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Platner drops out of crucial Senate race after bombshell rape allegation torpedoes campaign
Graham Platner drops out of Maine Senate race
Graham Platner announced Wednesday that he is dropping out of the Maine Senate race after an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape. He denied the allegation. (Credit: Graham Platner via X)
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Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, suspended his campaign on Wednesday amid mounting controversies and growing calls from top Democrats in his home state, in the nation’s capital, and across the country for him to immediately quit the race.
Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile, combustible and expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.
«For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,» Platner said in a video posted to social media.
Platner’s exit from the race comes five days before a crucial deadline, which, if he had missed, would have prevented Maine Democrats from replacing him with a new nominee on the general election ballot.
The suspension of his campaign took place one month after Platner won a landslide victory in Maine’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary, but just two days after an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated.
SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER CAPTURES DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINATION DESPITE MOUNTING CONTROVERSIES
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his primary election event in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9. (CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
Addressing those allegations, a visibly irritated Platner charged, «This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real.»
And Platner, who has run an outsider, anti-establishment campaign for nearly a year, pointed to the political class and argued, «the brutal political reality is they are going to take everything away from us.»
Platner said that if he continued his bid, he’d lose the ability to raise money and access crucial voter data, essential elements to any campaign.
«Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all the things that we need to run a campaign,» he charged.
Longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, following Platner’s announcement, said in a post on X, «Democrats are going to defeat Susan Collins, win Maine, and take back the Senate.»
The Marine Corps combat veteran and oyster farmer became the all-but-certain party nominee in the spring, after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who had been backed by Schumer and the Democratic establishment, suspended her bid after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
Two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills of Maine ended her 2026 Senate bid in the spring after trailing Graham Platner in public opinion polling and fundraising. (Getty Images)
Platner’s suspension of his campaign comes just before a 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, July 13, set by state law, for candidates to withdraw from the race.
Since Platner dropped out ahead of the deadline, the Maine Democratic Party will be able to replace him on the general election ballot. The party needs to select a new nominee by July 27.
If Platner had exited the race after the deadline, his name could be stricken from the ballot, but Maine Democrats would not be able to replace him with another candidate.
The Maine Democratic Party on Tuesday night, in a stunning announcement, said that party officials were working «around the clock» to determine a replacement process, but claimed that Platner and his team were trying «to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.»
Platner’s team, responding, said they had reached out to the party but denied they were trying to put any «finger on the scale.»
A couple of hours before Platner dropped out, the state party announced it would hold a nominating convention to choose a new Senate nominee, if Platner were to exit the race.
That didn’t appear to sit well with Platner, who in his video said, «What comes next needs to come from the people. Needs to come from the people of Maine. Needs to come from the voters who on June 9….said no to this kind of politics. Voted for a politics that would actually represent them. Vote against the political system. Against the donor class. Against the entrenched forces.»
«I’m not asking for how this process is going to work. I’m not trying to dictate to anyone how it should be or how we get there,» he emphasized. «But I will say this, it needs to be open, transparent, and democratic. It needs to be reflective of the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9. People in DC should stay in DC. Decisions should not be made in backrooms by people in places of political power.»
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner stood together during a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus on May 24, 2026, in Orono, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The allegation that triggered Platner’s exit from the race came from Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that «by dictionary definition» Platner «raped» her.
«I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,» Racicot said. «So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?»
Racicot also said over the course of three interviews with Politico that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago against her will, a claim that Platner denied in the Politico story. Additionally, the report says that a man Racicot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also corroborated by emails between Racicot and her therapist.
«I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,» Racicot told the outlet about the incident, which allegedly took place while Platner was «almost blackout drunk.» «I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’»
Racicot alleged that Platner entered her home uninvited and forced her to have unprotected sex despite her telling him to stop multiple times.
Graham Platner, the Democrats’ presumptive Senate nominee in Maine, holds an energy event in Ellsworth on May 11. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Racicot said in the report that «one of the reasons» she didn’t come forward until now was the «huge moral conflict» she had between her support of Platner’s politics and not supporting him «as a person.»
«I just want the truth out there,» Racicot said. «I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.»
In a statement to Politico, Platner said, «These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.»
The Platner campaign also posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations «false» and that he was going to «reflect» on the best path forward.
«So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,» Platner says in the video. «Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.»
Platner was hit with a second explosive allegation of sexual impropriety on Tuesday. In a report published by The Washington Post, Platner was accused of removing condoms during sex with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield after she explicitly directed him to wear them.
Fifield, 41, previously accused Platner of physical misconduct during their relationship, saying that he sometimes grabbed her hard enough to leave marks on her body and that one time he twisted her arm around her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut until she «calmed down.»
