and electoral analyst made a precise observation about the elections, warning of the importance of voting in smaller provinces. Provinces that can “consolidate majorities” in “contested scenarios” such as Spain and undermine the results of Núñez Feijóo’s party. «The foreign vote can give seats (to the PSOE) in the provinces girls and, thus, taking the majority away from the PP,” says this researcher.
The Grandchildren Law was conceived to grant Spanish nationality to the descendants of exiles, as stated in the self-named Democratic Memory Law. However, it was the instruction approved by Sofía Puente, general director of Legal Security and Public Faith of the Ministry of Justice, that completely changed the dimensions of the norm: it began to apply, in practice, to almost any descendant of any Spanish emigrant. This has caused distant relatives -great-grandchildren- of emigrants from the end of the 19th century have also claimed Spanish nationality, as this newspaper has revealed.
Lorena Suarezwho was general secretary of the PSOE of Argentina until 2024, explained in a radio interview how this law was created, confirming that the vocation was to compensate the descendants of victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship.
It was later, once approved in the Cortes, when it was expanded, making room for any descendant who accredited “a blood tie” with a Spanish ancestor.
«When the law comes out, both the groups of politicians and some who had been fighting for nationality we got to work so that that instructive was as wide as possibleand it was achieved,” Suárez revealed in statements published by this newspaper. “Many are searching their family tree to see if there is a Spanish great-grandfather or great-grandmother,” he concluded.
The result? According to the latest updated data, 2.6 million people They have applied for nationality and it has already been resolved favorably 557,709 files.