09-30-2017, 10:18 PM
*** 1-Oct-17 World View -- Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures
****
![[Image: g170930b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170930b.jpg)
On Friday, hundreds of farmers drove tractors into Barcelona to support the referendum and to protect polling places (Reuters)
Spain's government in Madrid is going to extraordinary measures --
some would say heroic measures, others would say abusive, paranoiac
measures, depending on point of view -- to prevent Catalonia's
independence referendum from taking place on Sunday.
Madrid has sent tens of thousands of national police into Catalonia.
The police have gone from house to house confiscating vote record
forms, ballot boxes, and almost ten million ballot papers, as well as
and campaign leaflets. They've demanded that Google make the
Catalonia voting app unavailable, and Google has complied, although
many are now turning to encrypted communications with WhatsApp. The
police stored Catalonia's parliament and government building, and
arrested high-level Catalonian politicians for the crime of preparing
for the referendum.
All of these measures have infuriated the Catalans, and the anger is
so intense that even if the referendum is stopped, Madrid may lose
control of Catalonia's political situation, and the government of
Mariano Rajoy, who is already weak, may collapse.
If the referendum wins, then there are widespread fears that it will
destabilize Spain and cause chaos in the rest of the European Union
trying to deal with the backlash. A YES vote would probably mean that
Catalonian leaders would declare independence, even if they currently
claim that they won't. Catalan leaders would take steps to enforce
the claim, like not forwarding taxes to Madrid, or not honoring
Spanish courts, or dissolving the local parliament and calling for new
elections. Madrid would be forced into military action. Violence is
a distinct possibility, since Catalonia itself is sharply split, as
many Catalans oppose independence. Ironically, the Catalans who
oppose independence have said that they will boycott the referendum,
making a YES vote all the more likely.
In Madrid on Saturday, thousands of people rallied in a central plaza
to protest the independence referendum, shouting "Long live Spain!"
and "Puigdemont to jail!", referring to Catalan regional President
Carles Puigdemont.
A lot of this has to do with money. Catalonia contributes more in
taxes to Madrid than it takes out in benefits, so of course Madrid
doesn't want to permit independence. If Catalonia were getting more
in benefits than it pays in taxes, then they wouldn't want
independence, and Madrid would be happy to be rid of them. As an
aside, money is also the issue in the Kurds' separatist referendum in
Iraq, since the Kurds pay more to Baghdad than they receive. In the
end, all the supposedly high-minded rhetoric is only about money.
That's the way the world works.
The usual gang of international thieves is promoting independence, not
because they care at all whether the Catalan people are alive or dead,
but because they want to create chaos in the European Union. These
include alleged rapist Julian Assange, hiding out in London's Ecuador
embassy to avoid facing his rape victim accusers, and Edward Snowden,
the American criminal traitor currently hiding out in Russia under the
protection of the Kremlin. The Kremlin is the third member of the
gang, meddling in the referendum election with trolls and massive
amounts of with fake news to discredit Spain's government.
Even if the referendum fails, there may be chaos anyway. On Tuesday,
the radical left separatist party CUP will be joined by some of the
trade unions in a general strike , to protest against the state's
repression and for civil liberties. Euro News and Business Insider and Atlantic and VOA and La Vanguardia (Barcelona) (Trans)
****
**** Hundreds of Catalan families occupy school buildings in defiance of police
****
There are 5.5 million Catalans eligible to vote in Sunday's
referendum. When an independence vote was held in 2014, only 40% of
the eligible voters bothered to vote, effectively making the
referendum irrelevant. This time, Madrid's harsh police tactics,
particularly arresting Catalan politicians, have so energized Catalan
voters, that many more may be inclined to vote. If over 50% voted and
the referendum passed, the separatists would declare a victory.
The Madrid government is aware of this as well, which is why they've
been confiscating ballot papers, shutting down Google apps, and
arresting Catalan leaders.
There is one final battleground before the referendum: Catalonia's
school buildings.
There are 2,315 polling places in Catalonia where people can go to
vote, and most of them are school buildings. Madrid police are
sealing these buildings off, with the objective of keeping people from
voting at all.
Catalan families, including parents and children, have responded by
holding parties in the schools all day Saturday, playing football,
yoga sessions, picnics, board games, and ping pong in schools, and in
to prevent the police from closing the schools. The partying will
continue through the night, with the intention of continuing until the
polls open at 9 am on Sunday.
Police have been told to forcibly evict anyone who refuses to leave,
if the refusal has to do with the referendum vote. So according to
reports, the game is played as follows: The police, who really have no
desire to evict mothers and children, enter the school and ask if the
board games and ping pong are related to the referendum vote. They
are told that the parties are completely unrelated to the referendum,
so the police have done their duty, and they leave.
The charade is supposed to end at 6 am Sunday morning. Police have
delivered an ultimatum to families occupying the schools to leave by
that time. Police have been told to use "minimum force" when evicting
families from the schools. Washington Post and AFP and AP
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Spain, Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, Mariano Rajoy,
Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Russia
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures
- Hundreds of Catalan families occupy school buildings in defiance of police
****
**** Catalonia referendum poised to go ahead despite Spain's harsh repressive measures
****
On Friday, hundreds of farmers drove tractors into Barcelona to support the referendum and to protect polling places (Reuters)
Spain's government in Madrid is going to extraordinary measures --
some would say heroic measures, others would say abusive, paranoiac
measures, depending on point of view -- to prevent Catalonia's
independence referendum from taking place on Sunday.