In a statement to The Washington Post, the Platner campaign said that Fifield’s latest allegations were «categorically false and politically motivated,» as they pointed to her previous work for the conservative Heritage Foundation.
And in his Wednesday night video, Platner reiterated that he wasn’t suspending his campaign «because of allegations. We’re doing it because of structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.»
One of the party organizations Platner railed against, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), pledged in a statement that it would «work tirelessly to ensure the new Democratic nominee has the infrastructure and resources to immediately turn their focus to the general election, and in November we will defeat Susan Collins and win a Senate majority.»
Meanwhile, Republicans quickly pounced after Platner’s announcement.
«Maine Democrats elected a rapist Nazi to be their nominee for Senate, and regardless of who they anoint next, Susan Collins will be re-elected in November,» National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell charged in a statement.
Alex Latchum, executive director of the Senate GOP-aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, argued that at the 11th hour, the Democrat Establishment has tipped the scales against Maine voters in an attempt to salvage their failing midterm strategy. Regardless of who Washington Democrats install, Senator Susan Collins will win in November.»
Moderate Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a vocal Platner critic, said in an interview Wednesday night on Fox News «Jesse Watters Primetime» that «the trash took itself out tonight.»
Platner was forced onto defense the past couple of months amid multiple controversies that muddied the final days of his primary campaign and overshadowed his victory.
Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.
Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue.
A day before the primary last month, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in a Washington Post op/ed that Platner «is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.»
The mounting controversies grabbed plenty of attention, gave Republicans more ammunition to use against him and triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods.
But the allegations didn’t stop him from riding a populist wave to capture the nomination.
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner and his wife, Amy Gertner, wave to supporters as they arrive at Platner’s primary election event in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9. (CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
Platner, who had acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.
But allegations from an ex-girlfriend raised questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
In his primary night victory speech, Platner emphasized that he was a changed man.
«If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,» Platner told the crowd. «And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.»
THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY
Rumors about Platner potentially dropping out started swirling this past weekend, as multiple events by the candidate were canceled without an official explanation. The Bangor Daily News reported on Monday that one organizer said an event was canceled due to Platner «not feeling well.»
The news of the canceled events led conservative outlets and pundits to speculate whether there was an underlying reason for the cancelations or an impending end to his campaign.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine stands for an interview with Fox News Digital, Feb. 10, in Washington, D.C. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Collins said in a statement, «These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.»
As Monday afternoon turned into Monday evening, a growing chorus of leading Democrats called on Platner to quit the race.
Schumer called the allegations in the Politico report «incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.»
In a statement with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer emphasized, «Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.»
Senate Majority PAC, the Schumer-aligned top super PAC backing Senate Democratic incumbents and candidates, said it was «redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race in light of the latest allegations against Graham Platner.»
The leadership of the Maine Democratic Party, in a statement, said it «is calling Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.»
One of Platner’s top supporters in Congress, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, rescinded his endorsement.
«I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,» Khanna wrote in a social media post.
Khanna, a top progressive leader in the House, told Fox News Digital as he campaigned with Platner in Maine days ahead of the primary that he was «concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that.»
«I talked to Graham, and he says he was at a very dark period. He had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it,» Khanna said last month.
Also dropping their endorsement on Monday was Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who along with Khanna is considered a potential 2028 White House hopeful.
«The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious,» Gallego wrote on X. «I am rescinding my endorsement.»
So did progressive champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had endorsed and appeared with Platner.
Our Revolution, a progressive political action organization founded by Sanders, announced it was withdrawing its endorsement of Platner.
On Tuesday, Sanders finally put out a statement.
«I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,» the senator wrote.
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Platner, who launched his bid for U.S. Senate last summer, quickly started drawing large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest earlier this year, thanks, in part, to Sanders’ early support and the candidate’s tireless efforts on the trail.
Two polls conducted late last month indicated a close general election contest. A Fox News poll gave Collins a three-point edge, while a New York Times/Siena survey indicated Platner holding a two-point margin.
But beating Collins hasn’t been easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by defeating then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.
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Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.
Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47 and flipping the Senate seat in left-leaning Maine is a key part of the Democrats’ path to retake the majority.
