Showing posts with label Books & Videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books & Videos. Show all posts
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Saturday, March 23, 2019
On 4 October 2017, Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights introduced the debate at the European Parliament, on the Constitution, rule of law and fundamental rights in Spain in the light of the events of Catalonia.
https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-144694
TEXT
On 4 October 2017, Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights introduced the debate at the European Parliament, on the Constitution, rule of law and fundamental rights in Spain in the light of the events of Catalonia.
Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights (in ENGLISH) introducing the debate on the Constitution, rule of law and fundamental rights in Spain in the light of the events of Catalonia - in Europe, after the Second World War, and after the end of dictatorship in Spain, Portugal and Greece and again, after the fall of the Berlin wall, we have shaped our democratic societies based on three principles : democracy, respect for the Rule of Law and Human rights, the three need each other, they cannot exclude each other, you cannot use one against the others, if you remove one pillar, then the others will fall too, respect for the Rule of law is not optional, it is fundamental; if the law does not give you what you want, you can oppose the law, you can work to change the law, but you cannot ignore the law; so this fundamental that the constitutions of everyone of our Member States are upheld and respected, so this is the basis for our debate today, in that debate we should be guided by the values set out in Article 2 of the Treatees, values that are common to Member States and citizens, and on whoch our Union is founded.
As Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EC, in his last State of the Union: "Our European Union is not a State but it is a community of law, we must never loose sight of this"; there is general consensus that the Regional government of Catalonia has chosen to ignore the law when organising the referendum held last Sunday (1st October 2017), the Spanish Constitution Tribunal having suspended the Catalan laws on the organisation of the referendum and issued daily penalties against those who went against its orders, that is not changing the fact that we have all seen saddening images from Sunday, let me be clear, violence does not solve anything in politics, it is never an answer, never a solution, and it can never be used as a weapon or instrument; Europe knows that better that anywhere else, none of us want to see violence in our societies, however it is off course a duty for any government to uphold the rule of law, and this sometimes does require the proportionate use of force, we understand that people wanted to express their views, freedom of expression is a fundamental right for all European citizens, and thus for all Spanish citizens; one opinion is not more valuable than another opinion only because it is expressed more loudly [applause].
As the Commission has stated, under the Spanish constitution, Sunday's vote in Catalonia was not legal, looking ahead, it is clear that an agreed way forward is needed in Spain, for the European Commission, as Jean-Claude Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain, that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain, that is why the European Commission has called on all relevant actors to now move quickly from confrontation to dialogue, the power of dialogue, of sitting down and talking to each other even if and especially when we passionately disagree is what our union is built on, all lines of communication must stay open, it is time to talk, to find a way out of the impass, working within the constitutional order of Spain, at the end of the day, the real answers can only come from all those concerned, those directly concerned are all 46 million Europeans who are Spanish citizens, those indirectly concerned are all Europeans who are citizens of all other Member States.
Jean-Claude Juncker is in touch with Mariano Rajoy, Spanish Prime Minister who will trustly ensure that the situation is resolved in a spirit of dialogue and in full respect of the Spanish Constitution and of fundamental rights of citizens, this must be the goal for all of us; allow me to stress that the development of Spain, since the Spanish people liberated themselves from dictatorship, is one of the greatest success stories Europe has seen in its history [Applause]; in less than my life time Spain was transformed from a nation under a boot of a dictator into a nation that leads globally in a great manieries, where every citizen has full right, protected by the rule of law, where culture flourishes and the economy grows, this is the all inspiring achievements of all Spanians, including Catalans; this would not have been possible, without full respect for the rule of law, respect for the separation of powers, respect for the ruling of judges; let me add, nowhere is the attachment for the rule of law stronger than in those nations where there are memories of what it means to be deprived of it; all this was achieved through hard work, commitment, dialogue and respect for diversity, please let that inspire all of us, to leave the path of confrontation and follow the road of cooperation and dialogue to solve the situation. Thank you very much.
Members of the European Parliament applauding
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Antoni Bayona: "The independence leaders acted with unconsciousness" - The former senior lawyer of the Parliament of Catalonia Antoni Bayona presents a book on how he lived through the’procés’ when he was in office in the Catalan Parliament.
The former senior lawyer of the Parliament of Catalonia dissects the year of the 'procés' in the book 'No todo vale'
Antoni Bayona (Sabadell, 1954) has reflected in the book No Todo Vale (Peninsula) his experience as a senior lawyer of the Parliament of Catalonia in a momentous stage, when the Executive of Carles Puigdemont held the referendum of 1-O and declared independence. Part of the then Govern is now being tried in the Supreme Court for these facts. Bayona himself has been subpoened as a witness in the trial
Did you feel pressured as the senior lawyer of the Parlament during the last legislature?
The secretary general of the Parliament and the senior lawyer have the mission to assist the organs that are the kitchen of the House, the Board of the Parliament and the committee of spokespersons. There is always some pressure. But when arriving at the dimensions that we arrived then, the fact of opting for the unilateral route and disconnecting and overflowing the Constitution left the lawyers in a very delicate position. A kind of clamp was created by all of them. I felt used by everyone, but that goes with the salary.
In your book you posit that the neutrality of the Parliament has been lost. And that even the workers of the Parliament have suffered tensions.
That has happened. And reaching the current level, with preventive prisons, even more. The workers of the Parliament are in an institution that is plural and we should maintain the appearance of neutrality, but there are people who have put the emotions above that. There are situations inside, human relationships have been affected. I have noticed a certain emptiness around. There are people who have not understood that the lawyers made warnings like those of the last legislature, warning of the consequences of not fulfilling the orders of the Constitutional Court. I mention it as an attempt to let the reader know that the environment, beyond politics, where it is already quite tense, has also deteriorated in the parliamentary administration.
“Forcadell was exposed to a series of decisions taken by more people "
You mention that the pro-independence majority of the Board of Parliament left the former president Carme Forcadell alone, and that they somehow shirked responsibilities to transfer them to her.
I have this perception, and I can deduce it from things that happened. Forcadell was expressly exposed to a series of decisions that a group of people had taken, but in the end they ended up falling individually on her. Decisions that could have been taken by the Government were transferred to the Parliament. And with this system of having to make extensions of the agenda of the plenary sessions to approve laws such as those of transition to the republic or of the referendum, or the conclusions of the commission of the constituent process, it was on Forcadell personally, as president of the Parliament, where such decisions were visualized. And this had to be said in fairness.
You maintain that the independence process has underestimated the law.
Here there have been very notable distortions of reality. An imaginary has been built in Catalonia, as if we were in an authoritarian state, creating a parallel fantasy world. Then, to propose a way of unilateral independence, overflowing and saying it without subtleties as was done in resolution I / XI [the declaration of breakup annulled by the TC], already meant dispensing with a fundamental value of a State, which is the value of the law. And that has not been done in Scotland or any other country.
From the story you build in the book it is clear that the independence leaders acted either with naiveté, or with unconsciousness.
Yes, I would define it with these expressions. It is very difficult for me to understand why they did what they did and I do not have an answer if it is not this: that they acted that way. It has long been known that the right to self-determination recognized in the UN human rights pact is redirected to very extreme situations and Catalonia cannot be included there.
