Whose right is it? (II)

Two years ago, I wrote about the double standards of many governments when dealing with the self-determination movements across the world. Sometimes, they are supportive of the right to self-determination –except when they support the principle of territorial integrity.

The original post is available here. 

Yesterday, the UN International Tribunal issued its ruling on the process of independence from Serbia of the territory of Kosovo. Full ruling available in this link  [ENG].

The conclusions are devastating for those, like the Spanish state, who believe the right of territorial integrity of a sovereign state is above the right to self-determination of the people, or part of the people, that make up that state. That Spain stood alongside China and Russia, those beacons of democracy!, against the formal recognition of Kosovo’s independence should have been a clue as to what was coming and whose moral compass was, and still is, pointing the wrong way.

In the end, despite the repetitive caveats and disclaimers, this ruling provides legal cover for those stateless nations/countries/regions, call it what you will, who have a settled will, democratically expressed, to secede from the macro-state.

Let’s hope the Spanish state takes note and ceases to issue veiled threats of military aggression if the peoples of the Basque Country or Catalonia decide to exercise their democratic right to self-determination.

Original post (30/08/2008) - Whose right is it?

Amidst all the noise regarding the events in the Caucasus and the Balkans, the western media is doing a very good job in dumbing down the Georgia-Russia conflict as if it were a simple choice between the goodies (the West obviously) and the baddies (Russians of course).

Many others have written endlessly about the authoritarian nature of the Russian government, and its lack of democratic credentials. We could write about the Georgian president and his miscalculation. We could write about the Ossetian militias and how Georgians have been driven away from Abkhazia and South Ossetia in a tidy exercise of ethnic cleansing. We could write how the Russian government caricaturises the Georgian President as some sort of crazy despot, despite Georgian elections being overseen by the OECD, unlike Russia. We could write how it is Georgia’s turn now, then it will be Ukraine and Crimea, then Poland’s energy dependency on Russia, and after that it will probably be the Baltic Republics’ (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) turn.

But not many people is paying attention to the key socio-political issue: the selfish manipulation by states of the debate on the right of self-determination versus the principle of territorial integrity.

In the last few months, we have seen how the Russian government comes out to defend the territorial integrity of Serbia, against the right of self-determination of Kosovar people. A few months later, they send troops well inside Georgian territory to defend the right of self-determination of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, without a care in the world for Georgia’s territorial integrity.

It is the exact opposite with the western states: support for the right of self-determination in Kosovo but deny exactly the same right in South Ossetia.

And the fact of the matter is that neither the West or Russia can claim the moral high ground. Both sides have switched from defending one right to supporting the other. Their positions are not based on a consistent ideological framework, but driven by geo-political and economic considerations.

The outcome however, has been the same in both cases: the right of self-determination has succeeded in both Kosovo and South Ossetia.

The lesson of the last few decades in Europe is that if there is "on the ground consensus", and some degree of external help, in the end it is the people’s right (self-determination) the one that prevails above the right of territorial integrity of states. It is also a confirmation of the politics of fait accompli: whatever happens on the ground becomes the new status quo and the new accepted reality.

But the right of self-determination does not always reign. If in doubt, ask the Kurds, who have no external support whatsoever for their cause and must be the largest and most fucked up stateless nation in the world jointly with Tibet. 

The question is: will the Russian government do the same trick in Crimea? My answer: yes, without a doubt.

DIY democracy

There has been quite decent international coverage of the popular referendums on independence in Catalonia. This will be enough to anger the Spanish nationalists who believe that Spanish unity and sovereign integrity is somehow God’s will and indestructible. Nothing angers the Spanish political classes more than the “internationalisation” of the national conflicts of the Basque Country and Catalonia with Spain.

Just to recap, given that the Spanish state does not allow the Catalan parliament to vote on the issue of organising a referendum to allow Catalans to decide their own constitutional future, community associations throughout Catalonia have endeavoured to set up their own vote.

Of course, these votes have not legally binding since they are organised separately, and with the opposition of the Spanish state. Spain is home to an interesting form of democracy which revels in preventing the use of the ballot box. As we all know, “Spain is different”.

Anyway, after the referendum in Arenys de Munt, near Barcelona, took place despite the presence of Spanish fascists Falange, many other villages and towns set out to organise their own. This happenned last weekend, and the results are quite remarkable.

With an average of 30% turnout, marginally below European elections, about 95% voted in favour of independence.

Now, nobody says that all those who abstain at European elections are anti-Europe... But, surprise, surprise, in this referendum, organised entirely by volunteers and against the threat of legal action by the Spanish state against local authorities, a referendum without the resources of the State and without the support of the official media, the Spanish press equates failing to vote with opposition to independence.

But if they are so sure about it, if they are so convinced that an official referendum would endorse Catalonia remaining part of Spain..... why do they try so hard to prevent an official, legally binding referendum taking place? What are they afraid of?

The State against

The last few weeks have seen a major controversy in Catalonia.

The heirs of Agustí Centelles have sold his legacy to the Spanish Estate for a reported €700,000. The Generalitat de Catalunya could only bid €500,000.

The original negatives and the photo archive will now be transferred to the city of Salamanca.

[Link]

That this will be the fate of Centelles’ lifework is a travesty of history but more than anything is a clear example of the precarious situation of Catalonia at all levels, politically, economically and culturally.

In the past, Franco and his fascists troops stole this kind of stuff so that it would be archived in the Archivo Nacional in Salamanca. Now, the Spanish state buys it off with the money they have pillaged from Catalonia thanks to a fiscal framework that starves Catalonia of resources to look after its infrastructure and public services, including museums.

It was ever thus. [BBC News]

Flimsier reporting

A few days ago, I wrote how foreign correspondents write newspaper articles devoid of any insight and sometimes accuracy when reporting on political developments.