Madrid has sent tens of thousands of national police into Catalonia.
The police have gone from house to house confiscating vote record
forms, ballot boxes, and almost ten million ballot papers, as well as
and campaign leaflets. They've demanded that Google make the
Catalonia voting app unavailable, and Google has complied, although
many are now turning to encrypted communications with WhatsApp. The
police stored Catalonia's parliament and government building, and
arrested high-level Catalonian politicians for the crime of preparing
for the referendum.
All of these measures have infuriated the Catalans, and the anger is
so intense that even if the referendum is stopped, Madrid may lose
control of Catalonia's political situation, and the government of
Mariano Rajoy, who is already weak, may collapse.
If the referendum wins, then there are widespread fears that it will
destabilize Spain and cause chaos in the rest of the European Union
trying to deal with the backlash. A YES vote would probably mean that
Catalonian leaders would declare independence, even if they currently
claim that they won't. Catalan leaders would take steps to enforce
the claim, like not forwarding taxes to Madrid, or not honoring
Spanish courts, or dissolving the local parliament and calling for new
elections. Madrid would be forced into military action. Violence is
a distinct possibility, since Catalonia itself is sharply split, as
many Catalans oppose independence. Ironically, the Catalans who
oppose independence have said that they will boycott the referendum,
making a YES vote all the more likely.
In Madrid on Saturday, thousands of people rallied in a central plaza
to protest the independence referendum, shouting "Long live Spain!"
and "Puigdemont to jail!", referring to Catalan regional President
Carles Puigdemont.
A lot of this has to do with money. Catalonia contributes more in
taxes to Madrid than it takes out in benefits, so of course Madrid
doesn't want to permit independence. If Catalonia were getting more
in benefits than it pays in taxes, then they wouldn't want
independence, and Madrid would be happy to be rid of them. As an
aside, money is also the issue in the Kurds' separatist referendum in
Iraq, since the Kurds pay more to Baghdad than they receive. In the
end, all the supposedly high-minded rhetoric is only about money.
That's the way the world works.
The usual gang of international thieves is promoting independence, not
because they care at all whether the Catalan people are alive or dead,
but because they want to create chaos in the European Union. These
include alleged rapist Julian Assange, hiding out in London's Ecuador
embassy to avoid facing his rape victim accusers, and Edward Snowden,
the American criminal traitor currently hiding out in Russia under the
protection of the Kremlin. The Kremlin is the third member of the
gang, meddling in the referendum election with trolls and massive
amounts of with fake news to discredit Spain's government.
Even if the referendum fails, there may be chaos anyway. On Tuesday,
the radical left separatist party CUP will be joined by some of the
trade unions in a general strike , to protest against the state's
repression and for civil liberties. Euro News and Business Insider and Atlantic and VOA and La Vanguardia (Barcelona) (Trans)
****
**** Hundreds of Catalan families occupy school buildings in defiance of police
****
There are 5.5 million Catalans eligible to vote in Sunday's
referendum. When an independence vote was held in 2014, only 40% of
the eligible voters bothered to vote, effectively making the
referendum irrelevant. This time, Madrid's harsh police tactics,
particularly arresting Catalan politicians, have so energized Catalan
voters, that many more may be inclined to vote. If over 50% voted and
the referendum passed, the separatists would declare a victory.
The Madrid government is aware of this as well, which is why they've
been confiscating ballot papers, shutting down Google apps, and
arresting Catalan leaders.
There is one final battleground before the referendum: Catalonia's
school buildings.
There are 2,315 polling places in Catalonia where people can go to
vote, and most of them are school buildings. Madrid police are
sealing these buildings off, with the objective of keeping people from
voting at all.
Catalan families, including parents and children, have responded by
holding parties in the schools all day Saturday, playing football,
yoga sessions, picnics, board games, and ping pong in schools, and in
to prevent the police from closing the schools. The partying will
continue through the night, with the intention of continuing until the
polls open at 9 am on Sunday.
Police have been told to forcibly evict anyone who refuses to leave,
if the refusal has to do with the referendum vote. So according to
reports, the game is played as follows: The police, who really have no
desire to evict mothers and children, enter the school and ask if the
board games and ping pong are related to the referendum vote. They
are told that the parties are completely unrelated to the referendum,
so the police have done their duty, and they leave.
The charade is supposed to end at 6 am Sunday morning. Police have
delivered an ultimatum to families occupying the schools to leave by
that time. Police have been told to use "minimum force" when evicting
families from the schools. Washington Post and AFP and AP
Related Articles
- The 1930s Spanish Civil War fault lines explode again over Catalonia independence referendum (23-Sep-2017)
- Catalonia will vote for independence from Spain on Thursday (25-Sep-2012)
- Scotland's independence referendum is encouraging Catalonia's separatists (11-Sep-2014)
- Catalonia parliament votes to secede from Spain (10-Nov-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Spain, Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, Mariano Rajoy,
Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Russia
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
