In defence of Democracy: let’s declare Independence and build the Republic.
On October 1st, in a heroic display of democratic firmness, the Catalan people exercised their legitimate right to self-determination, resisting attacks and atrocities of fascist repression carried out by the Spanish state.
Neither batons or rubber bullets, beatings or sexual harassment, nor the many raids in small defenceless villages could prevent our people expressing themselves firmly in favour of building a Catalan state in the form of a Republic.
Recollection of events
Monday: media from all over the world (with the exception of the pro-authoritarian / anti-democratic Spanish press) reported on the brutality of the police and described as “shameful” actions of the occupation forces deployed in Catalonia.
Tuesday, again, hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets and shut down the country in demands for democracy, against repression and in defence of our rights and freedoms. The Spanish reply, expressed by its government of PP Ciudadanos, from PSOE and, finally, by its king, (the inheritor of Francoist designs) has been clear and firm in its ultimate support for fascist repression and opposition to any negotiation with the representative institutions of the Catalan nation.
Far from even attempting to perform his supposed role as an independent arbitrator (a role conferred upon him by the Spanish constitution itself) Felipe VI of Spain denigrated the victims of police violence and performed a prolonged harangue in a traditional Francoist style, rubber stamping the repression of the Catalan people and our institutions. Felipe VI has made it very clear that democracy will never be possible for nations oppressed by the heir to Franco’s state unless independence is claimed via an effective break from the regime that he himself embodies.
In this context, and in light of the new examples of authoritarianism and subordination of the judiciary to a Fascist leaning executive:
- We confirm that the only route to democracy for the Catalan nation is a declaration of independence prior to the establishment of a new Catalan Republic, democratically endorsed under the advocacy of a sovereign legality and according to the international law, just as the laws of referendum and judicial transience, approved by the Catalan Parliament, establish.
- We urge the whole Catalan nation to continue their mobilisation in defence of our rights and freedoms and to give support to our institutions, our political representatives and our public servants. Furthermore, we call for the immediate withdrawal of Spanish occupation forces deployed in Catalonia.
- We encourage the Parliament of Catalonia to proclaim a formal declaration of Independence prior to the formation of a new Republic, establishing the democratic mechanisms of debate, participation and popular ratification.
- We call on the whole international community to express support for the democratic struggle of the Catalan nation by recognising said new Republic and facilitating a process of negotiation to ensure its effectiveness. Likewise, we call for the international left-wing activist base, world-wide antifascism and anti-imperialism across the world to mobilise in solidarity with a nation united in struggle for freedom and liberty.
Barcelona, Catalonia, 5th October 2017
Poble lliure