Last Tuesday, the FT carries an article about Spain signed by Victor Mallet, who seems the be the only person who writes about Spanish politics in the FT. Newspaper AVUI provides a decent summary translation and gist of the article.

Here is the Letter to the Editor I sent to the FT. I doubt it will be published.

======

Dear Sir,

It is with despair that I read another article about Spanish politics by Mr Mallet in which he once again limits his sources to the Spanish nationalist side of the debate.

May I ask what knowledge or experience does Mr Mallet have of current Spanish politics whilst being the FT correspondent in Asia? In any case, despite or because of his experience as Madrid correspondent, I am afraid Mr Mallet does what he does best: recycling the usual protestations from the Spanish press like El Mundo, ABC, El Pais, etc, without providing any alternative viewpoint or ideological framework outside the Spanish-centric rhetoric he borrows from his [Spanish] friends in Madrid.

First, the alleged “high-cost of Spanish devolution”.

Funnily enough, there is never any mention of the cost of devolution in Germany or Belgium or Switzerland, each of which allows its Länders, “communities” or cantons far greater powers than Catalonia could ever have under the 1978 Spanish Constitution. Mr Mallet does not provide any source for this claim, let alone empirical data.

Then an often-repeated claim: “The regions absorb about half of all public spending (…)leaving only about one-fifth of outgoings under the direct control of the centre”.

Well, since most services are delivered locally, by either local councils (ayuntamiento) or regional governments (CCAA) it is quite normal that 50% of expenditure is allocated to the administrations that actually deliver services to the public. If anything, I find quite astonishing that central government is plundering 20% the budget providing what services? Perhaps Mr Mallet should explore why central government has a series of bloated departments for powers that have been devolved to the local and regional administrations for two decades now. I think fiscal pressure on Spanish businesses and households could be lowered if they do away with central government duplication.

Mr Mallet then goes on quoting Mr Anson, a known right-wing Spanish nationalist. His tenure as the Editor of ABC and La Razón were marked by his aggressiveness profound antipathy towards anything Catalan. Then another source, this time from El Mundo newspaper.

The problem with Mr Mallet is that his sources are all one and the same: aggressive Spanish nationalism intent of suppressing Catalan or Basque culture and “assertiveness” in the name of a mythological Spanish unity that fails to recognise the right of self-determination for the people of Catalonia or the Basque Country and their ability to decide their own future without any interference. The same obsession that occupied Franco for 40 years.

Mr Mallet writes “Cultural separatism can be seen in the promotion of local languages in schools and other areas of public life, particularly in Catalonia.”.

Local languages are not promoted, they are used with normality by the public and the administration –whenever they are not banned as we have witnessed so often in Spanish history. Would Mr Mallet write that French is promoted in French schools? Of course not. French schools use French and Catalan schools use Catalan. It is what is normal. This of course, as Mr Mallet accurately points out, sparks heated protests from Spanish nationalists. At least they are not sending the tanks –not yet anyway, although I wonder what Mr Anson would think about it.

Next time the FT writes an article about Spanish politics, for the sake of completeness and good journalism, could someone please bother to travel to Barcelona or Bilbao and find out what the other side of the argument is? It is not much to ask.

=======================

Update Friday 21 August 2009:

Well, they did not publish my letter -too many spelling mistakes and bad grammar probably... but they published a brilliant reply by someone else.

Sir, Regarding your article about Spain (“Flimsier footings”, Analysis August 19), I write as economy and organisation deputy mayor from one of the most dynamic of Catalan cities that shares most of your points of view about growth, values, political accountability and competitiveness.

I could reply to your assessment of the political problem of Catalonia and our obsession with our language, political power and money, which is quite inaccurate to say the least. Instead, let me reply by saying that you are absolutely right: we are a real problem for Spain, and as we believe in competitiveness, productivity and a prosperous future in the way you do, I conclude that the best and only way for Spain, Catalonia and Europe to achieve a promising future and to contribute to the world economy is through our independence from Spain.

Thank you very much for such valuable insight.

Jordi Joly Lena,
Economy and
Organisation Deputy Mayor,
Sant Cugat del
Vallès, Barcelona,
Spain

Fantasy news in La Vanguardia

Sometimes I wonder what newspaper foreign correspondents get up to that their reporting is so unreliable and often just plain wrong.

Many of us are used to the ignorant reporting of Spanish and in particular Catalan politics by the usual rent-a-word suspects who write for The Independent, Guardian, Times, and even The Economist and the FT. They tend to recycle whatever El País or El Mundo says without contrasting viewpoints or providing any insight whatsoever. I tend not to read them because there is just nothing to be gained from someone else’s ignorance.

I thought they were poor until I read this article from Rafael Ramos in La Vanguardia about Scottish politics. I almost choke on my porridge. According to Sr Ramos, the SNP government in Edinburgh has postponed the Referendum Bill.

I happen to spend the first 10-15min of my working day reading the news and I had not noticed such a big manifesto u-turn. Neither the FT nor any other newspaper had carried the big news. I normally watch Reporting Scotland at 1830h and they also seem to have missed this significant development. How is it possible for La Vanguardia to get such a scoop beating all of the Scottish media?

Except, of course, there is no scoop, because the SNP has not dropped the Referendum Bill and according to Salmond, they have no intention of doing so.

If La Vanguardia or any other media organisation need a Scottish correspondent who knows what is actually going on in this rainy corner of Europe, I am sure we could agree on a reasonable fee.

The rule of the law -for some

It is quite extraordinary what is happening in the UK in the last few months.

A few weeks ago, we woke up to discover that our elected representatives are more corrupt than any of us ever imagined. To its credit, The Daily Telegraph provided great and unpartisan coverage of the scandal. They are all, the vast majority, at it: Labour, Tories, LibDems and even the SNP. Milking the system for their own benefit.

