Thousands have gathered at the gates of Catalonia’s judiciary body to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with an upcoming vote on independence.
And a defiant Catalonia president wrote a nice op-ed in the Washington Post today: Sorry, Spain. Catalonia is voting on independence whether you like it or not.
Carles Puigdemont is the 130th president of Catalonia.
What follows is Puigdemont’s message in the Washington Post
After three centuries under Spanish rule, on Oct. 1, citizens of Catalonia will finally have the chance to exercise their right to self-determination. More than 5 million eligible voters will have the right to decide on a simple question: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”
The way to this historic referendum was paved by a majority decision of the Catalonian parliament. In our last regional election in September 2015, pro-independence parties won 47.8 percent of the vote, which gave them an absolute majority of seats. Unionist parties won 39.1 percent of the votes, a clear defeat, while the rest of the votes went to parties that defend the right to self-determination but are not necessarily in favor of independence. So there can be no denying the democratic legitimacy of our current Catalonian government. For this reason, after making several unsuccessful efforts to agree on the terms of the referendum with Spanish President Mariano Rajoy, I initiated the referendum.
In stark contrast to the governments of Canada or Britain, Madrid has refused to accept this democratic challenge, and has opted instead for the path of authoritarian repression. In most parts of the developed world, police protect ballot boxes, polling stations, and voters. In Catalonia today, the situation is the opposite. Spanish security forces are confiscating ballots and ballot boxes, stripping campaign posters from the walls, and intimidating citizens. They have arrested officials of the Catalan government, tapped telephones, raided private residences, and banned political rallies.
It seems incredible that this could happen in Spain in the 21st century. One French journalist recently noted that the Spanish government is acting more like Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuelan dictatorship than a healthy European democracy. And consider the fact that Catalonia, Spain, and other European countries are currently on maximum alert against jihadi terrorism. Instead of working to prevent possible attacks, Spain’s police forces are working to prevent the exercise of democracy. This is profoundly irresponsible.
The Spanish government has also gravely violated the freedom of expression and of information. Not only has it prohibited both public and private media from broadcasting advertisements about the referendum, it has also moved to block Catalan government websites that inform the public about the vote. Madrid has even blocked proxy servers, a procedure employed by only the most totalitarian regimes. The Spanish government not only wants to keep Catalans from voting, but also to prevent them from being informed.
The Spanish government has to understand that its behavior is unacceptable from the point of view of democracy and civil rights. Four decades after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, we still find that authoritarian instincts rule at the heart of the Madrid government. Respect for minorities is a fundamental human right, and the right of self-determination is an irrevocable right of all nations.
Our commitment to the right of self-determination and to the will of the Catalan people to decide its own future remains unshaken. The repression of the Spanish government will not be able to change that. On Oct. 1, citizens of Catalonia will exercise their right to decide whether they want to become a new independent republic, just like other peoples of the world have done before them. This is the moment of the people of Catalonia, but we are not alone in this fight. We call on democrats around the world to give support to this long struggle between freedom and authoritarianism.
Carles Puigdemont
Mish Comments
Spain has confiscated 10 million ballots. How can the vote take place?
Easy.
There are obvious problems with such a process, but why not? Spain brought this upon itself.
90% of Mish Followers Approve of the Vote
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
You Anglos are such pathetic jackasses. Auto determination is OK in the West but becomes a crime against a country’s integrity in Ukraine.
?
Please explain.
Yeah. With 101% of votes going to Putin.
OK, I get it…. Even fake news CNN will not listen to you.
https://i.imgflip.com/1bdlx1.jpg
I think you’re talking to the wrong audience here. I suspect that readers of this blog would generally support the idea of letting Donetsk and Lugansk decide on their own fate, though probably by a less stark margin than in the Catalonian case, due to questions many Americans have regarding whether it is possible to hold a fair referendum there.
Donbass did decide its fate. Ukraine learned scorched earth from the Russian invaders.
There’s a movie out there called “Ukraine On Fire”,
https://dades.naciodigital.cat/redaccio/arxius/imatges/201709/1200_1505028952576_1375361957rajoy-senat2.jpg
Don’t fly in small planes or go in tall buildings with windows … heck, what I’m talking about … just make sure your will & obit up to date.
Not much mentioned yet of the Spanish ultras, falangist and fascists… these groups exist openly (increasingly) and “trouble” tends to occur where they appear. Right now… could be a meme….right now they are making a first appearance since the referendum intervention, in front of an ANC headquarters….there is an independence group there too…the pro Spain protestors are chanting :
“Sois unos mamones, vivis de subvenciones”
The pro Spanish play the Guardia Civil anthem and the pro independence group sing Els Segadors over the top of it…..
…have to leave it there, 19.57 at
http://www.ara.cat/politica/escorcolls-guardia-civil-contra-referendum_12_1873132669.html
has a short clip.
http://www.naciodigital.cat/noticia/138913/videos/visca/espanya/guardia/civil/extremadreta/es/manifesta/davant/seu/anc
I am not sure what to think. The federal govt I don’t believe would allow Texas to vote for succession so how is this different? BTW if that happened I would move to TX.
I don’t see how they are going to hold a vote wit all those police disrupting the election. i’m waiting for riot next. The people seem pretty determined.
Commented this late on a previous post…the crowd was thousands :
A Guardia Civil conversation from where they were besieged in an office….online translated hence small errors :
“Well, I’ll fill in the background. They have left us here to let you know. There is a squad trapped, there are 18 companions who are tucked into an entrenched building. And they are completely entrenched. In fact the vehicles we have lost. The vehicles give them for lost! The GC says that the vehicles they do not want, that it is necessary to remove the companions. They are shuffling possibilities to enter with a helicopter from a rooftop …
Then, until this situation is solved … because the companions are without food and without drinking, all they have is some ammunition and means of mass control. Until this is resolved, we will not leave. ”
They have busted three cars of the grouping of Saragossa and have taken all the things that were inside. They have broken the wheels, painted them, broken the glass… and surrounded them. They’ve left the cars. They have taken the poplars, the weapons … everything that was there, the HKs … Flipas. Three-car, huh? ”
https://i0.wp.com/www.abc.es/media/espana/2017/09/21/coche-guardia-kpHE–620×349@abc.jpg?zoom=2
Spaniards gave their culture to Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Consider that two wrongs don’t make a right, but three do. Does Puigdemont speak for everyone in Catalan? Of course not, there are those who do not wish to leave Spain and are against even having a vote. There are those who do not wish to leave Spain but think a vote might clear the air. Then there are the on-lookers at the street fight trying to egg the opponents on. The first wrong was trying to force a vote regardless of the legality of doing so. The second wrong is Madrid trying to stop the vote through police action, always a sure fire answer. So what shall the third wrong be? Perhaps some kind of attempted revolt that does not go according to plan.
In any event, we are dealing with children on all sides. Once Spain made the proposed ballot illegal it waved a red flag in the face of the bull and the bull has charged. Now the picadors are stabbing it, trying to wear it down. I doubt that Rajoy is capable of delivering the coup-de-gras and will find himself gored to death politically. But he is only the figurehead if I recall. Maybe it’s time Spain actually has a government.
Meanwhile, even if a vote were held soon and a slim majority of voters elected to leave Spain, what do the rest do? Would Barcelona want its independence from Catalan? Something to consider. Kabuki Theater in the bull ring, got to love those mixed metaphors.
The End of the EU is at hand.
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