Contracorriente

El 8 de enero del 2002 el prestigioso espacio Documentos TV que dirigió en La 2 de TVE Pedro Erquicia iba a emitir un reportaje con el título 'Contracorriente' en el que se explicaban los peligros y efectos para la salud relacionados con las líneas de alta tensión, las subestaciones eléctricas y las antenas de telefonía móvil.

Nunca llegó a emitirse, fue censurado. Meses después de la grabación del reportaje una de las niñas del "caso Valladolid" falleció como consecuencia de la leucemia que sufría.

El documental, a día de hoy, sigue sin emitirse pese a los cambios de Gobierno y del equipo directivo de TVE.

Este es un fragmento de una entrevista Sept.-Oct. 2008 hecha a Pedro Barbadillo en el nº 71 de la revista ATHANOR

-Hiciste un documental sobre un campo de antenas de Valladolid, que estaban al lado de un colegio y que presuntamente dieron lugar a casos de cáncer entre algunos niños. Estabais a punto de emitir el documental, que a última hora se vetó...

PEDRO: Sí, se tituló Contra Corriente, y se vetó. Durante un par de semanas el tema se había puesto de actualidad; yo lo interpreté como que estaban de vacaciones los gabinetes de influencia, porque los gabinetes de influencia influyen, no es solo el nombre. Hicimos uno que despues se llamó Carga Tóxica, sobre las sustancias quimicas nocivas en la vida cotidiana, y durante la fase de edición recibiamos llamadas permanentes; cada día 20 ó 30 llamadas con amenazas de gabinetes jurídicos para que no saliera adelante. Pero en este caso de las antenas durante 10 días los gabinetes de influencia de la empresa de telecomunicaciones estaban de vacaciones; el 7 de enero volvieron e hicieron que la ministra saliera en televisión diciendo: "es un bulo, eso no es verdad", y tal. Y claro, el director de Informativos de Televisión, si su ministra dice que no pasa nada, pues dijo su frase: "Esto no lo podemos emitir porque no podemos desmentir a nuestra ministra." El problema no era la ministra, ni era el director de Informativos de Televisión Española; era que las empresas de telecomunicaciones no querían que ese tema siguiera adelante porque cuestionaría el mayor negocio de la historia: el teléfono móvil.

-Sin embargo el documental tuvo exito ¿en qué país?

PEDRO: Contra Corriente ha tenido un recorrido casi underground; empezaron a circular copias en DVD que se han difundido enormemente. Yo he recibido mails de todas las partes del mundo: de Chile, de Colombia, etcétera. El casoo de Nicaragua fué especialmente significativo como victoria, como muestra de que la manipulación o la censura no consiguen impedor que las cosas se sepan: hubo un grupo de activistas medioambientales de Nicaragua que se apropiaron del documental, lo reeditaron a su gusto y metiendo entrevistas con gente de allí. O sea que aprovecharon la parte más teórica de los físicos e investigadores que trabajan sobre el electromágnetismo y metieron su parte, hicieron su edición y lo introdujeron en la Comisión del Parlamento nicaragüense, que tenia que decidir la ley que regulaba las telecomunicaciones. Y por lo visto el impacto de ese documental, y sobre todo el caso de las cinco niñas de Valladolid con cáncer, les convenció para no dejar que se colocaran antenas en el centro de las ciudades de Nicaragua. Fué una victoria del movimiento ecologista de Nicaragua que a mí me llena de orgullo, por la medida en que pude contribuir. Yo creo que el destino de los censores es ser sobrepasados por la realidad; creo que esta es la gran lección de todo esto.

On January 8, 2002, the prestigious Documentos TV space that Pedro Erquicia directed at La 2 de TVE was going to broadcast a report with the title 'Contracorriente' in which the dangers and health effects related to high voltage lines, electrical substations and mobile phone antennas were explained.

It never aired, it was censored. Months after the recording of the report one of the girls of the "Valladolid case" died as a result of the leukemia she was suffering.

The documentary, to this day, remains unaired despite the changes of government and the management team of TVE.

This is an excerpt from an interview Sept.-Oct. 2008 made to Pedro Barbadillo in the 71st issue of ATHANOR magazine

-You made a documentary about a field of antennas in Valladolid, which were next to a school and allegedly led to cases of cancer among some children. You were about to broadcast the documentary, which was vetoed at the last minute...

PEDRO: Yes, it was titled Against the Current, and it was vetoed. For a couple of weeks the topic had become topical; I interpreted it as the cabinets of influence were on vacation, because the cabinets of influence influence, it's not just the name. We made one that was later called Carga Toxica, about harmful chemical substances in everyday life, and during the editing phase we received constant calls; every day 20 or 30 calls with threats from legal offices so that it would not go ahead. But in this case of the antennas for 10 days the influence cabinets of the telecommunications company were on vacation; on January 7 they came back and made the minister go on TELEVISION saying: "It's a hoax, that's not true," and such. And of course, the director of Television News, if his minister says that nothing is wrong, then he said his sentence: "We can't broadcast this because we can't deny our minister."The problem was not the minister, nor was it the director of Spanish Television News; it was that the telecommunications companies did not want that issue to go forward because it would question the biggest business in history: the mobile phone.

-However the documentary was successful in which country?

PEDRO: Contra Corriente has had an almost underground tour; DVD copies began to circulate that have spread enormously. I have received emails from all over the world: from Chile, Colombia, etc. The case of Nicaragua was especially significant as a victory, as a sign that manipulation or censorship do not prevent things from being known: there was a group of environmental activists from Nicaragua who appropriated the documentary, re-edited it to their liking and putting interviews with people there. That is, they took advantage of the most theoretical part of the physicists and researchers who work on electromagnetism and put their part, made their edition and introduced it to the Commission of the Nicaraguan Parliament, which had to decide the law regulating telecommunications. And apparently the impact of that documentary, and especially the case of the five girls from Valladolid with cancer, convinced them not to let antennas be placed in the city centers of Nicaragua. It was a victory of the Nicaraguan environmental movement that fills me with pride, for the extent to which I was able to contribute. I think the fate of censors is to be overtaken by reality; I think this is the great lesson of all this.

https://asanacem.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-contra-corriente.html

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