I wonder how the Police and HMRC would react if I told them that I forgot to declare rental income from an old flat, or if I told them that I was getting tax exemption for items that had nothing to do with the rented property. Would a very sincere apology suffice?

They would probably let me know that “ignorance of the law is not excuse” or less likely they would intimate “ignorantia juris non excusat”.

Today, we woke up to find out that a newspaper has been breaking the law repeatedly and systematically, and that it is settling with the victims out of court trying to conceal the matter.

The Guardian reports that the News of the World, a British tabloid, has been tapping into mobile phones and landlines of public figures, with a view to get “exclusives”. [BBC]

The Metropolitan Police has decided that there is no case to answer and that further investigation is not in the public interest. Once again, the Metropolitan Police is not going to take any further the investigation of alleged crimes. [BBC].

So the question is:
- When is an alleged crime not deserving of a police investigation?

Answer:
- When the alleged criminal has more power and more means than the vast majority of citizens.

Thus, News International and particularly News of the World are left off the hook.

I see a pattern:

1) Insolvent banks are saved and bail out by the taxpayer, despite being private companies, because they are deemed too big to fail;

2) Politicians are immune from prosecution despite overwhelming evidence of tax fraud;

3) A powerful newspaper is spared a police investigation into alleged criminal conduct on an industrial scale, because it has the means to pay off its victims.

Thank God things could only get better.

Campaign struggling to start...

Well, the campaign to stop shaking hands with the less-than-honourable members has not made the impact I was hoping for… never mind.

I honestly think it would be a historical event if it were to catch on and spread all over the UK ahead of the European election on 20 June.

Any way, if you have a blog and want to spread the word, perhaps it is not too late.

http://trenator.blogspot.com/2009/05/dont-shake-hands-campaign.html

I have posted in The Independent, The Guardian, even it that Guido Fawkes blog (apologies Tom & Graeme, I thought this could get traction that way...) and other blogs but nothing is happening.

BBC censorship of Speaker's criticism

Sometimes I cannot help thinking that the BBC’s reputation for objectivity, neutrality and high journalistic standards is more a myth than reality. Particularly when it comes to criticism of the Scottish Labour party. In Spain everyone if full of how great the BBC is and how it should be a model for all public broadcasters. I used to agree. Now, after living in the UK for over 10 years, I am not sure. Myth, perception and reality intermingle.

Yesterday, I posted the below text in the Blether with Brian blog.
To my amazement, it has been removed as it apparently breaks the house rules on defamation.

Can anyone let me know what is in this post that is defamatory?

I have posted it again with a toned-down version, let’s see if it makes the cut…


========================
Brian,

The Speaker of the House is not a mere class rep.
The Speaker is supposed to lead.

If the less-than-honourable members have been up to no good, it is the Speaker’s job to tick them off.

Michael Martin was an awful speaker: inarticulate, mumbling, discourteous and with a tendency to gag people down. Nothing to do with class or background or accent: all to do with competence.

Michael Martin committed far too many errors to deserve any sympathy:

1) He was the main force behind the push for exemption from the FoI Act. He wanted the expenses system to be kept secret and wasted thousands of our tax money on legal fees.

2) When it was clear that this was going to come out, instead of saying sorry, instead of showing contrition or remorse, he calls in the Police to investigate the leak.

3) When a couple of backbenchers raise the issue, he shuts them down in the most childish and discourteous manner. (Hoey)

4) When another backbencher raises the issue of the no-confidence motion, again the mumbles, fumbles and shows why he should have never been the Speaker in the first place.

All this after having had a number of years to do something about this mess.
So, you understand that most of us have no sympathy for the shop steward that became one of them. Good riddance.
======================

Don’t shake hands campaign

Since the extent of the expenses scandal became clear, I have been flabbergasted at the dishonesty and the lack of morality of the vast majority of MPs.

Today, I propose that the public takes a stance.

I know I am a total nobody in the blogosphere but I think this is worth trying. If you can spread the message, perhaps it will catch on and set a global trend. With the European Elections campaign in June fast approaching, the least-than-honourable Members will be out and about campaigning to get our vote. Before we give them our vote, we should give them a piece of our mind.

What I am suggesting is that elected politicians are given the cold shoulder by the voting public.
I advocate that we should not shake hands with them, let alone let them kiss our babies for that arranged photo-opportunity.

Before we do such a thing, we are entitled to ask:

“Do you have a clear conscience with regards to your expenses claim?”

Alright, the answer is obvious: many of them do not seem to have a conscience; but still we should ask this and other questions. For example:

“Have you claimed for any personal items such as furniture, luxury
carpets, garden maintenance, pool cleaning, TVs, pet food, etc?”

“How many times have you flipped your home since becoming an MP?”

“How much have you claimed under the expense system?”

Just look them in the eye and watch their face.

If they are not elected yet, then we should be asking what expenses they are intending to claim on. I personally think that travel and mortgage interest should be enough for anybody on a £63k salary -nearly three times the national average before perks.

Then, after listening to their answer, and remembering at all times that they are highly skilled at lying and deceit, we will decide whether we want to shake hands or hand them over our precious baby to be kissed.

Be wise.

When in a hole, stop digging

Perhaps, there was a point in Michael Martin becoming the Speaker of the House. Maybe the toffs needed to be told by a Glasgow shop steward without any academic qualifications. Maybe the point needed to be made that anybody can raise to the top, even someone like Michael Martin.

But it has not worked and it has backfired.

Instead of the Man of the People, instead of keeping his feet on the ground, he has become the worst of them all. It tends to be the case that those who find wealth without risking their own, and with little effort or application, become easily accustomed to their new found riches.

