Zaida Cantera
Zaida Cantera de Castro (born 6 June 1977) is a Spanish retired military officer and politician currently affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). She has been a deputy for Madrid in the 11th and 12th Legislatures.[1]
Zaida Cantera | |
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Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
Assumed office 5 January 2016 | |
Constituency | Madrid |
Personal details | |
Born | Zaida Cantera de Castro 6 June 1977 Madrid, Spain |
Political party | PSOE |
Alma mater | General Military Academy |
Occupation | Politician, military officer |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Spain |
Branch/service | Army |
Years of service | 2003–2015 |
Rank | Major |
Unit | Engineers and Signals Corps |
Awards |
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Military career
Zaida Cantera entered the General Military Academy in 1997, receiving her specialization in Signals at the Engineers and Signals School, where she graduated in 2003, receiving her commission as lieutenant. She also holds master's degrees in Networks and Information Systems and Communication and Information Systems for Security and Defense.[2]
She was assigned to the Signals Unit of the Armored Brigade and participated in international missions such as the conflicts in Kosovo and Lebanon, reaching the rank of major in the Army. After returning from the latter country she began to suffer sexual harassment from a superior, a fact that she denounced before the Central Military Court. In 2014, she requested her departure from the Armed Forces and was definitively discharged in 2015.[3] Cantera recounted these episodes of harassment in the book No, mi general, in co-authorship with UPyD deputy Irene Lozano.[4]
Political career
On 20 December 2015, Cantera was elected a member of the Congress of Deputies as part of the PSOE list for Madrid.[1][4] In the investiture vote of Mariano Rajoy, she was one of the 15 socialist MP's not that abstained from voting against the party lines,[5] and she joined the PSOE on 5 January 2017 in order to vote in the primaries of the 39th federal congress in favor of Pedro Sánchez.[6]
References
- "Cantera de Castro, Zaida" (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- "Los quince 'díscolos' del PSOE, entre ellos la palentina Martínez Seijo" [The PSOE's Fifteen 'Rebels', Among Them the Palentine Martínez Seijo]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Madrid. EFE. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- Lázaro, Fernando (30 September 2015). "Pensión máxima para Zaida Cantera por acoso sexual" [Maximum Pension for Zaida Cantera for Sexual Harassment]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- "La excomandante Zaida Cantera, número seis del PSOE por Madrid" [The Ex-Comandante Zaida Cantera, the PSOE's Number Six in Madrid]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- "Rajoy, investido presidente gracias a la abstención de todos los diputados del PSOE excepto 15" [Rajoy Invested as President Thanks to the Abstention of all PSOE Deputies Except 15]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 29 October 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- "Zaida Cantera ya es militante del PSOE y podrá votar en las primarias a Pedro Sánchez" [Zaida Cantera is Now a Militant of the PSOE and May Vote for Pedro Sánchez in the Primaries] (in Spanish). Madrid. Europa Press. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.