The people are still standing. To achieve the freedom of the political prisoners and the Republic, we need new leaders. The Dyad of September 11 was massive once again. During the day there were different protest activities. In the afternoon, over 600.000 people concentrated in Plaza España, responding to the call of the ANC (National Catalonian Assembly): “11S Objetiu Independencia”. Thousands of stared flags, songs and signs manifested unmistakable messages in favour of a strategic unity, the Catalonian Republic and the freedom of the political prisoners and the exiled.
The mass media and bourgeois politicians at the service of the Spanish State focused on the fact that this was the least numerous Dyad since 2012. It is a partial assessment to discourage people and try to install the idea that the struggle for independence is taking steps back. The truth is that, despite the repression, the incarceration of the leaders of civil society, the court cases against activist neighbours and the manoeuvres of the leaders, the Catalan people have not been defeated. The King, the ‘78 regime, the PSOE of Pedro Sanchez and his “progressive” allies, the trio of Colón (PP-CS-VOX) and the imperialist bloc of the European Union have not been able to break the people’s will for self determination that was expressed in the 1-O referendum.
The last word has not been said. In the short term, the verdict of the Supreme Court after the show trial of the political prisoners will be made public. The definitions in relation to the Spanish State that emerge from the agreements between parties or from new elections will also come. The response must be strong: ignoring any sentence short of absolution and confronting any president that does not recognise the right to the self-determination.
Having said this, it is true that there is disappointment and a loss of confidence that will not be overcome with a turn of the page. The underlying cause of the decrease in participation in the Dyad is that the leaders do not live up to the circumstances. The major parties, divided by their own interests, opted for autonomism, the continuity of “symbolisms” and the supposed surprise “master plays”.
Jordi Cuixart told the judges «Ho tornarem a fer», well, it must be realised. We must debate, democratically decide and perform a massive civil disobedience, permanently mobilize and call for a general strike. Only from the bases can guarantee these measures, from the assemblies in universities, schools and workplaces, in the neighbourhoods, towns and cities. It is the best way to impose a “strategic unity” on those who divide.
We have no confidence in the policies that the leaders of ERC, JxCat-PdeCat carry out in the government, the Parliament and outside of them. We must build a strong political alternative of the anti-capitalist left in Catalonia and throughout the Spanish State that breaks with the imperialist bloc of the EU and fights for a socialist, feminist and environmentalist Catalan Republic, in which the working people govern at the service of the social majorities. The mobilization, the revitalization of the CDRs, a decisive policy of political nomination of the CUP, can be the fundamental levers for the revitalization of the libertarian wave.
Lastly, we want to highlight that SOL took part in the tribute to Gustau Muñoz, murdered by the repression in 1979, and the fallen of 1714, that took place in the Fossar de les Moreres, and after that, we attended the concentration in Plaza España. In the afternoon, we mobilized with comrades of the CUP L’Hospitalet per la Ruptura to the act “Organitzem el Poder Popular” organized by the national CUP.
We feel great joy in having shared the day with comrades of the Turkish SEP in Barcelona. And we feel great pride in the solidarity of Buenos Aires, where our sister party, the MST, was part of the unitary act at the Obelisco. For the parties of the International Socialist League, the struggle of the Catalan people for the Republic and the freedom of the political prisoners and the exiled is also our struggle.
Ruben Tzanoff