The Labour Party stalwart, the man from Springburn, only the other day whinged like a spoilt kid against the pro-Tamil protesters outside Parliament. If The Daily Telegraph, not a traditional ally of socialist guerrillas, writes that these was one of the most polite and well managed demonstrations seen in Westminster, I for one will believe it.

Michael Martin however, in his chauffeur-driven car, complained bitterly during one of his interventions that his car had to drive around the square because of the pesky protesters. Pity the man.

Today, amazingly still in the job, he put out a statement with the s-word. Once upon a time, “sorry is the hardest word” worked as a journalistic cliché. After the empty apologies of the bankers, and the unsincere apologies of the least than Honourable Members, sorry does not mean anything. He said today he is “profoundly sorry”. [statement]

I, and any other person I speak to, am very clear that they are only sorry they got caught out with their pants down. They are not sorry about what they have been doing, they are sorry it became public, despite the Speaker’s best efforts to prevent disclosure at a cost of thousands of pounds in legal fees.

But today, when an MP raised the issue of a motion of no confidence, he dismissed it out of hand. If he had any morals, he would stand down but what can we expect from the man who furnishes his home, and gets his wife and her mate taxied around at our expense?


The BNP are obviously loving this and I would be surprised if they don’t get a few MEPs at the European Elections in June.

I remember the “Things Can Only Get Better” campaign (watched from The Clansman pub in Barcelona), followed up in the book, and since living in the UK since January 1999, and I have met many a Labour party activist who sincerely believed that the party would clean up politics, tackle the causes of crime and focus on education. And what we got was the privatisation of the NHS, tuitions fees, the Iraq war, sell-off of Royal Mail, and a perverse infatuation with the banking industry that has landed the UK in an absolute mountain of household and national debt, and a banking sector that is mostly insolvent. And then this.

Then, they complain when the public say they are all in it for themselves, and that they are all, save a handful of exceptions, a bunch of thiefs.

The Decadence of Catalonia

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will have noticed that I have not been writing about Catalan/Spanish politics for a while. Frankly, it is quite depressing.

After a few years in government, we can safely say that ERC has not made much of a difference. If anything, because expectations were high, because the need for change is so desperate, the disappointment has been greater. ERC, a party I have voted for many years has been a huge flop. Finally, we have what we always aspired to: a “pro-independence” party that is as incompetent and inept as the others, part of the establishment. It is no surprise that their vote is decreasing. People with a well-defined political ethos and fighting what it is an uphill battle do not like being taken for mugs. Now, those who support independence, if they can be bothered to vote at all, will have to vote ERC but without pride, averting the gaze, ignoring the mediocrity that permeates at all levels of the party machine. Some people always saw this as the panacea of the pro-independence movement: a party that is like the rest. For most of us though, it is a slap in the face.

I never thought I would ever write this but here it goes: at least with Pujol in charge there was a measure of respect, an intention to try to improve things, even if it was in cowardly small steps. At least there was a vision, a purpose. With the current lot in charge of the capital’s council and the government in Catalonia, there seems to be no higher purpose, other than self-preservation of political careers and perks (particularly for ERC and IC-V), and the pursuit of pro-Spanish policies and the consequent lowering of cultural, business, social and political clout of Catalonia (this last point is the PSC-PSOE's job, and they are having a good crack at it).

The asphyxiating control of the mass media by the PSOE in Catalonia is overwhelming: TVE, Radio 4, TV3, El Periodico, El Pais, Cadena SER, COM Radio. Other media that they do not control are overtly unionist and pro-Spanish: La Vanguardia, El Mundo, the private TV channels, COPE radio network.

The de-Catalanisation and lowering of standards inTV3 and Catalunya Radio, audience leaders a few years ago, is a well documented fact and part of PSOE’s plan to discredit what are pillar institutions in the (Catalan) national conscience. ERC is being complicit in all of this and their influence in government is nowhere to be seen or felt.

These days, I mainly read the Diàleg pages in Avui, which should be translated into English in a summary weekly edition, VilaWeb and a few isolated articles here and there. The rest is an intellectual and journalistic desert.

Sadly, what I wrote in a previous post is happening quicker than I imagined. Catalonia is a fading nation, a nation that is less so every day, overwhelmed by the power mechanisms and tactics of the Spanish state, yes; but also victim of its own cowardice, insecurity, collaborationism and self-hate. Victim of history through centuries of political and cultural repression, defeated in war several times, and subjected to a demographic reversal unparalleled in post-war Europe -except for Stalin’s madness in eastern Europe. But above all, a nation whose establishment is complicitly silent in its own subordination. A nation ruled by sepoys who will never face up to those who keep them as second-class citizens.

I thought about all this and I was trying to put it into words for this blog but, predictably as ever, more intelligent minds than mine have already done it. I share their article with you in a quick translation.

Victor Alexandre is one of the very few intellectuals who has the courage and the vision to chronicle Catalonia’s demise, but also offers ways to get out of the moral cesspit the country is immersed in these days.
Alas, there are few like him. Self-protection is the main driver of the Catalan establishment, and few dare to speak out so as not to upset their master.

Victor Alexandre uses an analogy with the opera Antigona, and equates Ismene’s silence to that of most Catalan politicians and intellectuals.

There are versions of this article in Catalan, Spanish and Basque.

For a review of Catalan theatre, read this monograph from the Anglo Catalan Society.

Antigona by Jordi Coca can be purchased here.

(any errors please let me know and I will edit the translated text)

The Decadence of Catalonia by Victor Alexandre

It is hard to admit it, but it is true: Catalonia is in decadence. Politically handcuffed, economically asphyxiated and culturally subordinated, Catalonia is a Pirandellian nation, awaiting an author who will take care of the existential shipwreck it suffers. We have come to a point where we don’t know who we are, and whoever doesn’t have conscience of their own identity does not have conscience of their rights.