Fox News’ Olivia Palombo and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report
graham platner, politics, midterm elections, democrats elections, chuck schumer, maine, senate elections, democratic party
INTERNACIONAL
Agotados, con hambre y sin esperanza, miles de migrantes vuelven a Marruecos tras el fallido ingreso a Ceuta
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Reporter’s Notebook: Why Fauci’s 111 Fifth Amendment pleas could end up before the courts
GOP calls for Fauci contempt charges after wild COVID hearing
Dr. Anthony Fauci faces potential contempt charges and criminal referral from Senate Republicans after his contentious testimony. He invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times during questioning about the COVID-19 pandemic response. Senators Rand Paul and James Lankford, along with legal expert Jonathan Turley, discuss the legal hurdles and public frustration surrounding Fauci’s actions.
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Silence is golden.
But actions speak louder than words.
That’s the solution which Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., is engineering for the reticence of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment a staggering 111 times when appearing under subpoena before Paul’s panel this week.
Anthony Fauci declined to testify in a Senate committee hearing on his role in the U.S. response to COVID-19, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights. (Left (Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images), Right (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images))
RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES
The only words Fauci spoke were his invocation of the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his attorney. But the action promised by Paul is contempt of Congress.
«There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today,» warned Paul after Fauci invoked the Fifth. «The Committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so. It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress.»
But it’s not as though Fauci was completely mum during the entire hearing. He offered an opening statement before leaning on the Fifth Amendment as a shield for the next three hours.
«The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, ‘behind bars,’ unquote,» Fauci said. «Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.»
And then Fauci fell mute. He ignored questions about his diary, inquiries about what ignited the pandemic, even interrogatives about the mundane.
Fauci said Rand Paul, who recently released more than 1,000 pages of his personal diary entries, has an «obvious obsession» with pushing for his prosecution. (CNN)
TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS
«What day of the week is it today?» asked Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
Hawley wasn’t done.
«What color tie are you’re wearing?» Hawley continued. «What is the color of the carpeting?»
From a legal standpoint, there is logic behind Hawley’s banal inquiries. These are carefully designed questions which a good prosecutor might ask a witness to trip them up.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks in front of a board with an image of Anthony Fauci, the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and medical advisor to several U.S. presidents, as Fauci (not pictured) attends a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 29, 2026. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
To wit: If Fauci had already invoked the Fifth Amendment, why is he suddenly answering questions about the calendar, his tie or carpeting? If Fauci replied «Wednesday,» «blue» or «green» as answers to Hawley’s queries, Paul could have asserted that the Fifth Amendment shield no longer applied. Thus, the committee, or the courts, should compel Fauci to respond to any question.
By the same token, Republicans argued that Fauci should have been able to answer such trite questions from Hawley because they had nothing to do with the proceedings. It’s kind of a «we win, you lose» proposition for the GOP.
Yet Fauci never deviated from the script, invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times.
CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY
By the way, Fauci’s repetitive legal recitation of the Fifth is not a Senate record. In 1958, mob boss Vito Genovese appeared before a Senate panel investigating organized crime. Genovese established the mark, invoking the Fifth a stupefying 150 times.
Republicans don’t think that Fauci had any right to invoke the Fifth even once, considering his pardon from former President Joe Biden. On one hand, they asserted he should be free to testify. Democrats took issue with that.
«I’m not surprised that he pled the Fifth because the objective is to put him in jeopardy of criminal prosecution,» said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. «So the more prudent course was to claim the Fifth Amendment.»
Hawley saw it differently, citing the 1896 Supreme Court case Brown v. Walker.
In the late 19th Century, the Supreme Court granted auditor Theodore Brown immunity to testify in a railway rate-fixing case. But Brown still refused to testify. However, the High Court ruled that Brown had to speak. Writing for the majority, Justice Henry Billings Brown (no relation), who also wrote the opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, declared the following:
«If it be once conceded that the fact that his testimony may tend to bring the witness into disrepute, though not to incriminate him, does not entitle him to the privilege of silence, it necessarily follows that, if it also tends to incriminate, but at the same time operates as a pardon for the offense, the fact that the disgrace remains no more entitles him to immunity in this case than in the other.»
Translation: What you have to say may be embarrassing. But if you enjoy the privilege of immunity, you still have to cough up the goods, despite the Fifth Amendment.
Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that oversaw tax-exempt groups, apologized for the targeting scandal and eventually resigned. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
How Fauci conducted himself in the hearing runs parallel to former IRS official Lois Lerner’s conduct in 2014. Republicans believed that Lerner blocked groups affiliated with the Tea Party from tax-exempt status or targeted them for scrutiny. At a 2014 House Oversight Committee hearing, Lerner delivered an opening statement. She then invoked the Fifth.
The full House later voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for not answering questions and referred her to the Justice Department for prosecution. The DOJ, then operating under the administration of former President Barack Obama, did not take action against Lerner.
Whether or not DOJ prosecutes contempt of Congress often comes down to which party on Capitol Hill is doing the referring, and which party controls the Justice Department.
