Europe

The results of the 21st December Catalan elections represent a slap in the face for the strategy of the Spanish government and their efforts to introduce direct rule and smash the independence movement. Jorge Martin outlines the lessons from these elections results – and the movement seen over the past few months – in the struggle for a Catalan Republic.

Catalonia goes to the polls tomorrow in elections imposed by the Madrid government as part of the Article 155 measures. As Jorge Martin explains, this vote takes place in exceptional conditions of repression and the curtailment of democratic rights. With one day to go, the result of the elections is hard to predict.

We publish here two articles about the latest events in Catalonia, which this week sees a regional election imposed by the Spanish state as part of their Article 155 repressive measures. The first article is a statement by the Catalan section of the IMT about the upcoming elections. The second is a summary of the struggle for a Catalan Republic by Jorge Martin.

Earlier this week, coalition negotiation talks in Germany between Chancellor Merkel and the right-wing Free Democratic Party collapsed. The failure to reach an agreement leaves Germany without a government. Merkel’s future hangs in the balance. As Hans-Gerd Öfinger discusses, a period of instability lies ahead.

The proclamation of the Republic by the Catalan Parliament on October 27th was short-lived. The Spanish state was ready to crush it decisively, while the Catalan government had no plans and no strategy to defend it. That, however, is not the end of the movement. Jorge Martin reports on the perspectives for the struggle for Catalan independence.

The battle between the Spanish state and the Catalan independence movement is not over. We publish here two articles about the fight for a Catalan republic: the first, an analysis by comrades in Lucha de Clases (Spanish section of the IMT); the second, a report by Jorge Martin about the huge general strike seen in Catalonia on this week, on 8th November.

The decision to jail eight members of the Catalan government, and to issue an arrest warrant for the Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, along with a further four members of his government, is an unprecedented and very serious violation of basic democratic rights. But, as Jorge Martin reports, this attack by the Spanish state has revived the Catalan independence movement.

After a week of about turns, indecision and last minute attempts to find a negotiated way out, the Catalan Republic was proclaimed on Friday 27th October. Tens of thousands celebrated in the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan towns and cities. But the newly born Republic was short-lived, with the Catalan leaders failing to mount any real resistance to the Spanish state’s repression.

450,000 marched in Barcelona on Saturday 21st October, demanding freedom for the two Jordis (held without bail on sedition charges) and rejecting the implemention of Article 155, announced by the Spanish President, Rajoy. As Jorge Martin reports, the measures being proposed by the Spanish government amount to a coup against democracy in Catalonia.

Jorge Martin reports on how the arrest of two Catalan officials has reignited the mass movement for independence. The whip of oppression wielded by the Spanish state has driven the masses back into action. The mood is incendiary, and Puigdemont has been left little room for manoeuvre.