The ruling of the Supreme Court has intensified the Catalan mobilization and the Catalonian´s rupture with Spain. The ruling of the Supreme Court on Catalan political prisoners has been unfair, vindictive and loathsome. It was endorsed by King Felipe VI, the government of the PSOE, the right and the far-right of PP-Citizens-VOX, who demand an intensification of repressive measures. The sentence has reconfirmed the counterrevolutionary nature of the institutions that constitute the regime of ´78 shaped by Franco. At this time, the central government falsely calls for dialogue while delivering batons in bulk, the daily presence of helicopters, riot vans and armed officers has once again stained the urban landscape. Facing them, there is a people that have already undertaken the road to the Republic with the 1-O Referendum and is increasingly separated from Spain.
The events foresee the beginning of a new political
situation of greater polarization and confrontations. On Sunday, there was a
demonstration and repression in Sants-Estació. On Monday, as soon as the ruling
was made public, thousands and thousands of people concentrated around the Town
Halls. Not only independentistas turned out, but also many others who defend
democratic freedoms. University and high school students declared a strike and
took over the streets, concentrated in Barcelona and walked the 17 km that
separate Placa de Catalunya from the Josep Tarradellas International Airport.
There, they met thousands of other people in order to shut down the air
terminal. At that time, the images of the actions in El Prat were confused with
those of the Hong Kong Airport. As a result, more than one hundred flights were
suspended, the operation of the train and subway lines to T1 were interrupted
and traffic on the C-31 road stalled. Late at night the protest platform
Democratic Tsunami terminated the action through a statement.
Acting President Pedro Sánchez congratulated the
repressors, nothing surprising. What was unusual was the double speak of the
government through Meritxell Budó, who stated: “We share and understand
the anger of the people”, but defended the police charges of the Mossos
d’Esquadra because, according to her, if the protesters had broken through the
police lines they could have been accused of the crime of sedition, “The
police action was to ensure the safety of all.” The dozens of detainees
and wounded, the young man who lost an eye and the other who lost a testicle
due to the use of rubber bullets during the charges, are a resounding
refutation of the statements of the minister of the Presidency. The Catalan
police have long repressed the struggles under the orders of the Interior
Minister of the Generalitat, Miquel Buch, so he must resign, as is demanded by
popular organizations; and the national police have to leave Catalonia.
On Tuesday, protests continued in Barcelona,
Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and other cities and towns. The ANC (Catalan
National Assembly) and Òmniun called to mobilize to the delegations of the Spanish
Government, where the CDRs (Committees for the Defense of the Republic) also
attended. There were clashes and repression in Barcelona, with a balance of
74 wounded and 25 detained, after which the debate about violence has been reopened.
The accusing finger points to those who defend themselves from repression, but the
violence has another origin: it is the responsibility of the regime and the
oppressive state, not of those who resist. Violence is attacking elementary
rights, ignoring a democratic referendum in which two million people voted,
carrying out charges against people who mobilize peacefully, vote, raise their
hands or link arms while sitting on the floor. Violence is imprisoning the
leaders of the Procés and persecuting neighbors for defending their ideas. The
Catalan people defend themselves firmly as the workers and the peoples of the
Iberian Peninsula have done historically and, more recently, the Asturian
miners, taxi drivers and others, without being accused of terrorists or treated
as such.
In the midst of this serious situation, Gabriel Rufián, deputy and principal spokesman for ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), has responded to the sentence with a shameful twit, calling on people to vote for ERC on 10N. We agree with what the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) points out: “És al carrer on el poble es defensa”, amnistia, autodeterminació, desobediència.” In this sense, today Wednesday 16, the “Marxes per liberty” will begin: six walks that will travel 100 km each day for three days, convened by the ANC and Òmnium. The confluence will take place on Friday in Barcelona, the day in which the Intersindical CSC and other independent unions have called for a general strike.
From Socialism and Liberty (SOL), as members of the International Socialist League, we call for the solidarity of all who feel republican, progressive or leftist, to the workers and peoples of the Spanish State – whether or not they are independentists – of Europe and the world. The struggle of the Kurdish, Algerian, Ecuadorian peoples, the “yellow vests” and all who confront the exploiters and oppressors strengthens the struggle in Catalonia. Meanwhile, we will continue calling to build a new left anti-capitalist political alternative, consistent in the struggle for the freedom and social rights that capitalism denies.
Socialism and Liberty – Spanish State