Spain’s ‘socialist’ leaders, Europe’s bourgeois leaders applaud Franco’s Posthumous ‘Justice’ whilst the SNP stays silent and embarrassed
I was on holiday in French Catalonia a
month ago and visited Spanish Catalonia, including Girona, the heart of the
struggle for Catalonian independence. Everywhere there were posters demanding
freedom for Catalonia’s prisoners who were elected on a platform of
independence for Catalonia.
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| Banner in Girona, Catalonia |
Spain’s pathetic social democratic prime
minister, Pedro Sánchez has come down in full support for the repressive
Francoist justice handed down today, sentences of between 9 and 13 years
imprisonment for non-violent protesters.
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| The SNP's pathetic leader Sturgeon has refused to give any support to the Catalan Independence Movement |
Carles Puigdemont, the exiled former president of Catalonia who remains a
fugitive from Spanish authorities in Germany, whose courts have refused to extradite him, described the verdict as an
“atrocity”, while his successor Quim Torra – who had previously stated
he would refuse to accept a guilty verdict – condemned the ruling as an “insult to democracy.”
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| Barcelona today |
These sentences were supported in
full by the European commission, a spokeswoman for whom said
it respected the decisions of the Spanish judiciary. “Our position on this is well known and has not changed, this is, and
remains, an internal matter for Spain,
which has to be dealt with in line with its constitutional order.”
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| Poster in SNP Conference today - however the SNP has refused to support Catalonian independence |
In other words the European capitalist
order fully supports and applauds the Franco state’s repression in Spain.
Catalan’s are a separate nation from the Spanish. There is an inherent right,
if they wish, to political independence and the right to form an independent
state, however inconvenient that might be for the Spanish State.
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| Banner in Gerona in September when I was there |
Catalans are divided almost equally
with a small majority of votes going to anti-independence parties. It is quite
likely that like the Scottish referendum, Catalans would vote against
independence. However that is a decision
for Catalans to take not for a vicious Francoist state to repress.
It is remarkable that the pathetic
leaders of the Scottish National Party, which demands independence for
Scotland, have refused to give any support to the leaders of the Catalonian
independence struggle. Despite standing
today in support of those imprisoned the bourgeois leaders of the SNP, in
their attempts to win support in the European Union for Scottish entry and curry
favour with Spain’s leaders have sought to demonstrate that they are not like
those Catalan trouble makers
Girona in the heart of Spanish Catalonia
Is there anything more pathetic than
Nicola Sturgeon and her hangers on trying to prove how respectable they are and
how reliable they are to the leaders of British and European capitalism? Not a
principle in sight. The tawdry leaders of Scottish capitalism don’t wish to be tarnished
by the sight of Catalan leaders going to gaol.
Below is an excellent
article by Craig Murray which is well worth reading.
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| Spain's social democratic leader Pedro Sanchez prostrates himself at the feet of the bourgeois state |
Weep for Catalonia,
Weep for Liberalism in Europe
The vicious jail sentences handed down today by the
fascists (I used the word with care and correctly) of the Spanish Supreme Court
to the Catalan political prisoners represent a stark symbol of the nadir of
liberalism within the EU. That an attempt to organise a democratic vote for the
Catalan people in pursuit of the right of self determination guaranteed in the
UN Charter, can lead to such lengthy imprisonment, is a plain abuse of the most
basic of human rights.
I was forced to withdraw my lifelong personal support
for the EU when, in response to the vicious crushing of the Catalan referendum
by Francoist paramilitary forces, when the whole world saw grandmothers hit on
the head and thrown down stairs as they attempted to vote, all the institutions
of the EU – Council, Commission and Parliament – lined up one after the other
to stress their strong support for the Madrid paramilitary action in
maintaining “law and order”.
Today we see the same thing. As the Catalans are
imprisoned for efforts at democracy, the EU Commission stated that it “respects
the position of the Spanish judiciary” and “this is, and remains, an internal
matter for Spain, which has to be dealt with in line with its constitutional
order.” The Commission here is simply ignoring what is very obviously a
fundamental breach of basic human rights. This is far worse than anything
Poland or Hungary have done in recent years, and the Commission is also showing
a quite blatant hypocrisy in its relative treatment of its Western and Eastern
members.
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| Girona demonstration |
There was a time when the EU was a shining example of
economic and environmental regulation and of regional wealth redistribution. My
fondness for the institution dates from it being one of our few defences from
economic Thatcherism. But it has evolved into something very different, a
mutual support club for neoliberal political leaders.
I do not much blog about Brexit because I am less
concerned about it than the majority of the population. I neither think
remaining inside is essential nor that leaving it is a political panacea. I do
desperately wish to retain freedom of movement, and believe leaving the customs
union would be economic self-harm on a large scale. A Norway style relationship
would suit me fine, but by and large I prefer to stay out of the argument. I do
believe that, as a matter of democratic legitimacy, having had the 2016
referendum the result should be respected; England should leave and Scotland
and Northern Ireland remain.
But I also say this. A million people are expected to
march on Saturday in support of the EU. That is the EU which has just expressed
its active support for the jailing of Catalans for holding a vote. They join
Julian Assange as political prisoners in the EU held for non-violent thought crime.
I say this to anyone thinking of marching on Saturday.
It is morally wrong, at this time, to show public support for the EU, unless
you balance it by showing your disgust at the fascist repression of the
Catalans and the EU’s support for that repression. Every single person going on
Saturday’s march has a moral obligation to balance it by sending a message to
the EU Commission that their support for this repression is utterly out of
order, and carrying a flag or sign on the march indicating support for the
Catalan political prisoners. Otherwise you are just a smug person marching for
personal self interest. Alongside the progenitors of the Iraq War, who
doubtless will again dominate the platform speeches.