We believed that there was some wisdom in our old idiom (“Qui dia passa any empeny”) but there is only individualism and abdication of responsibility. It was Batista i Roca who said that Catalans are egoists, with domestic ideals, and lacking in spirit of command. One would say that we have so little faith in ourselves, and so much fear to lose our little share of material wealth which we enjoy that the smallest gesture of affirmation on the part of one of ours seems to us a reprievable provocation. That’s why it is inadvertent to us the lethal candidness which implies constructing an axiom of the old idiom “carrying on” (“anar passant)” when we remain captive.

Catalonia, like Tebes under the reign of Creon a Antígona, is gripped by fear, and the fear makes her vulnerable and submissive. Here, likewise, power also buys the silence of grateful thinkers and pushes us to make us believe that conformism, meekness and resignation are genuinely Catalan values that are worth keeping. Here, like in the play, Tiresias-like people excel as the paradigm of prestigious intellectual defeated by cowardice, and there are also some Ismenes-like folk, fearful and dutiful model citizens.

The first one, who could exert his influence against oppression, ends up keeping out from it; and the second one, who could rebel against it, asks for prudence, measure and moderation.

“Beg”, suggests Ismene, “we shall look for the path that is easier for us”. Ismene, like many Catalans, believes that it is necessary to make pedagogy with the tyrant, believing that that it is necessary to explain oneself to him so that the kind words soften his attitude like syrup softens the throat. He says that he loves Anígona, indeed, but he abandons her, and through his prudence becomes a traitor. He doesn’t want to listen to his sister when she says:

“Don’t you see the fearful eyes of those who are closest to him? If you beg
in front of him, you will make him still harder, stronger, and you present to
him the chance to show to the city that he, Creont, does not stop for anything
and anybody. He wants to demonstrate his power in front of us, he wants us to be
docile like the dogs he caresses when he likes. If you and I do not speak out,
nobody will”.

Exquisite, this Antígona of Jordi Coca who, shortly before dying, addresses herself to Tiresias reproaching:

"You have also kept silence. […] What’s up, are you also fearful?[…] Those like
you who could help us, soon become little and coward. You keep telling us
that
no change is possible because things are as they are… So many lies in
what you
say and what you don’t…!”

And finishes:

“Now he, Creont, believes he himself is the city. And you believe yourself that
you are a wise man because in front of him you measure more than necessary what you say… I am killed by his decree and by your silence”.

Alas, Catalonia is rich in Tiresias and scarce of Antígones, because dignity is a word that the managers of the day-to-day –those to whom Lluís Llach asked not to kill off the dream- have changed its meaning upside down until making it a fault.

In their hands, dignity has become an imbecile’s pathology. But Catalonia’s decadence is mostly due to their work, because it is them whom with their silence, with their fear masquerading as prudence and with their submission concealed as realism, have left this country in a cul-de-sac. Lluís Llach sang “they will tell us we need to wait” in 1978 without expecting that some of those who applauded him would make of this waiting game their profession. And it is ironic, and pretty sad, that thirty years later we still need to sing “it is not like this, friends, not like this” and lament the “commerce that is being done with our rights, rights that we have, that cannot be done and undone, new cellbars under the guise of law”.

You have to be quite insensitive not to realise the decadence of Catalonia. It is enough to witness the progressive degradation of the language in the media which with the collaboration or the acquiescence of some linguists is being transformed into a patois named “Catanyol”. Thus, almost without realising, we will have to admit that Catalan language, like energy, has not disappeared but has been transformed into a dialect of Spanish. But Catalonia’s decadence is not only linguistic. Our decadence is also political, economical and social. Catalan politics has been turned into Spanish politics, our income per capita continues to decrease spectacularly to the level of Melilla and our infrastructures are obsolete because of the fiscal robbery. And the worst of it all is the psychological impact that this state of affairs has over ourselves. There is a great feeling of frustration and people look around confused asking where are the leaders that were going to return its dignity to this old European nation. But there are no leaders.

Antígona at least faced up to Creont telling him:

“I accuse you of turning this city into a dead city, without voice or will”.

Catalonia, alas, can’t accuse anybody because the Creonts that are in charge are more canny than Sofocle’s Creont.

Nevertheless, I am an optimist and agree with Jaume Vicens i Vives when he said that Catalonia’s life is an act of continuous reaffirmation and that its motive is its wish to exist. I accept that the current confusion seems to contradict this statement, but it is necessary to understand that the country is going through a process of political growing-up and this confusion is part of it. After that, luckly, there will be no way back and our subordination to Spain will be just a sad memory. We should not then lose sight of our youth, happyly free from the pathological fear of their parents, as it will be them who will teach us that the only way to change an adverse reality is to thing about a better one.

Antígona dies, yes, but it is a young man who tries to save her, and his presence symbolises hope. Thus she declares to Creont when she utters:

“Man also dies when ceases to be a man and does everything because of fear.
[…] I disobeyed you, I have opposed your edict […] and I declare it here,
before this now silent man, that he will live longer than you or I, so that
what has been said lives beyond us”.

Then if we want that this process of political growing-up goes quick, we have to ensure that our media delivers a message within a Catalan-focused framework, because the message impacts the thinking, the thinking deliniates the actions, and actions define history.

It is official: Spanish state condones Fascism

Rab is back with a scoop: the Spanish state in its present form is the legacy of Franco’s regime and it condones Fascism.

OK, if you have read this blog before, you will know it is not a scoop. I have written before about how Spain is a half-baked democracy.

- Banning of political parties: March-07, Sept-08
- Media censorship: July-07
- How to kill off a language: Jan-08
- Francoist roots of the Partido Popular: March-08, July-08
- Defective democracy: Jan-06, Feb-07, July-08, Dec-08
- Catalanophobia: Oct-05,Aug-06, Nov-08

But this time is just so blatant: the Spanish Ministry of Defence argues that it is perfectly normal to have a portrait of General Franco in one of the military residences in Barcelona.

