Bertrand Ndongo

Yves Bertrand Ndongo[1] (born c. 1990)[2] is a Cameroonian activist for the Spanish political party Vox. He has been nicknamed in the media and in self-reference[3] as "El Negro de Vox" (Vox's Black Guy). Since 2019, he has been a consultant to Rocío Monasterio, the party's leader in the Community of Madrid. Ndongo is known for a direct and crude style of debate,[1] and has been banned from Twitter several times for offensive content.[4][5][6]

Biography

Ndongo's father was an educated and well-off man who worked for UNICEF. When his mother left the family due to her husband's infidelity, he was raised by relatives and at times by church institutions. While in neighbouring Gabon, he began a relationship with a Spanish missionary. Aged 20 in 2010, he moved to Spain with his pregnant partner and became a cleaner in Alcorcón, Community of Madrid, eventually rising to management. As of 2019, he is a father of three.[2]

Ndongo joined Vox because he considered them to have forthright views that reflected his values. He supports limiting migration to Spain and closing down illegal immigration due to the risks at sea, modern slavery in Libya and the dangerous lives that undocumented people end up in on arrival in Spain.[2]

In early 2019, Ndongo gained attention for appearing on the Espejo Público programme on Antena 3 in which he denied the existence of racism in Spain; he said it was ironic that his opponent Elisa Beni, a white woman, was saying the opposite. He believes that the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Podemos exaggerate racism to obtain black people's votes. He supports migrant hawkers being regularised and becoming taxpayers, rather than living off charity.[1]

In December 2019, Ndongo, who had built up a following on YouTube, became a consultant to Rocío Monasterio, Vox's leader in the Community of Madrid. In the same month, he criticised King Felipe VI for lacking "balls" for having made a Christmas speech in which he called for Spain not to fall into the "extremes of the past"; this reaction differed greatly from Vox's official reaction.[7]

Also in December 2019, Ndongo made headlines for his reaction to a gang rape of a minor by players of the Arandina CF football team. He wrote on Twitter "These girls consume alcohol, smoke and upload to Instagram photos of their arses and their thongs, but when things happen later we call them minors",[8] and said "Today I woke up with the sensation that any woman can drop my sons in the shit and ruin their lives whenever she feels like it".[9] He also uploaded audio from the victim.[10] In 2021, this was investigated by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).[11]

In February 2020, Ndongo was suspended from Twitter for video clips in which he said that left-wing women are sexually unsatisfied as they lack virile men in their lives.[4] Nine months later, he was suspended again for spreading fake news in which he used an unrelated photograph from Algeria to implicate Arabs in the looting of a Lacoste store in Logroño.[5] In May 2023, his account was suspended again for a post that mocked the disability of Unidas Podemos politician Pablo Echenique; he said that Echenique could not call Vox lazy if he "can't even get his dick out to piss".[6]

In April 2021, Ndongo strongly criticised Vox for their threat to deport Serigné Mbayé, a Madrid deputy for Unidas Podemos who was born in Senegal and naturalised as a Spaniard.[12]

See also

References
  1. Berberana, Elena (13 March 2019). "El camerunés que apoya a Vox: "Hermanos negros, los progres del PSOE y Podemos os utilizan"" [The Cameroonian who supports Vox: "Black brothers, PSOE and Podemos progressives are using you"] (in Spanish). Libertad Digital. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  2. Parejo Blanco, Joaquín (19 June 2019). "Bertrand Ndongo, el camerunés militante de Vox" [Bertrand Ndongo, the Cameroonian Vox activist] (in Spanish). Alcorcón Hoy. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. "Twitter suspende la cuenta de Bertrand Ndongo, el 'negro de Vox'". El Español (in Spanish). 19 February 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022. El camerunés, más conocido como el negro de Vox —un apelativo que él mismo emplea recurrentemente—, [The Cameroonian, better known as Vox's Black Guy —a nickname that he himself employs frequently]
  4. "Twitter suspende la cuenta a Bertrand Ndongo, 'el negro de Vox'" [Twitter suspends the account of Bertrand Ndongo, 'Vox's Black Guy']. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 19 February 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  5. Duva, Raquel (2 November 2020). "Twitter bloquea la cuenta del asesor de Vox Bertrand Ndongo por lanzar bulos racistas" [Twitter blocks the account of Vox consultant Berntrand Ndongo for starting racist fake news]. NIUS (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  6. Corral, Marta (1 May 2023). "El insulto de Bertrand Ndongo a Echenique que ha censurado Twitter: "Es repugnante y peligroso"" [Bertrand Ndongo's insult towards Echenique that Twitter has censored: "It's repugnant and dangerous"]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. "El nuevo asesor de Rocío Monasterio critica al Rey y le pide que le eche "huevos"" [Rocío Monasterio's new consultant criticises the King and asks him to get "balls"] (in Spanish). El Plural. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  8. "Vomitivo pero real: un militante de Vox justifica la violación de los jugadores de la Arandina" [Sickening but real: a Vox activist justifies the rape by the Arandina players]. Público (in Spanish). 15 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  9. Jaenes, Marta; Márquez, Rosa (11 February 2021). ¿Cerró usted las piernas?: Contra la cultura de la violación (in Spanish). Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España. ISBN 978-84-17809-80-5. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  10. "El 'negro de Vox' filtra los audios de la víctima del Arandina en Twitter" ['Vox's Black Guy' uploads audio from the Arandina victim to Twitter] (in Spanish). El Plural. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  11. "La AEPD investiga la difusión de audios de la víctima del Caso Arandina" [AEPD investigates the sharing of audio from the victim of the Arandina Case] (in Spanish). Burgos Conecta. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  12. "Bertrand Ndongo, asesor de Vox, se rebela contra su partido: "Damos la razón a los que piensan que Vox es racista"" [Bertrand Ndongo, Vox consultant, rebels against his party: "We're giving fuel to those who think Vox is racist"]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  13. Macías, C. S. (13 June 2020). "Garriga, harto de ser "el negro de Vox": "Solo me arrodillo ante Dios"" [Garriga, tired of being "Vox's Black Guy": "I only get on my knees before God"]. La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2022.
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