For instance, the Republican House referred former Attorney General Eric Holder to the DOJ for contempt of Congress in 2012. But it was Holder who ran the Justice Department. So that was a dead letter.
The Democratic House referred White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the DOJ in 2008. But the administration of former President George W. Bush was simply not going to prosecute its own lead attorney at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, left, and former Trump adviser Peter Navarro. (Getty Images)
The Democratic House held Trump administration figures Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. Naturally, the Biden Justice Department prosecuted that duo.
So could Fauci face prosecution from the Trump Justice Department after a referral from the Republican-led Senate?
The Lerner case bears further study. The Obama DOJ declined to prosecute Lerner because she asserted her Fifth Amendment rights — but after her opening statement. Fauci did the same. Would the Trump administration perceive Fauci’s protocol at the hearing through a similar lens?
Paul will ask his committee to prep a resolution holding Fauci in contempt of Congress in the coming days. But the full Senate must approve such a measure before sending it to the DOJ for possible prosecution.
It’s easier to adopt a contempt of Congress resolution in the House because it only requires a simple majority. The same is true in the Senate. But it must also clear a filibuster, which needs 60 votes. That’s why contempt of Congress citations are more prevalent in the House than the Senate.
But Paul believes he has a workaround.
«I plan on sending it directly with the legal brief supporting the argument to the Department of Justice,» Paul told Fox News.
It’s then up to DOJ to prosecute Fauci or not.
Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci listens during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on July 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Fauci declined to answer questions, asserting his Fifth Amendment right. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
However, in his same appearance on Fox, Paul said he had «sent a criminal referral on Anthony Fauci twice under Biden and twice under Trump.»
President Donald Trump’s DOJ hasn’t prosecuted Fauci before. But would prosecutors see it differently after Fauci’s performance at the hearing?
That brings us back to Lerner.
She invoked the Fifth Amendment and the DOJ did not prosecute. That establishes a precedent. Would the Trump DOJ follow that model? Or are we in for what could be a lengthy, perhaps seminal court battle about whether Fauci was in the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment? That may trigger a legal fight over his pardon from Biden — and perhaps what the High Court ruled in Brown v. Walker.
We’ll know when or if the DOJ takes action. In the case of Fauci, silence may be golden. But in this instance, it may be up to the courts to determine if it’s legal.
anthony fauci, congress, politics, rand paul, hearings
INTERNACIONAL
España refuerza su frontera con Marruecos tras la crisis migratoria en Ceuta que dejó al menos 67 muertos
La ciudad de Ceuta, enclave español en el norte de África, atravesó horas críticas luego de que casi 60.000 migrantes cruzaran la frontera desde Marruecos en apenas unos días, lo que desató una crisis diplomática y llevó al Gobierno español a reforzar la frontera con nuevas vallas.
El viernes por la noche, el Gobierno aseguró que “la práctica totalidad” de los migrantes ya había regresado a Marruecos, estimando en 48.000 las personas que volvieron en los últimos días. Sin embargo, la crisis dejó al menos 67 muertos en el intento de llegar al enclave, según datos del Gobierno local.
“En menos de 48 horas, la situación en Ceuta ya no tiene nada que ver y la normalidad se está alcanzando”, declaró el ministro del Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, durante una rueda de prensa en la ciudad autónoma de Ceuta. Más de 60.000 migrantes llegaron a Ceuta en los últimos días. (Foto: REUTERS/Jon Nazca).
Este sábado, la ciudad amaneció cubierta de niebla y con grupos de jóvenes que seguían intentando regresar a Marruecos, bajo la atenta mirada de militares y agentes de la Guardia Civil. Los efectivos españoles no dudaron en empujar a quienes avanzaban lentamente, en medio de un clima de tensión.
La llegada masiva de migrantes, en su mayoría hombres jóvenes y adolescentes en busca de un futuro mejor, se produjo tanto a nado como saltando las vallas fronterizas.
El Ministerio del Interior anunció la instalación de una nueva barrera neumática en el espigón que delimita la frontera, una de las dos terrestres entre África y la Unión Europea (la otra es Melilla).
Europa endureció controles y creció la tensión política
El impacto de la crisis se sintió en toda la Unión Europea, con duras críticas de partidos de derecha y extrema derecha. En Italia, el Gobierno de Giorgia Meloni anunció la suspensión del tratado de libre circulación de la UE para ciudadanos no europeos que lleguen desde España, aunque aclaró que la medida no afecta a los españoles.
Más de 48.000 migrantes ya volvieron a Marruecos. (Foto: REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer).
