The government delegate to the Community of Madrid, Francisco Martín, today attended the inauguration of the new general director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González. The event, under the chairmanship of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, took place in the Patio de Armas of the General Directorate of the Corps. Previously, the new director had promised her position in the Ministry of the Interior.
Grande-Marlaska praised the new General Director, to whom she has transferred all her support to face “the great responsibility” of directing “one of the few institutions that can boast of such a long trajectory and one of the most valued” by the Spanish. “The weight of its history is one of its greatest strengths, a power that its women and men use to always look forward,” the minister said. In his speech, Grande-Marlaska encouraged González to imprint his personal stamp and choose the most appropriate way to achieve the objectives that society demands, and which has condensed in the protection of the free exercise of the rights and freedoms of citizens, “especially of the most vulnerable”, and in the maintenance of the social and democratic state of law, “the diverse and plural model of coexistence that enriches us so much,” he said.
For her part, the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, has stressed that González is going to work “tirelessly” for the Civil Guard. “The leadership of the Civil Guard is one of the most important positions that you can have serving Spain,” said the minister.
In her first official speech as general director of the Corps, González, ex-delegate of the Government in Madrid, has praised the Civil Guard as “a key piece to build a more just and egalitarian society.” Recalling its constitutional purpose of defending rights and freedoms and its mission to guarantee citizen security, he affirmed that “the Civil Guard is the guarantee of the proximity of the State” to citizens. Mercedes González assumes the position of general director “with immense pride” after the resignation of her predecessor, María Gámez, from whom she has stressed “her honesty and honesty”.