Can anyone imagine a similar situation in Germany or Italy with Hitler or Mussolini?
Of course not, but Spain is different!

http://www.publico.es/espana/220544/defensa/alega/cuadro/franco/exalta/figura

If this had happened in Germany, the outcry would have been extraordinary. But in Spain the state is fully supportive.

Franco’s legacy indeed.

Spanish democracy revisited

Well, let’s not get the collapse of the financial system distract us from what the Spanish state does to those who challenge their (Spanish) nationalistic dogma.

In the last few days, the Tribunal Supremo, a legacy high court inherited from Franco’s regime has outlawed two political parties.

Yes, it is not a mistake. In a member state of the EU, political parties are banned. Particularly if they tend to be Basque pro-independence parties.

This is a strategy that successive Spanish governments have pursued for years. Outlawing political parties so support for independence, for a change of the status quo cannot be measured in the polls. By banning all political parties representing the pro-independence socialists, Spanish officials attempt to rig the electoral process, prohibiting a significant section of the Basque people to vote for the party of their choosing.

This is democracy, Spanish style.

I have written about it before.

February 2004
March 07 and again
July 07


For as long as Basque voters are denied to vote for a socialist pro-independence party, Spain is a half-baked democracy unfit to be a member of the European Union.

Yet, as I have written many times, fascist and neo-nazi parties are allowed to participate in the electoral process. What a fallacy: Spanish democracy.


Links:
Avui and Vilaweb (Catalan)
Publico (Spanish), again.

What has the Labour Party ever done for Glasgow East?

Excellent news today in Scotland: the Labour party, after decades of neglect, have been voted out. Glasgow East, one of the most deprived areas in the UK, has returned a SNP MP for the first time ever.

Congratulations to the SNP and to the people of Glasgow East.

When Spain begins to look like Serbia

Once again, I am going to borrow an article from somebody else. In this case, it is from the editor and chief of the web portal VilaWeb. VilaWeb is one of the most visited websites in Catalonia and an influential media outlet. It is actually number one news portal in Catalan language, averaging over 300,000 unique visitors per month, and one of the key pioneers (ENG) in the use of Catalan in the internet and of the development of internet in Catalonia. Vilaweb is one of the few truly independent media outlets in Catalonia: a private enterprise not subject to the dictum of party or government politics.

The chief of Vilaweb is Vicent Partal [blog in Catalan]. He is a respected journalist and gets invited to TV and radio programs, etc as a pundit. I have taken the liberty to translate his editorial piece from Thursday 10 July 2008. In this article, Mr Partal highlights the increasing similarities between the pan-Serbian nationalism of the late 80s and the Spanish nationalism of nowadays. It makes some interesting reading but it is unlikely that the bunch of lazy foreign correspondents that work for the English-speaking media in Spain will report on it. They copy and paste from El País and El Mundo, the newspapers of the Spanish left and right respectively.

I have sketched a quick translation. I am keen to get feedback, as I am sure there is room for improvement, so I will keep updating the wording as I receive your comments.

Source: VilaWeb editorial Thursday 10 July 2008 [link]


When Spain begins to look like Serbia 

If for years Spanish nationalism expressed itself in a moderate way, accepting a certain bilingualism and feigning a certain 'kind' image, the mask has fallen in 2008 so spectacularly that we will have to mark it in the history books, The manifesto against the bilingualism or yesterday’s reactions to the document of the (Catalan Government) Finance Secretary Mr Castells about the fiscal plundering mark a new path that brings closer Spanish nationalism to the recent history of Serbian nationalism. With some concrete parallelisms that are terrifying.

This manifesto that claims the superiority of the Spanish language signals a change of social notions. They do not proclaim the convenience of bilingualism any more in the areas with their own native language within the State; what they argue is the backward movement of the native languages. There stops being the formal worry that there was until now for social cohesion, which they in no way appeal to any more. Now the call goes towards the demographic superiority of the speakers of the Spanish language, claiming a pure and simple imposition: demographics. 

And in this sense, the manifesto reminds us of the famous Memorandum published in the year 1986 by the Serbian Academy of the Arts and the Sciences; said memorandum served as an ideological basis for Milosevic and this ended up bringing war, and independence of all, all of them, not purely Serbian areas of ex-Yugoslavia and to the international isolation of Serbia. 

That [Serb] Manifesto, for example, affirmed, against reality, that the only people that did not have right to use their own language were the Serbs that were living in bilingual areas, and it claimed the imposed primacy of the serbo-croat over all other languages; and that whatever or whoever did not subscribe to this idea was 'a particularism' and 'antidemocratic'.

The message that inspired that Manifesto and the one that inspires the pro-Spanish manifesto is the same: a belief that there are cultures or languages that are superior to others, without any regard to speakers of the [other] language, and to request the imposition of their language via discriminatory laws and, if necessary, with recourse to the forces of the law. The [Serb] Memorandum of 1986 also outlined what their authors (intellectuals like in the case of the Spanish manifesto) considered was an economic oppression of Sèrbia by the other republics. And this exact message was also made visible yesterday by most of the Spanish media as an answer to the presentation of the data about the fiscal plunder. It is the same perversion: reality does not matter.

And thus yesterday we could see and hear people who denied it openly, who turned the data upside down or, simply, who reconverted the Spanish nationalistm discourse affirming that that the problem is not that Catalonia, and the rest of the Catalan Countries, suffer fiscal plundering by Spain, but that Spain is being suffocated by the power of Catalan companies, which have colonised Spain. Again, a change of discourse that implies a remarkable change of social notions. Until now nobody, except for isolated groups, had dared saying something like this. Yesterday we heard it in the mass media and from the lips of very violent commentators and very loudly.