“Catalonia does not have the right to self-determination in international law "
Does Catalonia have no right to self-determination?
No, in international law no. Because international law also protects the integrity of states. And when this pact is made in the 60s it is to end colonial situations or the situation of peoples who are oppressed and have no right to participate. In a democratic state, in which we have autonomy, with our own institutions, where we choose the Spanish parliament ... all this has nothing to do with those cases. That's why I was so surprised that the referendum law was based on the right to self-determination. And now they want to assert it in front of the Supreme Court in the trial. It seems to me a very weak argument.
What happened in Catalonia on October 27? Was it a coup? Nothing happened?
I do not agree with the statements that qualify it as a coup d'etat. Linked to the two laws, what theoretically was done that day, and that was apparently done, because it was the perception that gained the citizenship, that the independence was consummated. However, it seems that its promoters did not want to do it. It was something more rhetorical or political than effective.
And so?
Something sufficiently ambiguous was approved to make it appear that independence had been declared, but an independence is not made effective unilaterally if it is not materialized afterwards. The Govern declared the independence of Catalonia and immediately thereafter left for the weekend. And to make independence effective it would have had to bend the will of the State.
“The declaration of independence was the end of a flight forward "
How do you define it?
It is the end of a flight forward. Of so many promises and of creating so many expectations. As people were convinced, no one in the Government dared to put the brakes on the end. It is like an act of final immolation. But this is not so much a problem of judicial responsibility as of political responsibility.
Watching from within the decisions taken by Forcadell and the pro-sovereign members of the Board, would you say that they disobeyed the Constitutional Court?
It is difficult, because it is based on facts, to say that there were no breaches of resolutions of the TC. There were warnings to the Board not to continue on this path, and they continued on this path. This is accredited and occurred several times.
Were Forcadell and the members of the Bureau aware of not complying with these resolutions?
We warned them. When the General Secretary of the Parliament and I found ourselves in this situation, and we saw that there could be a responsibility derived from this situation, you have to say: be careful. And therefore, these warnings are accredited.
In the book you also firmly state that there was no crime of rebellion.
So it is. All the construction included in the statement of charges of Judge Llarena, which focuses on what happened on September 20 and October 1, is difficult to be made to fit into the way the criminal code regulates the rebellion.
What happened there then?
Maybe something happened that is not covered in the penal code. Sometimes something can happen that can go beyond a simple disobedience, because it was more systematic and repeated, but that is not contemplated in the penal code. In criminal law you cannot judge by elevation. With a much greater crime. And here is a major problem in the trial. That also links with the title of the book “No todo vale”. The trial, from the legal point of view, is subjected to a stress test. We will see if it is able to overcome it.
You can not define the independence leaders judged as political prisoners "
Are the independence leaders who are being tried at this time, are they political prisoners?
For me a political prisoner is one who is in prison for expressing and making public her ideas. The concept should not be trivialized. Here there is a difference, and that is that some ideas have been defended and some decisions have been taken as public authorities. And this is an element to consider which makes me think that they cannot be defined as political prisoners.
Which way out do you see to the current situation?
We have to do a reset. It cannot be proposed to the government of Madrid, as it was proposed to Pedro Sánchez: "my conditions are referendum, international mediation, self-determination and freedom of the prisoners". Man, this is clearly something the other side cannot take. We should do a turn of moderation, at least as a temporary solution. To look for an accommodation, because the constitutional framework is sufficiently open. Let things deflate a bit, and then we'll see. It would also be necessary to find a way to make a consultation, because there is a significant social demand in favor of independence and a referendum would be justified. The first thing we should do is give ourselves a truce.
Do you fear that the publication of this book may compromise your neutrality as a lawyer of the Parliament?
It's something I've reflected on and I've concluded that I do not. Because the lawyers of the Parliament work for the whole institution. By definition we are not lawyers of the majority, we are of an institution that is plural. And I know how to differentiate between my opinion and my professional duty. I would not have written it if I were a senior lawyer, but now I'm a normal lawyer, and after all I'm just talking about what happened, about the story.
Are you in favor of independence?
After the sentence of the Statute it seemed to me that the way of independence was logical and possible because a door had been closed, the Statute's ruling was very belligerent and deliberately closed many doors that were open in the Constitution. I believed in the independence project and we could say that I could be pro-independence. But when I see that this takes place in a way that I do not consider correct, since I see that the unilateral path would lead to failure, I emotionally disconnect. My pro-independence mood is currently in the freezer. Not discarded, but I cannot associate it with a way of doing and with actors with whom I do not feel identified.
https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190226/46710478531/antoni-bayona-letrado-mayor-letrado-parlament-juicio-proces-independentismo.html
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Thursday, January 31, 2019
Catalanism as a meeting point
The association Portes obertes del catalanismo presents "Catalanisme, 80 mirades (i +)", a set of reflections on this movement
"Portes Obertes del Catalanisme" is a platform committed to a plural, open and integrating Catalanism, essential to address the deep institutional and political crisis of Catalonia and the Spanish conjuncture.
The association "Portes obertes del catalanisme" presented on Wednesday Catalanisme. 80 mirades (i +) a compendium of personal reflections of more than 80 authors among politicians, academics and writers around this movement. In the work, personalities such as José Montilla, Miquel Roca, Josep Antoni Duran and Lleida, Joan Coscubiela, Joan Herrera and Santi Vila give their opinion on the validity of Catalanism.
Jordi Menéndez, editor of the book and member of "Portes obertes", has begun the presentation of the work explaining the nature of it: "It is not a book, it is a cry, in a certain way a certificate of existence of this transversal movement" .
The articles that make up the work are the fruit of a question: How are we to understand Catalanism today so that it becomes an element of change in our society? Menéndez explained that the reader will not find absolute certainties or a unique position. "It is a collective call to highlight the validity of Catalanism."
The doctor in political science, Astrid Barrio, wanted to make a review of the great contributions of Catalanism: the cooperative conception of politics, concretized in self-government; the defense of a specificity; and the contribution to generate a modernizing process in Spain. At the same time he pointed out that in the current political context, Catalanism needs a coordination effort.
The writer Antoni Puigverd described the movement as a unifying element of different points of view, which coincides in the concern for the country, but which has a critical view that defends the virtues and a critical attitude with its own history. Puigverd has defended the figure of Catalanism as a meeting point: "Catalonia should not be a temple with mystical notions and martyrs, but an agora in which to be able to meet".
At the end of the ceremony, the president of "Portes Obertes del Catalanisme", Mario Romeo, wanted to thank the former President of the Generalitat José Montilla who is "the true representative of the unity of the Catalan people, since he has made efforts to crystallize it" .
http://www.portesobertescat.cat/catalanismo-como-punto-de-encuentro/
Monday, January 28, 2019
Ex-president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart one of the authors of 'Contes per ser lliures': the book for children against the King and the judges The volume, published this week, disqualifies the Monarchy and the judiciary with eleven children's stories written by Jordi Cuixart, Lluís Llach or Bel Olid
Contes per ser lliures, in Catalan, or Tales to be free, in Spanish. It is the book for children that charges against the Monarchy and the judiciary in eleven children's stories that suspiciously resemble a country very similar to Spain. The volume has been edited by the so-called Association for Civil Rights of Catalonia (Adic) and, under the guise of defending liberties, charges against the political system and national legal order.
