The deleted Preface written by Gonçalo Amaral for Paulo Reis' eBook: "The McCann's War"

Gonçalo Amaral wrote this Preface for Paulo Reis' book 'The McCanns' War' but following a disagreement Paulo deleted it. Fortunately I'd kept it.

PREFACE

The mysterious disappearance of a blue-eyed, blonde British child in a southern European country has turned into a tremendous Media case, largely because of a marketing strategy centered on the immaculate image of the parents, their exoneration, and a fierce attack on all those who, in the use of their right to opinion and freedom of expression, dare to put the kidnapping thesis for pedophile purposes in cause, but mainly because the investigation did not followed its normal course, that is, to cover all hypotheses, which twelve years later remain open.

The strategy of the parents of the child mysteriously disappeared presents dogmatic traces of truths similar to a new religion based on that immaculate image and not subject to scrutiny. Someone has already said that the truth of those parents has more force than the truth revealed by the "Messiahs" of monotheistic religions, Christians, Jews or Muslims.
As parents, they claim that there is no evidence of their daughter's death, as defendants they say that there is no evidence to blame them for the mysterious disappearance, as she was abducted in a planned manner by an international pedophile network, as claimants in a claim for compensation in the value of 1.2 million Euros they argue that any opinion contrary to their opinion will put at risk the survival of Madeleine and make impossible to found her. With the decision to file the investigation, they were cleared of any liability, following a second investigation that had been carried out until October 2007.

From a very early stage, their war strategically used the Media and the potential of the Internet, in order to discredit all those who dare to have an opinion contrary to their own, even if based on facts which, despite the millions of Euros spent, have never been questioned and still have evidence and have probationary force. We do not discuss the evidence of the death of the unhappy child, this can not be the center of the investigation of her mysterious disappearance. This kind of investigation must have a beginning, a middle and an end, in a normal zigzagging of any and all criminal investigations. In the end, the facts will speak for themselves.

But, as the couple's spokesman said in an interview conducted by Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio 5 Live on 7 January 2011, this lack of evidence of death motivates them to investigate the mysterious disappearance: "Yet it is possible that she is alive because there is no evidence that has arisen that she is not and that is the whole basis upon which research and private investigation continues to this day. In the absence of anything that suggests that they have done her any harm or, as you suggest, that she has been killed, and there is no evidence to suggest this ... ". But this seems to be not just an instinct: "My instinct has been, and so it continues, that there is a possibility of she being alive and it is on this basis that we do all this."

As far as the truth is concerned, that any opinion contrary to that of the parents puts at risk the child's survival, hindering and calling into question their efforts to find and recover her, we only say that a causal link can not be established between a free and responsible opinion based on facts and something emotionally idealized. On the other hand, it is easier to establish this same causality, more nefariously, between advertising and marketing by parents of the mark of the child's eye (the iris coloboma) and the fragile probabilities of survival. Publicizing it, as it was done, that mark was, somehow, destining the child to death.

Their parental warfare strategy followed the guidelines contained in the long-term absentee family guide produced by the US authorities, keeping alive the idea of recovering her, but introducing profound deviations from the objectives and purposes of such a Guide and expected behavior. One of these deviations was the attacks on me, the attempts to silence me and to discredit me. As an example, read the statement of the parents of the mysteriously disappeared child published on Oprah Winfrey's website, on October 7, 2009: "We have decided to take action against the Portuguese police investigator Gonçalo Amaral after reaching a point of 'already enough'. His unfortunate theories (without any evidence to support them) have greatly (and cruelly) harmed the search for Madeleine, particularly in Portugal, where it seems most likely to reside the key piece of information. A precautionary measure was obtained in September against his book and DVD, which promoted his theories (and gave him a lot of money). This is a significant and much-needed achievement, and we hope that the public will now begin to doubt his credibility and their motives (if they did not doubt it yet..) and start believing that there is a very good possibility that Madeleine is alive and needs of being found."

As it turns out, the main purpose was the desire of the public to begin to doubt my credibility and the reasons that forced me to write the book "Maddie: The Truth of The Lie." As a secondary interest, let such a public begin to believe in the possibility of the child being alive. Look at the work of the detective firm Metodo 3 and other incompetents, in British press articles, of illustrious Portuguese opinion-makers, of the spokesman for the parents and the use of crisis management and public relations companies, an area where the UK leads the world, and we will have proof of my disbelieving as part of the strategy of their war.

One of the public relations companies used would have been "Hanover", which would have worked for the parents of the child mysteriously missing after his return to the UK, in September 2007, at a time when they were "overwhelmed by the interest of the Media "and that company decided to "manage the Media proactively, giving them a new angle to the story, every day." As a result, "after having been provided with positive stories to report, the Media stopped the unfounded rumors and harassment of family and friends” and that company succeeded in achieving its ultimate goal: "Coverage has gone from hostility to parents for the sympathy with their ordeal”, as the words of the spokesman parents said. "Hanover" carried out a successful campaign, having won the crisis communication category of the CIPR 2008 awards.

The aforementioned spokesman of the couple then said: "In the midst of the most complete chaos of demands of the Media, 'Hanover' brought us order, clarity of thought and professional calm. Without this team, it would not have been possible to deal with the Media, Press, Radio and Television. " Excellent, for those who worked only for money, no worries about the truth of the facts.

In Portugal, the parents of the child also contracted the services of public relations companies, as was the case of "Lift". Question: Why the need of these public relations companies? The answer lies in the ethical code used by them: "Communication and Public Relations consultancies are professional service providers that help clients influence opinions, attitudes and behaviors."

Influencing opinions, attitudes and behaviors is the main objective of the public relations companies and this is the strategy of the child parents war. At the end, what is at stake is a principle that is meant to be true: "Only 'outsiders', eccentrics, people who want to get some financial gain, crazy and malicious people, who do not believe in the parents of the mysteriously disappeared child, or those that assume that they are anti-parents, show that they can fit into one of these categories of worthless people.”

Stereotypes were created and those who had an opinion contrary to the parents were slotted into them, without any attempt to understand what in fact happened. The friends were not looked at, nor was the possibility of any wrongdoing among them raised. The friends – who also admitted neglecting their children – were protected by the British Media and authorities. Only what the parents and their “staff” say is important. The rest is ignored, it does not matter.

On my departure from Portimão I became a privileged target. The management of the crisis of the fathers of the mysteriously disappeared child, would have decided that it would be easier to achieve their objectives by attacking me personally, leaving in abeyance attacks on the Portuguese institutions and justice system, which were reserved for later. After the departure of Gordon Brown from the post of Prime-minister of the British Government, the couple came to express disillusionment with the British and Portuguese police, demanding an independent review of the investigation – but only about the sightings, not of what is in the criminal case investigation, filed in 2008. What has followed over the years has brought nothing new and, strange as it may seem, the only solid clues are those that were collected in the first four months of the investigation, which, despite all the attempts, have never been questioned, remaining current and valid.

In this book, Paulo Reis, makes a collection of what was the war of the parents of the mysteriously disappeared child, their strategies and the objective to be achieved, becoming an essential manual of analysis and consultation by all those who have an interest in studying the mysterious disappearance of the British blonde and blue-eyed child.

Lisbon, April 21, 2019

Gonçalo Amaral       

The McCanns' War on Lulu.com 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/paulo-reis/the-mccanns-war/paperback/product-24134465.html?ppn=1