KPFA Radio - Freedom in Catalonia

KPFA Radio - Freedom in Catalonia

KPFA Radio Randy Credico - Flashpoints.

An award winning front-line investigative news magazine focusing on human, civil and workers rights, issues of war and peace, Global Warming, racism and poverty, and other issues. Hosted by Dennis J. Bernstein.

9 November 2017 00:00


Guest: Liz Castro is an expert on the Catalan independence movement.

Major protest in Catalonia: Live report back from the ground, from inside the Free Catalonia Movement.

Carles Puigdemont, the rightful president of Catalonia gave these remarks in response to the imprisonment of the vice president and seven ministers of the Catalan government.

The Spanish State has decided to imprison the vice president and ministers of the legitimate government that was elected at the ballot boxes on September 27, 2015. It is a very serious error. Indeed it is a terrible attack on democracy. To imprison political leaders for having fulfilled their electoral commitments and the commitments in the Parliament that they took on with broad public support is an act that breaks the basic principles of democracy.

The Spanish Government in this way has renounced the dialogue necessary, dialogue that is required to resolve political problems, and this is a political problem. And instead of seeking dialogue, what it does is choose police violence, which we already saw on October 1st, and imprisonments. And it chooses the path of repression. This fact is a blow to the upcoming December 21st elections which will take place in an environment of unprecedented political imprisonments and repression which are unacceptable in 21st century Europe.

This is no longer an internal Spanish affair. It is necessary for the international community and in particular for Europe to realize the danger that these attitudes represent.

As the legitimate president of Catalonia, elected at the ballot boxes on September 27, 2015, I demand that the vice president and ministers be freed. I demand respect for all political options and I demand the end of political repression. To imprison a government, let me say again, FOR HAVING FULFILLED ITS ELECTORAL PROGRAM, approved by the Parliament, is completely outside the rule of law.

I want to send two final messages:

The first, which of course couldn’t be any other way, is for the families of my friends and colleagues, families of people who have been unjustly imprisoned for a non-existent crime. You have all my support. All my warmth, from me and from the rest of the members of the government, and also from millions, millions of people around the world who at this moment are the astonished witnesses of events of extreme seriousness.

The second message is for the people of Catalonia.

A long and ferocious repression awaits us. The fury with which the Spanish State has raged against what this old nation has done is limitless and it threatens everything. But not only can we not shrink in fear, we must stand up and fight. But we have to fight it the way Catalans do things, the way we have done things that have made us mature as a country, as a people, as a nation: without violence, in peace, and with respect for all opinions and all people.

Catalonia’s freedom is not possible if there are Catalans who are not free to defend their ideas and fulfill their democratic commitments. Even behind bars, the legitimate government of Catalonia is infinitely more decent than their misguided jailers.

  • Long live Catalonia.
    • English translation Liz Castro.

Official website - KPFA - Community Powered Radio

You Can’t Arrest An Idea

Higinio Ochoa on hacker culture

Higinio Ochoa on hacker culture

Higinio Ochoa on hacker culture, being an Anonymous hacktivist and getting arrested by the FBI, and ideas about the future of the Internet. 01:25 - What (...)

6 March 2020

Jeremy Hammond's Support Network

Jeremy Hammond’s Support Network

Jeremy Hammond is a member of the hacktivist network Anonymous, and a gifted computer programer whose case has attracted the attention of activists, (...)

23 January 2019

Radio Vendetta - The ZAD needs all our support

Radio Vendetta - The ZAD needs all our support

The ZAD, place of experiment and resistance - Welcome to France. The ZAD (Zone A Défendre; zone to defend) of Notre-Dame des Landes is a zone where the (...)

25 June 2018

Radio Vendetta Live with Potent Whisper

Radio Vendetta Live with Potent Whisper

"Grime is a new vehicle for political resistance in the UK and I’m about to grab the steering wheel." Potent Whisper is reputed for using rhyme to (...)

27 May 2018

Red Cross

We stand with Ukraine

The Russian government’s attack on Ukraine has put millions of innocent lives in danger. We stand with Ukraine to support their freedom and to defend democracy. If you wish to support Ukraine and its people in their time of need, please consider donating to the Red Cross.

Your data is YOUR data

eFoundation is a non-profit organization leading the development of Open Source mobile operating systems that respect users’ data privacy.

Signal

Signal

Speak Freely

Tor Browser

Tor Browser

Tor protects your privacy

NordVPN

Protect all your devices.

Secure, high-speed VPN