As reported by Efe, the copies, which are sold at a price of 15 euros in places such as Fnac, El Corte Inglés or La Casa del Libro, explain up to eleven civil and political rights to children, although with a very marked bias. For starters, the authors are all pro-independence activists, from the former Junts pel Yes (JxSí) Lluís Llach to the former CUP candidate Bel Olid, through the cook Ada Parellada, the presenter Empar Moliner, the former top official of the Generalitat Jordi Cabré - nephew of Xavier Trias, former mayor of Barcelona -, the ANC activist Jordi Calvís or the ex-president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, today in preventive prison accused of sedition.
"The new kings imprison rappers"
The content is also peculiar. In the story that Llach describes the right to participate in public affairs, the singer says that "when there was no democracy minstrels who sang things contrary to the king of the day were sent to the stake, today are the new kings of democratic lie want to imprison clowns, rappers, mayors, deputies ... and storytellers. "
The cook Ada Parellada, who has to relate the right to freedom, gives life to the carom, a yellow tropical fruit. One day, these fruits arrive in a country where "the yellow color was forbidden because he had fallen on his head a little yellow bag" to the emperor.
The regime, then, "ordered the police to throw away, destroy or imprison everything that was yellow," the story continues. At one point in history, fruits are "deprived of freedom" until they are rescued and exported abroad, where they are seen, "as the best yellow fruits of the universe."
"A king whose crown is too heavy"
For its part, the writer, ex-candidate of the CUP to the Catalan parliament and Bel Olid tries to shed light on the right to a fair trial explaining that in an imaginary country a king dictated the laws "absurdly because the crown weighed too much "
The story explains that one day, a girl reprimands the head of state for his attitude and the crown and head explode and end "on the moon or on Mars." From that moment, the subjects of the nation learn to live without regents "with the rules that seemed best to all, with joy and freedom."
The volume has begun to market this week. It is self-publishing, that is, it is not edited by any publisher, and the benefits of it, says the pro-independence entity, will go to the imprisoned politicians to organize the process in Catalonia and their families.
https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/contes-per-ser-lliures-libro-ninos_165602_102.html
Thursday, January 17, 2019
La Cataluña insurgente (The insurgent Catalonia)
03/04/2018
PRESENTATION IN MADRID OF
'LA CATALUÑA INSURGENTE' Gabriel Colomé:
"We have the most mediocre generation of politicians, and it is a drama"
The political scientist, creator of the Catalan CIS, argues that the only way out of the conflict lies in the constitutional reform, but requires leaders with "high-mindedness", a Gordon Brown, and there is not.
"There is not a Gordon Brown here." There is not a political leader capable of spinning an emotive, passionate, convincing, overwhelming speech at a time of crisis, at a decisive juncture, as it was in that 2014, on the eve of the referendum in which in the end the permanence of Scotland within from United Kingdom. In Spain there are "mediocre politicians", "and that is a drama" right now, when the State is going through its biggest bankruptcy since the Transition, with the threat of secession of Catalonia still burning and an unstoppable emotional breakdown.
Gabriel Colomé is the one who signs the reflection. He is a an associated professor of Political Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a columnist for El Confidencial, former mayor and president of the Socialist Group in the city council of the Catalan capital (2011-2015) and campaign manager of Meritxell Batet, head of list of the PSC in the general elections of 2016 and today deputy in the Congress. Colomé presented his latest book on Tuesday, 'La insurgente Catalunya' (Carena, 2017), at the Blanquerna cultural center in Madrid, together with Batet, the journalist Josep Cuní and the editor of this newspaper, Nacho Cardero. The four talked for almost two hours about the situation in Catalonia, the relationship between journalism and the media and the crisis of the social democracy and the PSC, a party to which Colomé dedicates several pages of his work.
The author, director and creator of the Center d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) -the Catalan CIS- considers that the way out, the only way out, of the sovereignty conflict is a reform of the Constitution, the text that three of the four leaders of the main parties -Pedro Sánchez, Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera- did not vote, representing a generation that deserves a Magna Carta "of the 21st century, a new pact of coexistence", not only to unclog the crisis in Catalonia, but to draw a new lace in which everyone feels at ease. But, in his opinion, the problem is that in Spain, and in Catalonia, "there is no Gordon Brown". "We have caught the most mediocre generation of politicians of any line in history, and that is a drama, the 1978 Constitution, with these mediocre politicians, could not have been made," he argued. And today more than ever a constitutional reform is needed, for which a "sense of state", "height of view" is needed.
"The Constitution of 1978, with these mediocre politicians, could not have been done," says Colomé, exconcejal of the PSC in Barcelona
Colomé started his dissertation with the question, suggestive and already classic in him, what Donald Trump, Pablo Iglesias and the 'proces' have in common. The economic crisis, populism and post-truth, with the distinctive note that the 'proces' is before the president of the United States and the leader of Podemos, and that it has become a "great laboratory of populism and post-truth". For starters, the independentists have been able to generate, invent, new words capable of painting their reality better, he said. Expressions like 'right to decide', 'plebiscitary elections', 'democratic mandate', 'road map', 'procés', 'voting is democracy', 'ballot boxes' ... They have known how to "twist the words and political concepts in his favor".
Another characteristic note for the political scientist: the independence movement works like a religion. "It's a church, they have faith, they're believers, and that's why you're not going to convince a believer, they'll say, 'You do not believe?' Colomé stressed that they, the independentists, have an idea, an "armored, solid and hermetic" message. And in front, on the constitutionalist side, they have "four parties and a lot of noise". "It is very difficult to oppose speech to noise, Moncloa could have a speech, but knowing Mariano Rajoy, that would be news, his is more silence."
It is very difficult to oppose speech to noise. The Moncloa could have a speech, but knowing Rajoy, this would be news.
For the political scientist, the "big mistake" for the secessionists came in 2015, when the then 'president', Artur Mas, "the great responsible for the disaster", opted not to repeat the elections and give in to the "blackmail" of the CUP , who asked for his head and imposed his road map to Junts pel Sí, the coalition of the old Convergència and Esquerra. "If we had been a country that had suffered World War II, there would have been no mistake, we would have marked a red line: here the democrats and then the non-democrats, and with them there is no agreement, even if you need them." But CDC and ERC "played" and agreed with the CUP, an "anti-system and undemocratic" formation, which has ended up leading them "to ruin". And the collateral effects "were the CDR [the defense committees of the republic, which have excited the tension in the streets] and what will come." "They bought something by agreeing with the CUP: one-sidedness, disobedience and republic." Although neoconvergents and republicans "went bluffing". But it was already late.