I confess that this drift is worrying me. It worries me, especially, because it goes accompanied of a remarkable and visible increase of violence. The attitude of the pro-Spanish is every time more violent and aggressive, and from insults they have already move into threats or disturbances, as we have seen during the celebrations of the Euro 2008 football tournament, despite the silence of the majority of the media.

But it is also necessary to say that the Serbian drift of Spanish nationalism is a threat especially for them. Unlike what happened in the former Yugoslavia, we live in the European Union and here it will not be tolerated or allowed any type of war, or coups, either military or legislative. And this should make somebody think, in Spain. Because Sèrbia has ended up alone, impoverished and isolated. And to explain today this is to make a pure and simple description of how this could end for the Spaniards, if they continue with the supremacist madness that has taken hold of them.

Fallacy No 1: Leave politics out of sport

The latest fallacy that has been exposed has been the explosion of Spanish nationalism following Spain’s victory in the Euro Championships. We have witnessed an orgy of flag-waving, appeals to national unity and demonstrations of emotional attachment to the (Spanish) homeland.

But, er wait a minute. I thought that politics should be left out of sport, as the Spanish media always reminds us whenever Catalan people demand their national teams be allowed to play in international competitions.

Alas, not so when the Spanish team wins a tournament. Then, mixing politics and sport, for the greater cause of Spanish unity and to undermine the movement for Catalan independence is encouraged. This latest show of Spanish nationalism has been driven and executed by the same Spanish media that ticks off Catalan people for allegedly mixing politics and sport.

What we have witnessed these days is the comeback of a more confident display of Spanish nationalism. Under perceived threat by the “peripheral” nationalisms of Catalonia and the Basque Country, Spanish people have come out and showed their national allegiance in a show of patriotic fervour not since the Franco days.

And the usual suspects, the apologetics for Spanish Nationalism, the neo-Francoist converted to “democracy” (democracy in their own terms only) have come out praising this show of Spanish fervour. One of them even managed to get an opinion article published in The Guardian.

Victor de la Serna, editor of the paper that has done the most to attach social cohesion in Catalonia, the paper that spearheaded a lunatic and poisonous conspiracy theory about the train bombs in Madrid, in an article riddled with outright lies and blatant manipulation, manages to get his hate-message to an international audience. Fortunately, Guardian readers know better and the comments left in the page show that an educated international audience does not swallow the lies of the Spanish media.

Democracy in action: self-determination

There is plenty of media coverage about the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo.

It is not surprising how Spain has aligned itself with those models of democracy: Russia and Serbia.

Spanish politicians are at pains to stress that Catalonia and the Basque Country are different cases and that Kosovo is a one off. I am old enough to remember that the same people said exactly the same after the independence of the Baltic Republics or the new Balkan states.

Independence is won by exercising the democratic right self-determination. Apart from the former Czechoslovakia, I cannot think of any stateless nation that won independence by mutual agreement. According to some, self-determination is the prerogative of the occupying or master power. Their lack of democratic credentials is obvious for all to see.

Kosovo, like Croatia or Lithuania or Latvia won their independence status by exercising their democratic right of self-determination: democracy in action.

Let’s hope that Catalonia will one day join the community of nations and become another state within the European Union, by exercising the right of self-determination in a free and democratic manner and without Spanish anti-democratic interference.

another borrowed article - change

This is another of Josep Vergés articles in el Racó Catala.

I am happy to correct any mistakes. Original article (Catalan and English).
As ever, I don’t entirely agree with Senyor Vergés, but his views are a refreshing change from the pro-Spanish establishment media opposed to Catalan independence.


Notary of Change
"I consider myself Spanish" affirms for starters notary Lopez Burniol of Ciutadans pel Canvi, Pasqual Maragall's almost-party who can spoil, if he stands, the elections of the presumed minister Duran Lleida and the presumed president Zapatero. Born at the mouth of the Ebro, in Alcanar, he grew up in Ripoll and in Calella, following his Spanish father who was a village notary. He discovered Catalonia in a Calella hairdresser which offered Destino, my father's liberal magazine, where he read Josep Pla. "A country with barbers who provide Destino is a civilized country."

Today the notary gives witness to a change which has him greatly worried: "Either Spain federalizes or Catalonia will become independent."

Those of us who feel Catalan in Catalonia think the same. In the last three years -there are no reliable figures before that- those who feel exclusively Spanish have fallen by half a million to 4% of the population while the sentiment of being Catalan has grown by five points. Today half a million more Catalans want a State, federated or independent. In total four million want it, one more than have enough with the autonomy of PSC-PSOE or the 390,000 who want the fascist region of the PP. A referendum on a Catalan State, associated or independent, would win by 55% of the vote, the same percentage Europe demanded of Montenegro to be independent of the equally intolerant Serbia.

Why is Catalan nationhood growing so fast? Because of the lying incompetence of Zapatero and the rabid anti-Catalanism of Rajoy, the leaders of the two centralist parties. Pro-independence Joan Puigcercos of Esquerra explains: "Zapatero cannot be bothered at all about Catalan commuter trains. He doesn't care that at the moment there are obsolete trains all over Catalonia and the railways are so disastrous that many trains are stranded daily. In 1992 independence was a proscribed idea, absolutely marginal as something impossible or illegal, while today it has been taken over by 20% of the population."

20% may seem little, but it translates to one and a half million Catalans, more than the total Basque population which has spilt so much ink, and gunpowder. Madrid ignores Catalans at a great peril for centralism. There is still time to offer federalism but in a decade Catalan public opinion will have gone much beyond. Why doesn't Spain federalize, the manifesto with which PSOE won the elections? It doesn't federalize because of a macro-capital just as South American as Caracas. Madrid has feet of clay. It has large companies but except El Corte Ingles, all are disgusting monopolies like Renfe or former monopolies privatized Russian style like Telefonica or Mafiosi public contractors. Madrid does not know what an entrepreneur is. It has great motorways, a galactic airport, meters of metros, all paid from the public purse.