Francia, por su parte, multiplicó por cinco la presencia de policías y gendarmes en la frontera con España. El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores español, José Manuel Albares, denunció la “confusión interesada” y recordó que no se puede cruzar de Ceuta a la Europa continental sin pasar por controles policiales.
En medio de la polémica, Pedro Sánchez defendió una política migratoria abierta y pidió a sus socios europeos evitar divisiones, aunque reconoció que Ceuta fue escenario de una “violación y ataque a la integridad territorial de España”.
El drama de los migrantes y el recuerdo de crisis anteriores
Muchos de los migrantes que llegaron a Ceuta buscaban una oportunidad para trabajar y mejorar su vida. “Todos sabemos que en África no hay muchas oportunidades. Así que esperamos ir a Europa para poder trabajar y ganarnos la vida”, contó Souleil Boyan, un joven senegalés de 19 años que llevaba cinco meses en Marruecos antes de cruzar.
Soufian, un marroquí de 42 años que entró nadando en Ceuta, afrmó: “¿Invasión? No. Eso es mentira. Toda la gente [de Marruecos] quiere subir, quiere un futuro bien, que no hay en Marruecos. Yo ahora mismo estaba trabajando de guardia de seguridad, 12 horas. ¿Y cuánto me pagan al día? 10 euros”, explicó. España devolvió a la mayoría de los migrantes a Marruecos. (Foto: REUTERS/Jon Nazca).
La situación superó a la crisis de mayo de 2021, cuando más de 10.000 personas cruzaron la frontera en dos días, tras una flexibilización de los controles por parte de Rabat en medio de una disputa diplomática con España.
A qué se debe la crisis migratoria
Pedro Sánchez dijo que las “mafias que trafican con seres humanos” habían hecho una “lectura interesada” de una sentencia del Tribunal Supremo español del 8 de julio, que dictaminó que las llamadas “devoluciones en caliente” (devolver de forma inmediata a un migrante que cruza irregularmente la frontera sin abrirle un procedimiento administrativo de expulsión) no se aplican en el caso de las llegadas por mar.
Según la sentencia, esta “devolución exprés” solo puede aplicarse a las personas que rebasen “los elementos de contención fronterizos establecidos, como las vallas”, pero no a quienes lo hagan por mar, como hicieron en los últimos días muchas de las personas que llegaron a Ceuta.
Los analistas también apuntan que las crisis migratorias recurrentes y el supuesto laxismo de las fuerzas de seguridad marroquíes para “abrir las puertas” serían un arma de presión diplomática, ya que Marruecos reivindica su soberanía sobre Ceuta y Melilla desde su independencia en 1956.
España denunció una actitud “egoísta” de algunos países de la UE y
En una carta, Sánchez denunció el sábado la actitud “egoísta” de algunos países de la Unión Europea ante la crisis migratoria y reclamó una reunión por videoconferencia de los ministros del Interior de los Veintisiete.
“Una actitud así —motivada por prejuicios, informaciones falsas, ignorancia o intereses políticos— no solo es contraria al derecho europeo, al derecho humanitario y a los principios de solidaridad que nos unen, sino que también va en contra de los intereses a largo plazo de Europa”, escribió.
España, migrantes
La Joaqui, a pocos días de anunciar su separación de Luck Ra: “Nunca más en la vida le creo nada a un hombre”
El Gobierno fiscalizará el paro docente con agencias territoriales y aplicará sanciones si no se cumple el servicio mínimo
Cuánto subió la tasa del préstamo del FMI desde 2022 y qué falta para poder acceder al cargo mínimo
Francia cambia su escudo para dar paso a la nueva era
Agotados, con hambre y sin esperanza, miles de migrantes vuelven a Marruecos tras el fallido ingreso a Ceuta
“Lo estamos monitoreando”: por la crisis en Ceuta, el Gobierno no descarta realizar más cambios en la política migratoria
El BCRA cortó la racha de compra y en el mercado vuelan rumores de maniobras para frenar al dólar
World-famous Catholic shrine torched, ‘Devil in a skirt’ scrawled on Virgin Mary statue
La aprobación del Gobierno cayó en julio según distintas encuestas, en sintonía con el índice de la universidad Di Tella
Cuánto cuesta vivir solo en Argentina y qué sueldo necesita un joven para independizarse
INTERNACIONAL3 días agoTrump admin invokes 30-year dormant terror court as it seeks to deport Afghan woman tied to Election Day plot
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Dem senator swipes credit for bill he opposed amid heated reelection bid: ‘Disturbing pattern’
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Le pedimos a ChatGPT, Gemini y Claude que dijeran en qué acciones argentinas invertir y así nos fue