And they found that the weight of the State fell on them. "The independentists confused the Government of the PP with the State, A Government may be weak, but the State is not." And less Spain, he argued, that is not the oldest nation, as Rajoy tends to say, but the modern State with more tradition. Another of these "collateral effects" is that he encouraged the constitutionalists, "the majority of Catalans", to take to the streets to demonstrate in defense of unity with the rest of the country, something that had never happened, he stressed, since 1977 "And for the first time you see two flags together, the Spanish and the Catalan, and the Spanish is not the Franco, it is the constitutional." The last great derivative is the victory of Ciudadanos in the elections of December 21, possible because "people understand them, they are subject-verb-predicates", and "other parties are very complex". "The more to the left, the more complex". The logic would foresee, believes Colomé, that as the economic recovery consolidates, populism and independence will retract, because the democratic malaise is a consequence of the crisis situation.
Russian interference?
The professor outlined during the presentation - which also attended the parliamentary spokesman of the PSOE, Margarita Robles - a provocative reflection: "Who viralizes the images of 1-O?", The police charges. "The same people who won the elections for Trump, the Russians, this game is also played in other countries," which try to destabilize the EU. And, 'sensu contrario', "who is going to save Catalonia and the EU from this disaster, the US and NATO", because they can not afford a weak and vulnerable "southern flank".
For Cardero, Colomé's book is an "instruction manual" to know what has happened, but also "serves as a bridge between two realities"
Colomé sees light at the end of the tunnel. And that is, for Nacho Cardero, one of the virtues of 'The insurgent Catalonia', a book that is at the same time an "instruction manual of what has happened", which is also "self-critical" and which is also " hopeful ", because it is a" meeting point "," serves as a bridge between two realities ".
But not only that. According to the director of El Confidencial, Colomé's book contributes something very important, the context. Because we live in a time of "simplification of messages", with "excess information", with "a lot of data and little interpretation". And in the Catalan crisis "there is an excess of information, perhaps too much noise, and there has been a lack of context". 'Insurgent Catalonia', recalled Cardero, "talks about the past, present and future of Catalonia", looks back to analyze the trajectory of a key party like the PSC, returns on the steps of the ruling of the Constitutional Court that dismantled part of the Estatut, it goes back to the massive demonstration of the 2012 Day and the elections that Mas called next. "From those muds, these muds, and now we see the CDRs, how article 155 of the Constitution continues, how the independence formations do not agree to appoint a new candidate for the investiture", how the sovereignist leadership is in prison or flight. Faced with the "Matrix full of lies", Colomé's book, he stressed, "offers answers from a federalist perspective" and makes proposals such as the constitutional reform.
The three paradoxes
Batet preferred to shed other aspects of the work (not only Catalonia) and also took up the thread of simplifying the messages. The "excuse" of "simple messages", the servitude of "speak clear and short" to get better in the radio and television news, which require voice cuts of 20 seconds, "can not lead us to simplification, make hollow phrases ". For the same reason, the member defended, one can not go beyond the "political educator" - "politics is pedagogy", said the socialist historian Rafael Campalans, who gave his name to the foundation of the PSC- to the "seductive" politician, plate". "I'm not saying that politicians do not have to cover that flank, but it is important not to lose sight of everything else," he warned.
Batet charges against the simplification of the messages and doubts that the opening of the primaries in the end will give votes to the parties that make them
The parliamentarian stopped in some of the paradoxes described by Colomé's monograph. The first is that although society connects with the demands claimed by social democracy (now pensioners, women, young people ...), it is evident that this is not "at its best" neither in Catalonia, nor in Spain or in the world.
Moreover, she said: "The same happened with the 15-M", movement that emerged during a socialist government that led not to a victory of the left, but in an absolute majority of Rajoy's PP.
Second paradox: citizens demand "transparency" and internal democracy to the parties, but then they punish those who deepen in it. "I do not know if making primaries gives a single vote, I think not," she riveted. A message that could be read as a reflection of what happens in the socialist courtyard: specialists in fighting internal struggles democratically, as well as in not winning elections (at least, lately). And third contradiction: the pro-independence have achieved that the PP, via 155, govern in Catalonia, that Ciudadanos be the first party of the Parliament and that the institutions of self-government that cost so much to regain, stressed Batet, "are in 'stand by".
Batet presented a final "commission", the review of press and political relations. A link "necessary, essential", but also "has its perversities, their pathologies", which must be clear to "combat". "The relationship between these two worlds is fundamental to have a quality democracy and return the prestige to democratic institutions, and restore the confidence of citizens in politics, and it is fundamental if we want these crises not to drag us to an implosion of the democratic system that is potentially in danger, "she concluded.
https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2018-04-03/gabriel-colome-presentacion-libro-politicos-mediocres-cataluna-insurgente_1544456/
Monday, January 14, 2019
Catalonia, the construction of a story - How has the independentist movement used identity populism to convince half of the Catalan population of the virtues of independentism?
How have the separatists managed to convince almost half of the population?
Synopsis of Catalonia, the construction of a story:
The answer to the questions posed here and to many other questions is found in the use of marketing techniques applied to the political philosophy that has led to an identity populism that is difficult to refute. A tactical plan that has allowed to move from a moderate nationalism to a new ethnopopulism or identity populism with a conclusive final objective: the independence of Catalonia.
David Álvaro analyzes in the pages of this book the strategies that have allowed, in little more than fifteen years, the percentage of independentists to grow from 10 percent to 47 percent and how it has managed to create an almost hegemonic story in Catalonia , where emotions are imposed on reason and visceral arguments defeat the mental.
A journey through the independentist story in which populism and marketing go hand in hand to go farther than many, even from their own ranks, could have ever imagined.
https://www.planetadelibros.com/libro-cataluna-la-construccion-de-un-relato/283153
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Sandrine Morel, journalist correspondent of Le Monde in Catalonia: "The independence of Catalonia is no longer a threat"
The journalist correspondent of 'Le Monde' in Catalonia points out that Puigdemont "has lost touch" and that he is not sympathetic, although the trial of the prisoners will mark the future of the pro-independence movement.
Sandrine Morel, a journalist, is clear about what he has learned from the independence process in Catalonia. She points out what you see and gets informed with different sources, from all angles. She is the correspondent of Le Monde in Spain and has covered everything that happened in Catalonia in recent years with profusion. Now she admits that the interest has been reduced and that the figure of Carles Puigdemont has "lost its grip". Much of her experience was captured in In the catalan hurricane (Planet). In this interview with Crónica Global, she considers that the key must be sought in the struggle within nationalism, with Convergència trying not to lose power, for the benefit of Esquerra Republicana. Morel has worked for several media before, for Le Nouvel Observateur, La Voix du Nord, Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes or La Dépêche du Midi.
--Response: I think it has lost weight, it has no story. From Europe it has been perceived that things were taken too far. It is true that it was necessary to pass some facts for that change to occur. And the main one, in my opinion, was the demonstration on October 8, 2017, after everything that happened. It was important because it was spoken, until that moment, of "the Catalans", and not of the independentists. It has nothing to do with the case of Slovenia, where there was a total majority of independentists. The election of Quim Torra as president of the Generalitat was also important. That hurt the independence movement a lot, with that supremacist discourse. His writings were disseminated, everyone knew them, and it was seen that this story had nothing to do with democracy, that it was not against authoritarianism.