Catalonia leads decentralization, but behind follow all the other autonomies. Madrid battles Catalonia because every time it gives way, and not a year passes that it does not give up something, all the others want the same. The State of the Autonomies is the mortal enemy of Madrid, because in the long run Madrid will be nothing. This is what centralists who identify Madrid with Spain do not want but in fact Madrid lives against Spain. It can build as many high speed lines to the centre as it wants, that these can just as easily attract capital as decentralize. Iberia centralized like today Renfe is doing and has been expelled by competition from Barcelona airport and is for sale like Alitalia, whom nobody wants either.

Catalan parties will not pact with centralists without real measures. The PP may threaten and PSOE may lie, but neither threats nor lies permit the formation of a majority in Congress.
Lopez Burniol ends by asking: "Why don't we do like Canada?"
I answer: "So that civil servants in all of Spain know Catalan?"
The notary of change concludes giving witness, like a good notary: "Impossible! Independence is all that's left."

Josep C. Vergés

Time is a scarce resource

Regular readers will have noticed that I have been not very active of late. There are a variety of reasons:

+ Work: the credit liquidity squeeze and the return of volatility have resulted in longer hours at work.
+ Studies: the MBA thesis on credit default swaps is also taking longer that expected. Final deadline (I have already had a couple of extensions…) is 7 December 2007, so not a lot of time left.
+ Commuting: normally I drive from the outskirts of Glasgow to Edinburgh. This month, however I am trying to commute by train. Next year, if/when I have more time, I will write about public transport provision in the UK.
+ Too much to write about: frankly, there is too much happening. I feel overwhelmed with developments in Scottish/British politics and Catalan/Spanish politics. Where should I start. Thus, I feel easier to reply to other people’s blogs, even if they are slightly bonkers. Hello John and Trevor.

If all that was not enough, to be brutally honest, the few spare hours I have I’d rather spend them with my gorgeous, lovely, pretty and extremely patient girlfriend.

It has been a few interesting weeks. I have been accused of being both “obviously right-wing” and a “far-leftist” by Iberian Notes because of this post. Iberian Notes is a blog by a north American expat living in Barcelona which regurgitates the same bile and hatred towards Catalonia and its sense of nationhood and cultural, social and political identity as the most vicious and aggressive Spanish nationalist portals like Libertad Digital. Well it seems the guy used to work for them so no surprises there.

What I did not expect when I set up this blog (in September 2003 no less) is that I would be quoted out of context by El País newspaper:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cataluna/Independentismo/elpepuespcat/20071107elpcat_15/Tes (Spanish)

The post the article is referring is this one: It’s time. I notice the journalist cites the comment left by Ox, but not my reply with web links, or Ox’s lack of counter-reply. I will dedicate another post to this article next week.

In any case, for the benefit of Mr Delclós and Ox, I did not equate political independence to a complete assurance of improving life expectancy; rather, the crux of the post, for anyone that wants to read it properly, is that +50 years of Labour rule in Glasgow has failed to address this and many other social issues, that a change in policy is required and that only the SNP can provide the cathartic change Scotland so much needs.

Can anyone argue back that keeping Labour in power will resolve the many social issues we face in the west of Scotland when they have proved to be incapable of doing so in +50 years?

It is time to vote for Scotland

Another day in the Scottish elections campaign, another pathetic effort by New Labour at scaremongering and manipulation.

Now it is the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The man who led this country to an illegal and ill-conceived war in Iraq; the man who lied to Parliament about WMD; the man at the helm of the party involved in the “cash for honours” scandal; the man who said “Education, Education, Education” and got us into PFI schools, faith schools, and tuition fees; the man who said “the UK will have an ethical foreign policy” and ordered to stop an inquiry into the dealings between BAE Systems and the corrupt and tyrannical Saudi regime. The leader of a so-called Labour government who will spend £20bn in Weapons of Mass Destructions that will be based in the Clyde. Ad infinitum…

Now Tony Blair tries to scare us into not voting SNP.
And his sidekick, Gordon Brown, openly says that he will not work with a SNP-led Scottish Executive. So, Gordon Brown, current Chancellor and next Prime Minister, refuses to work with the elected representatives of the Scottish people. What a shame for the Labour party to be ruled by such despicable people.

In any case, it is inevitable: Scotland is marching towards independence –regardless of what happens on Thursday.

For years, I have been saying that the minute a Conservative government gains sufficient majority in Westminster, the loudest defenders of the Union hitherto will become its coffin bearers. Once the Conservative forms government in London, Scottish Labour will unashamedly drop their pro-Union stance and push towards Scottish sovereignty. For Scottish Labour, principles are negotiable and flexible, self-preservation is what matters and they will do whatever it takes to keep themselves in power, as they have successfully don in the west of Scotland. It was with a smile that I read the following paragraph in The Times:
“Ten minutes after any future Conservative government is elected by English voters, the Scottish Labour Party (never mind the SNP) is likely to bolt for the door marked “Exit”.

The above is exactly what I think. Labour will switch sides to the pro-independence camp the minute we have a Tory Prime Minister. To me this is as clear as spring water.

By we don’t need to wait. It is time to end the rot, time to put a stop to Scotland’s decline. It is time to make things happen, time to release our potential, time to join the rest of free nations in Europe.

It is time to vote for the future. It is time to vote SNP.

Links:
The Herald – Salmond challenges Brown to work with SNP.
Financial Times – Union Blues
The Times – Braveheart on the march
ScotlandVotes – interactive tool
Adam Smith Institute – A road to riches