--But things were already known about the nature of this independentist movement
- Yes, in Europe it was always thought that in the independentist movement there was a factor of lack of solidarity, like the Northern League in Italy. But everything has also changed when that "Catalan people", although I do not know if we can speak of people, because I think there is a more open and plural citizenship, is with a different Spanish government, with President Pedro Sanchez. That has had a lot of echo in Europe, with decisions at the beginning of his term that made an impression, such as the Aquarius theme. From that moment, for the independence movement it was difficult to speak of authoritarianism with respect to the Spanish Government.
- Now the trial to the imprisoned politicians is coming. Does that give a new letter to the independentist movement in its desire to internationalize the cause?
- The trial mixes the letters again, it will be very complicated for the Government to manage the repercussion of that judgment. Although they do not call them political prisoners in most of the newspapers, they say they are in jail for organizing the referendum, and it is difficult to refute that before the general public. I think that the independentist movement can gain strength again, but we will see it, it depends on how the defenses lawyers face it, and on how to test all the initial arguments.
--But, is that only the question of the political prisoners is left to the independentist movement?
--From the political point of view has lost the initiative. The independence of Catalonia is no longer a threat, nor a priority request. You see that not anything can be solved in that direction. Instead, it is perceived as a loop from which you can not get out.
--The European Union or some European countries can bet on the independentist movement?
--No, I never saw that possibility. Europe has many internal problems. It is not about the work, but it is true that it will depend on how the trial develops.
- Lawyers insist on a political defense, is it because they fear that the legal arguments can really be proved?
--I do not know. What happens is that it is not true that it was to put the polls and that's it. Because, in that case, it was also done in 2014, and nothing happened. Now it's something else. Laws of disconnection were approved in the fall of 2017, that of legal transience. The context is totally different. Those laws passed in the Parliament are a real sword of Damocles on the independentist movement.
- What is the French reader's idea of what happened, on the socio-economic background of the process, for example?
- There are different sensitivities, but what has been perceived was that it was a seesaw movement, where there were demonstrations in the streets, but supported and also urged by the institutions. For me, in any case, what has happened is a reaction of the whole Convergència environment that never wanted to lose power with respect to Esquerra Republicana. That was clear with the 15M movements. The Convergència world wanted to survive and put itself forward to reorient this movement, which, remember, had more elements of violence than in the rest of Spain.
- In his book points to a certain cynicism of the elites with the entire independentist movement.
- I think they played too much. It was a movement, at first, asking for things facing their constituents, with a referendum that they knew they were not going to get. It was a kind of overacting, to get to maintain the political initiative, at a time when Convergència did not stop losing votes. It is a masterful move of Convergència, to be more years in power, because here, I repeat, more than in other places in the rest of Spain, there were germs of violence in 15M. We must remember the images of Artur Mas landing in the Parlament by helicopter. There was a clear interest in capitalizing on this movement of anger, with social cuts by the Government of the Generalitat that were more intense than in other places.
- Le Monde published an editorial defending the referendum, to which the independentist movement grabbed.
- It was at the beginning of September, after the laws passed in the Parliament. It was seen that he was going against a wall and the effects of the movement in Catalan society itself were not perceived. I was quiet, and there were no massive positions against it. It was said that there was a consensus, about 80%, in favor of that referendum, and since there was no story from the Spanish Government, which did not explain well why this was not possible, and without this mobilization, the logical response was that the referendum was proposed. Then it becomes aware that it is more serious, that a drama could be provoked, not only for the State, but for the Catalan society itself, and the consequences of each option were considered.
- The change of government in Spain, with Pedro Sánchez leading, what does it mean in France and in Europe as a whole?
- There's a Sánchez moment, that changes things. It is very complicated for the independence movement, which has had in the PP and Mariano Rajoy as his black beasts, until then. When Sanchez wins, the story changes, with a party, the PSOE, which still has a force in Catalonia, with the PSC. He promises to meet with Quim Torra, not to inflame more the debate, and tries to open distention areas. It is true that on the other side there is still no predisposition. The independentists change then that focus, and they attack Judge Llarena and the King, but they know that in Catalonia it would not be understood that the arrival of the right was facilitated.
- Do you detect a "the worse the better"?
- There are those who believe it, to awaken more the independentists fighters. If there is a government with Vox, or supported by Vox, then the independentist movement will win points, because it will succeed in raising the case against the extreme right.
- How does Vox look in France?
- As it is, a far-right party, comparable to Le Pen. Here has a more conservative character. Vox is ultracentralist, and in France there is no such debate on that issue. He has, like Le Pen, a speech against immigration, and he is congratulated by his friends of the extreme right in Europe. It is clear.'
- Do you consider that there is a meeting point between the independentist movement and the movement of yellow vests in France, with concrete demands that end up exploding?
--No comparison, but there may be meeting points, because in both cases it is a reaction against the elites of the State, against those who rule. Regarding the yellow vests, it is also a claim, although nuanced, of representative democracy, with a denunciation of corrupt institutions. As in Catalonia there is also an element of tax burden, of not wanting to pay more taxes, which links to the so-called fiscal deficit wielded by the Catalan pro-independence movement: pay less and have more money.
- Do you think that the Anglo-Saxon media have been more 'understanding' with the independence movement than the French or continental?
- I would not say it like that. I know many Anglo-Saxon correspondents who were and are very clear about it. It has been more about the tribunes of journalists who were further away. But what has happened is that the independentists themselves have been changing the concepts. Now we talk more about the Catalan republic, and that, it is true, has had a great impact on the European media, because it links the Republic against the Franco regime. He has awakened in a part of the left that sympathy for the Republic, although what is requested is a Catalan Republic, separated from Spain.
--Although it has been demonstrated that the movement is not as peaceful as it was aimed?
- I do not know if that has had more or less importance. What has been seen is that there is a divided society, two halves. It is understood that there is a fracture, with those who put yellow ties and those who remove them from public spaces. That is pathetic and demonstrates the fracture.
- Has the pro-independence movement influenced France, in its southern zone, with Perpignan?
- No, it has not had any influence. There is no problem in places like Perpignan. Nationalisms do not have sympathy. Catalan nationalism is a nationalism and with Torra at the forefront it has become more evident. Torra goes against the Spaniards, has expressed his contempt for the Spaniards, and that is complicated to sell as a democratic movement. And the figure of Carles Puigdemont in Europe has lost strength, has no pull.
- Why Puigdemont has lost that initial pull?
- You do not have sympathy, after having been responsible for all this. He has broken the story of the independentist movement. You see everything as a farce, with a lot of contradictions and statements. It has all been seen as a clowning.
- Do you understand that there has been a judicial excess, with preventive prisons, in comparison with what would have happened in France?
--In France it would not have happened that way. A similar situation is not possible because there are no regional parliaments. But what happens is that in France the State does not have complexes. And in Spain there are. There are complexes. In France it would have acted before, but politically as well. The President of the Republic would have addressed directly to the Catalans, everyone, and that was not done. I expected Rajoy to react and nothing happened. You can not take certain decisions without being labeled a fascist or I do not know what. There are precautions in Spain that you do not have in France.
- Is Sanchez in the hands of the independentists or not?
- I believe that Sanchez is now with an electoral government. He is teaching what he would do with another majority. That the independentists have the key to the government makes more complicated to apply their program, but we are more in a government that teaches what it could do. It is weak and with supports as different as those of Podemos or those of the PNV, but I do not see it in the hands of the independentists. It does not mean that this government is going to give in to what the independentists demand. What he does is gestures towards all Catalans, which will be useful for any other government in Madrid. It is also true that their survival depends on them, with the approval of budgets in the air. If you can not take them forward, the deadline to call elections will be in October.
https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/pensamiento/conversaciones-sobre-cataluna/sandrine-morel-independencia-cataluna-amenaza_213432_102.html
Antoni Bayona i Rocamora, former Chief Counsel-General of the Parliament of Catalonia publishes the book: No todo vale: La mirada de un jurista a las entrañas del procés (Not anything goes: The look of a jurist to the bowels of the procés)
A. P. G.
06.09.2017 – 14:48 H
Who is Antoni Bayona, the man who refuses to process the referendum?
With the inestimable collaboration of the Secretary General of the Parliament, the Chief Counsel-General has ordered the officials of the Chamber to refuse to participate in any procedure.
Antoni Bayona i Rocamora is the Chief Counsel-General of the Parliament of Catalonia and on Wednesday he refused to pass the Catalan referendum law, seconded by the secretary general, Xavier Muro. He ordered his officials not to intervene in any process, to the extent that it had to be the deputies of Junts-pel-Sí those who uploaded to the website of the Official Gazette of the Parlament the proposal of law without the signature of the lawyer, which for the opposition it invalidates the whole process. In addition, Bayona and Muro prepared a three-page report arguing why it is illegal to pass the law.
Antoni Bayona has a degree in law since 1977 from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, doctor by Pompeu Fabra, in 1991, and specialized in regional law, territorial organization and local regime. Little 'suspected' of being anti-nationalist, Professor Bayona has been linked to the Generalitat of Catalonia for more than 30 years. Between 1988 and 1994 he was a member of the Consell Consultiu de la Generalitat, to be appointed in 1994 director of the Institut d'Estudis Autonomics, until 2003, year in which he became advisor to the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya, until 2006.
Although the news has put him this Wednesday in the focus of the storm experienced in the Catalan Parliament, Bayona already gave unequivocal evidence of his position on the drift that was leading the 'proces' in an article published last July in the' Magazine Catalan Public Law '. Under the title "The political future of Catalonia: the role of Parliament", the senior lawyer of the Autonomous Catalan Chamber put in serious doubt the legal foundations of the 'procés', and warned: "There is not always a clear line of continuity and coherence "
He already warned in an article
In addition, it warned that a unilateral referendum such as the one that has been admitted for processing "in such a hostile context may have consequences in terms of recognizing its effects in the internal and external sphere, since it seems evident that the requirements can not be met. and the minimum standards required for a participatory procedure such as this one ".
Bayona already considered in the article an "error" to affirm that the State is authoritarian. And it went back to the elections of September 27, 2015 - the beginning of the 'procés'- as the origin of the whole problem of legality that culminates with the last resolutions of the Parliament, which are committed to the unilateral route. "They do not help to give credibility to a negotiating will The way the referendum issue appears in this final section of the process seems to indicate, therefore, that it is more a tactical movement whose ultimate political objective is to strengthen the legitimacy of the unilateral way initially foreseen in Resolution 1 / XI, demonstrating that it has insisted on the will to make the consultation, but that, if this is not done, it will not have been due to causes attributable to the Catalan institutions, "he said.
For Bayona, the results of the elections of September 27, 2015 gave the separatists a parliamentary majority "that does not have a correspondence with the majority of votes obtained." "If from the political point of view the elections should constitute a plebiscite to prove the existence of a social majority in favor of the independence of Catalonia, this political objective was not achieved, nor does it seem correct to denaturalize it with the criterion of the seats obtained", it concluded then.
An expert in the fieldBayona, now put into question by those who once were traveling companions, is considered one of the largest experts in regional law with several works behind him, such as 'El dret a legislar en l'Estat autonòmic', Barcelona: Escola d'Administració Pública de Catalunya, 1993; 'Comments on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia: performance competences', Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Autonòmics, 1991; 'Comments on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia: competences of legislative development', Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Autonòmics, 1991, or 'Comments on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia: exclusive competences', Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Autonòmics, 1991 .
https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2017-09-06/bayona-parlament-referendum-1-o_1439372/
Marcos Lamelas
The Parlament officials unhooked from the independence process
The opposition requests explanations from Forcadell and the president says that those who have signed are the four members of JxS in the Bureau because they do not want to put officials at risk
Parliament officials unhooked from the process of independence that Junts pel Sí and the CUP want to push, as explained by the vice president of the Bureau and member of C's, José María Espejo.
Thus, the secretary, Xavier Muro, and the Chief Counsel-General of the Parliament, Antoni Bayona, have refused to pass the referendum law because of its manifest illegality.
When before the Bureau it was evident that Bayona and the body of lawyers had refused to pass the law, it was the president herself, Carme Forcadell, who has assumed responsibility for its processing, something for which she is not legally entitled. For C's it is an act of nullity in its own right.
https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2017-09-06/secretario-parlament-no-firma-ley-referendum_1439242/
Friday, January 11, 2019
Disinformation and democracy - Fake news, bots and trolls. What's the big deal?
European Parliamentary Research Service
The techniques used by anti-democratic state and non-state actors to disrupt or influence democratic processes are constantly evolving. The use of algorithms, automation and artificial intelligence is boosting the scope and the efficiency of disinformation campaigns and related cyber-activities. In response, the EU is stepping up its efforts to protect its democratic processes from manipulation ahead of the European elections in May 2019.
Listen to Naja Bentzen, an EPRS policy analyst, explaining the issues in 3 key questions on Disinformation and democracy.
Or read more in our publications:
Computational propaganda techniques: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinkta...
Foreign influence operations in the EU: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinkta...
From post-truth to post-trust?: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinkta...
Understanding conspiracy theory: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinkta...
Monday, January 07, 2019
What you have never been told - Catalonia seen by a Madrid native by Ángel Puertas
A necessary book arrives at bookstores
Finally something useful to drain emotions and vent false beliefs about Catalonia
Ángel Puertas (Madrid 1968) publishes a new edition of his essay CATALUÑA VISTA POR UN MADRILEÑO.
Angel Puertas. Doctor of Law. Madrid on September 5, 1968. Married and father of two children, Founder of Societat Civil Catalana- At present, he also acts as a writer and lecturer, as a procedural manager in the courts of Sabadell. He is coauthor of "Silenced History". Edited by the Associació d'`Historiadors d'Catalunya Antoni Capmany.
The author, one of the founders of Societat Civil Catalana, analyzes in the purest style of the German thinker Peter Sloterdijk the different spheres that have led half of the voters of Catalonia to want to divorce Spain. Ask questions Find answers and propose generous and viable solutions.
For Angel Puertas, the greatest grievance suffered by Catalonia, and the most silenced, occurs during the 50 years of Carlist wars. On the other hand the disastrous consequences of the "bullangas" made Barcelona, according to Engels, the only European city where it was not necessary to prepare for the revolution because it was already permanently prepared.
Later, the romantic intellectuals of La Renaixança reinvent the medieval past to make the dream of a reborn Nation flourish, free of the oppressive state that shows no signs of affection. Catalan nationalism, like the German, chooses the linguistic peculiarity as a foundation, an endearing frontier that serves to preach an indisputable creed of almost religious cut, based on the goodness of everything Catalan and, by association, of everything that means home, family and why not say it, casta. From those Carlist ashes, may still fan the flame of the current nationalist fervor that in the last decade has split in two halves the people of Catalonia. A social phenomenon that has revived the self-love of the Spanish. Catalonia never ceases to surprise. She surprised the young Englishman George Orwell in 1938, and 80 years later she continues to surprise.
Puertas has probably written the best tribute to Catalonia since Orwell's. With equal admiration and perplexity than the British but with the difference that the Madrid native has always felt Catalonia as his own. The author quickly passes the page of the twentieth century. Probably because the historical distance allows a better perspective. The Transition and the bipartisanship that has governed the State of the Autonomies, is no stranger to the manifest or latent errors or omissions that have been committed before October 1, 2017. Faults common to all the governments of the last 49 years that the contemporary reader knows well.
"Puertas goes beyond the facts that tell the history books. Look for the feelings that for centuries have moved to action and the reaction of its protagonists. An approach capable of paving the way to a conflict entrenched in the soul of Spain ". Óscar Uceda (President of the Associació d'Historiadors de Catalunya)
"A monumental work fruit of many years of research contrasted on the pending emotional accounts among Spaniards, result of hiding to all essential data to understand the reasons for the disagreements". José Rosiñol (President of the Catalan Civil Society)
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Son of a Madrilenian father and a Toledo mother, Ángel Puertas grew up in Aluche with his three brothers. He graduated in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid, with basic marks, as clever people usually do. He had as a teacher Íñigo Cavero (UCD Minister of Culture and Justice). The doctorate started at the University of Alcalá de Henares and ended at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In the capital of Catalonia, he met his wife, biologist and mother of his two children. If you see him in one of his lectures, you may feel that you are with someone who, from being a journalist, could have Jordi Évole's profile, because of his youthful appearance half way between formal-informal, or the tone of voice, of which despite the low profile, he knows more than he wants to pretend.
Why do you have to read your book: What they have never told you. Catalonia seen by a Madrid native?
Because it shows the historical cradle of the emotions that generated the emotional conflict between Catalonia and the rest of Spain. Nationalism is impervious to rationing because the emotion is so intense and so rewarding that it shields itself against adverse arguments. If we do not know the origin of the narcissistic affectivity we can not get the right treatment right and remedy and will be making the same mistakes as always: useless contentment or enervating confrontation. After all, nationalism is a pathology of the soul, a disproportionate feeling for a national identity. Almost all of us have a national feeling, but when this prevents coexistence that feeling is a problem. The solutions can only come from audacity, greatness and generosity.
Is it a book for all Spaniards?
Of course. It offers the vision of a person from Madrid, which can be similar to how another part of Spain perceives the problem, someone who lives it with the aim of understanding the weaknesses of the national fabric and overcoming conflicts. Lets learn why a part of the great-great-grandchildren of Agustina de Aragón or the grandchildren of the anarchist minister Federica Montseny do not want to be Spanish.
Should foreign journalists read it?
Yes. To know the emotional depth of the wounds produced and suffered just a century and a half ago by our ancestors. If you want to understand the complexity of the solution, too. It would help to understand the uneasiness that shakes this part of the bull's skin. Something that can also happen in many territories of the EU if you do not give importance to the fact of recognizing guilt and working the discourse of empathy. From the understanding of pain and resilience.
Will the independentists read it?
From my experience with the first edition I know that the independentists who have read it are enthusiastic about the first chapters, perhaps because they discover that in Madrid they do not feel the hate against Catalonia that they suspect, and because it exhibits some interiors of the Catalan society that they themselves do not know and they like to contemplate. But when they realize that their sentimentality is based on myths created to get out of the traumas of a society disenchanted by Carlism and industrialization their enthusiasm crumbles when they read the book. They prefer to continue believing in myths that provide them with an ideal to fight for. And just as children get angry with the one who teaches them that Santa is the parent, many nationalists turn away from the one who shows them that their king is naked. It is painful to contemplate how dreams vanish. It is hard to discover that the firm ground one walked through for years are simple quicksand formed by fears and prejudices.
Should entrepreneurs read it?
I do not believe that it is a book especially destined to a certain economic or social sector. Perhaps it helps them to appreciate that the problem is not political, but social and that it has very long and deep roots.
Are the media responsible for the nationalist boom?
The Catalan media, yes, in very large measure by not proportionally incorporating the voices of critics with nationalism, but it is not entirely their responsibility, but of economic dependence on the Generalitat, since almost all receive copious grants and huge sums of money. Institutional advertising, and we already know that it is risky to question the one who is economically dependent on. Some media in the rest of Spain, to a certain extent, too, because of the bland tone they sometimes use, which does not help to resolve the conflict. "
What is the responsibility of the university that trains the trainers?
The university, like all intellectual and creative fields, is a hotbed of idealists. The logical thing is that academic training will help to question beliefs and serve as a filter to the prejudices and value judgments of those who have bequeathed developed texts more as desired thoughts than as irrefutable laws in areas such as history, economics, international law or constitutional ... but unfortunately it is not like that. Nationalist passion is stronger than reflection. That is why I think it is essential to understand and break that passion, objectively, but with love, without demonizing the one that vibrates in a different wave, because normally people feel in a way but do not know the reason for that feeling. On many occasions people are not owners of our feelings and our thoughts, but slaves of them. And how to condemn who is not fully responsible? I prefer to know why the seed germinated, how it developed and how it could coexist in an ecosystem of help and mutual trust, without exclusions or excommunications.
What are you not saying in the book?
The pain of the silenced, of the Catalans of second class.
Why?
Because I may also be prey to that hegemonic thought that gives priority to the most extreme sector of Catalanism and forgets about silenced Catalonia.
https://www.mileniarts.com/Lo-que-nunca-te-han-contado
Hysterical myths of national-Catalanism.
Ángel Puertas and Vera Cruz Miranda.
Moderated by Jordi Cuevas
When: next January 15, Tuesday, at 7:00 p.m.
Place: Civic Center La Sedeta
http://www.alternativaciudadana.es/2019/01/07/mitos-histericos-del-nacional-catalanismo/
Books of the authors:
A necessary book arrives at bookstores
Finally something useful to drain emotions and vent false beliefs about Catalonia
Ángel Puertas (Madrid 1968) publishes a new edition of his essay CATALUÑA VISTA POR UN MADRILEÑO.
Angel Puertas. Doctor of Law. Madrid on September 5, 1968. Married and father of two children, founder of Societat Civil Catalana-
At present, he also acts as a writer and lecturer, as a procedural manager in the courts of Sabadell. He is coauthor of "Silenced History". Edited by the Associació d'`Historiadors d'Catalunya Antoni Capmany.
The author, one of the founders of Sociedad Civil Catalana, analyzes in the purest style of the German thinker Peter Sloterdijk the different spheres that have led half of the voters of Catalonia to want to divorce Spain. Ask questions Find answers and propose generous and viable solutions.
https://www.mileniarts.com/Lo-que-nunca-te-han-contado
EL PRINCIPE DE VIANA Y SU TIEMPO (En papel)
VERA-CRUZ MIRANDA , 2018
This book is a journey through the history of part of the fifteenth century of the various kingdoms of Spain. The figure of Carlos de Aragón y Navarra, prince of Viana, is the thread that allows to know the political situation of the kingdom of Navarre since the reign of his grandfather Carlos III until the civil war that confronted his father; the position of Castile in a complex political and family framework, whose role will be especially relevant in the Navarre race; as well as the political history of the Mediterranean kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon and the tense situation of the Principality of Catalonia prior to the civil war between the Diputación del General and Juan II de Aragón. This work brings us closer to the general political context of some convulsive years in Spanish medieval history.
https://www.casadellibro.com/libro-el-principe-de-viana-y-su-tiempo/9788477376743/6348568
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
Will the Spanish judiciary learn what justice is from countries like Germany, Belgium, Scotland and Switzerlan
Reminds me of that joke about a Spanish judge, a German judge, and a Belgian judge… sorry, a Scottish judge… no, a Swiss judge…
More
seriously, this is not really a question. It is quite rhetorical,
really barely disguised delight over the fact that the fugitive
separatists - including Carles Puigdemont - have not yet been
extradited, as well as an overwrought effort at squeezing propaganda
value out of that.
Nevertheless, let us take
this question and answer it in a serious manner. After all, there are a
few things that can be learned from the proceedings in regards of the
extradition efforts.
The European Convention on Extradition
The first
lesson is NOT to automatically conclude or assume that something must
be wrong with the Spanish extradition request because the various courts
have so far refused to extradite the fugitives.
One should observe that Germany, Belgium, Scotland (as part of Great Britain), Switzerland and Spain are sovereign countries
with their own, native legal traditions. They have their own legal
understanding for terms such as treason, sedition, and rebellion.
Each
of these traditions are different - sometimes substantially so - from
each other. This comes naturally as law is a product of local historical
developments.
Signally, in the matter of
extradition, not one single European country has in any fundamental way
surrendered the primacy of their native legal traditions or the
sovereign powers of their governments.
This is abundantly evident
when one reads the European Convention on Extradition (ECE). Article 2
sub 1 ECE states that “extradition shall be granted in respect of
offences punishable under the laws of the requesting Party and of the requested Party…”
So one of the key requirements of extradition under the ECE is that the
two jurisdictions involved in the extradition proceedings must agree on
whether an act is punishable in both jurisdictions. If not the deal is
off.
This is what has essentially happened.
An
example of this is the manner in which the German court declared the
charge of corruption admissible, while ruling that the charge of
rebellion was not actionable under German law. According to German law, a
person can be extradited only if charges against him or her are
punishable in Germany.
This was hardly a
victory for Puigdemont - though that is of course exactly the way he
spun it in the press - because, if extradited for corruption, he could
still face up to 8 years in jail. That is not the kind of victory I would feel proud of.
Frankly,
it makes him sound like a braggart that got whipped, but being himself -
a loudmouth, what else - cries victory because he has managed to land a
few blows on his opponent.
Strictly taken, at this stage Mr Puigdemont owes his condition of liberty more to
the approach of the Spanish court than to any ‘victory’ in the German
court: the Spanish court dropped the charges in the German court as a
matter of principle, given their focus on the charge of rebellion. When
one’s enemy is that principled one should never feel safe. It it not
exactly an invitation of come home.
Legal Tradition
Looking
at the legal traditions of the countries involved, it is by now clear
that Spain appears to have a more severe and wide-ranging interpretation
of the concepts of rebellion, sedition and treason, than the other
countries.
This does not mean that there is something wrong with Spain’s definition of these concepts.
What
people overlook is that Spain has a far more turbulent history than
many other European countries in terms of civil strife and political
instability.
In no
other country in Europe has government authority been challenged so
often, so thoroughly, and in so many ways, and more so precisely at the
time in history (i.e., the last 200 years) when today’s modern legal
systems and traditions came into existence.
Spain
in this respect is truly an outlier beyond anything that other European
countries have experienced. Spain has suffered an endless number of
mutinies, rebellions, the three Carlist Wars, the pronunciamentos, plus
revolutions. Importantly, challenges to authority grade from non-violent
but nevertheless destabilizing forms to the bloodiest types of
savagery.
Neither Germany, nor Belgium, or
Scotland or Switzerland have a history of government authority being
challenged on the scale that Spain has experienced.
Legal
traditions are to a significant extent shaped by a nation’s history.
Different historical experiences and circumstances will result in
differences between legal traditions.
I strongly
suspect that Spain’s turbulent past may have substantially influenced
its legal philosophy and traditions in respect of such concepts as
treason, rebellion, and sedition, causing legal thought on these to
diverge substantially from that of other European nations. Legal systems
everywhere tend to be most severe on those types of crime that occur
more frequency or with greater impact.
What did not happen
We must first admit that the efforts at extradition have not been very fruitful.
That said, the various extradition proceedings also reveal something that should worry the separatists.
The separatists have made the claim that the efforts at extradition would cause a violation of their human rights.
In all
cases so far, the basis for rejection of extradition requests has been
admissibility under local law of the charges included in the extradition
requests.
Not one of the legal systems of
the requested party countries have pronounced the efforts at extradition
to be in violation of the human rights of the accused parties. By arresting Puigdemont, German authorities actually signaled that the extradition request is in good order. The
German judiciary reinforced this signal by ruling that the deposed
Catalan leader can be extradited to Spain on the charge of misusing
public funds.
Importantly, the extradition
proceedings did not provoke any outcry abroad. It also did not result in
international pressure on the Spanish courts to drop the charges. There
are no international bodies or institutions anywhere in the world that
have pronounced on the extradition request as causing a violation of the
human rights of the accused. None of these bodies or institutions are
questioning the legitimacy of the Spanish court’s proceedings.
Finally,
another thing that did not happen is that the discomfiture of the
extradition proceedings did not cause a shift in the official positions
of any government on the matter of Catalan separatism.
Conclusion
In the final analysis, Catalan separatism isn’t really benefiting from the discomfiture of the extradition proceedings.
x*x*x
Post Scriptum
The
question above could be understood as casting doubt on the
appropriateness or legitimacy of the proceedings by the Spanish courts
against the leaders of the Catalan separatist movement. I have
extensively written on the topic of Catalan separatism with the
objective of demonstrating the contrary. To that effect, please find
below three of these that may be of particular relevance to the topic
above:
