Es mostren els missatges amb l'etiqueta de comentaris HELP CATALONIA. Mostrar tots els missatges
Es mostren els missatges amb l'etiqueta de comentaris HELP CATALONIA. Mostrar tots els missatges

dimecres, 28 d’octubre del 2015

HELP CATALONIA : Resolution to start secession process submitted to Catalan Parliament







On October 27th, Catalan pro-independence parties submitted a resolution to the Catalan Parliament proposing that Catalonia splits from the Kingdom of Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said that he would block any independence initiatives.


The Junts pel Si (“Together for Yes”) and  CUP hope that the nine point resolution will be adopted in early November. The first article reads :

dilluns, 19 d’octubre del 2015

Spanish Government Threatens to Suspend Catalonia Autonomous Status, by Help Catalonia




Spanish Justice Ministersaid that alongside the constitution, the central Spanish government has several legislative instruments to prevent Catalonia, the autonomous region, from secession, including the use of the Spanish Constitutional Court. The Spanish government is looking into the possibility of suspending Catalonia's autonomous status if the region continues it's popular movement toward independence, Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala announced Friday.

dimarts, 29 de setembre del 2015

Help Catalonia! Catalan President summoned by Spanish Court for symbolic vote on independence










a Tuesday, September 29, 2015



Acting Catalan President Artur Mas has been called to declare on the 15th of October* for authorising and co-organising the 9N symbolic referendum on independence that took place in 2014. Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC), which pends from Spanish Administration of Justice, also confirmed the accusation of former Vice-President Joana Ortega and Catalan Minister of Education, Irene Rigau for the same charges. The official prosecution of Artur Mas and 2 other members of the Executive by that time arrives two days after 27-S elections, where pro independence parties won a majority, and takes the current political conflict a level higher.

* It is just the day the 123rd Catalan president was executed by the Spanish government.











Enllaç noticia :



http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2015/09/help-catalonia-catalan-president.html



dimecres, 11 de febrer del 2015

HELP CATALONIA : New counter-terrorism proposals would infringe basic human rights






Proposed amendments to the Spanish criminal code that would expand the range of crimes defined as “terrorism” to include vague language and overly broad categories of offences would infringe people’s basic human rights, said Amnesty International ahead of a parliamentary debate today.
“The proposed definition of terrorism includes so many crimes that it is rendered virtually meaningless. The parliament should reject any proposals that would violate basic rights,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights.

“It would seem that anything from certain forms of expression and association to hacking and travelling could be labelled and prosecuted as terrorism. The suggested definition is overly broad and some elements so vague that even a seasoned lawyer would have trouble knowing for certain what would constitute a terrorist act.”

divendres, 6 de febrer del 2015

HELP CATALONIA : Catalan Committee in Solidarity with Kurdistan to rally in Barcelona

06/02/2015








We, people from KurdisCat – Comitè Català de Solidaritat amb el Kurdistan (Catalan Committee in Solidarity with Kurdistan), have called a demonstration in Barcelona co-ordinated with other actions taking place worldwide.

When
Day: February 7th.
Place: Passeig de Gràcia, 7.
Barcelona
Time: 17 p.m.

The international demonstrations, encouraged by Kongreya Civaken Demokratîk a Kurdîstanî yen Ewropa (KCD-E, Democratic Society Congress of Kurds in Europe) are based on three claims:

dimecres, 13 d’agost del 2014

Help Catalonia : Spanish Government cuts infrastructure investment by 50% in Catalonia and only 25% in the rest of Spain

09/08/2014





According to a report published on Thursday by Barcelona's Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish Government's investment in infrastructure in Catalonia has dropped by 50% in the last 10 years, while it has been reduced by 25% throughout Spain in the same period. 
The President of the business association, Miquel Valls, stated that this reduction represents "a break" in the Catalan economy's growth and competitiveness. This political decision harms Spain's and Catalonia's economy, since now Catalonia could be in a better position to speed up the overall economic recovery as Spain's main engine. 
The Chamber's report takes into account the executed investment made by the Spanish Government and its public companies in areas such as airports, high-speed railway and harbours. In 2006, the Spanish Parliament recognised "a historical" lack of investment in Catalonia when it approved the Catalan Statute of Autonomy and set a minimum investment percentage share to be made in Catalonia to compensate this in the next 7 years. 
This investment share, which had to be equivalent to at least Catalonia's share within Spain's GDP (19.8%), was never respected by the Spanish Government, allocating to Catalonia 11% or 13% of the total infrastructure investment made throughout Spain in those years. Now, with the Chamber of Commerce's report, it is stressed that this investment has been reduced to an even greater extent than the country's average.

dissabte, 24 de maig del 2014

Campanya d’autofotos en solidaritat amb Jaume Sastre

Dissabte  24.05.2014  12:03

A la iniciativa, impulsada per l'entitat Help Catalonia, ja s'hi han sumat els eurodiputats Ernest Urtasun, Ramon Tremosa i Josep M. Terricabras







L’entitat Help Catalonia impulsa una campanya a través de les xarxes socials consistent a fer-se una foto amb un cartell amb el missatge '#Solidarity with #HungerStrikeForCatalan', en solidaritat amb la protesta en favor de la llengua que es desenvolupa a les Illes i amb la vaga de fam del mestre Jaume Sastre. La campanya també vol atraure l’atenció de periodistes internacionals.

Entre les moltes adhesions, cal destacar-ne les dels eurocandidats de partits catalans com Ernest Urtasun (ICV),

dijous, 3 d’abril del 2014

«Independenciaaaa!», a les televisions de Noruega, Suècia i Finlàndia @HelpCatalonia

Dijous, 3 d'abril de 2014 17:45 h

Help Catalonia, fa més de 4 anys, que treballa EXCLUSIVAMENT amb voluntariat per internacionalitzar la causa catalana des de la societat civil.


Entre les gestions de l'organització hi ha el contacte amb premsa internacional per difondre el procés de secessió que viu Catalunya. En aquest sentit l'organització fou contactada per YLE, la principal cadena de Finlàndia per col·laborar en un possible documental sobre la situació catalana. YLE és la companyia de radiodifusió pública més important de Finlàndia. 






El documental, realitzat pel periodista finès Pekka Palmgren, s'acaba de fer públic i recull diferents situacions i opinions sobre la independència catalana. Titulat 'Independènciaaaaa' Help Catalonia ha gestionat la majoria dels diferents contactes per a YLE. L'editor de Help Catalonia, Jordi Vàzquez, és un dels fils conductors del reportatge. El rdocumental és emès per totes les televisions públiques escandivanes: la de Noruega, Suècia i Finlàndia.

Help Catalonia vol explicitar que tot plegat s'ha fet sense cap suport públic o institucional, això demostra que mentre s'inverteixen desenes de milers d'€ en internacionalitzar la causa catalana, la millor, i més efectiva eina és la realitat de la societat civil, sense subvencions ni oportunisme.  



Enllaç programa : http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/2221138
 



http://directe.cat/343704

dimarts, 18 de febrer del 2014

Spieker als directius alemanys: "El nacionalisme espanyol és molt més agressiu que el català"

18/02/2014

INDEPENDÈNCIA

L’empresari alemany considera que "si s'haguessin esforçat una mica més, s'haurien adonat que són precisament l'estabilitat econòmica i el creixement els principals motors dels anhels independentistes"


Nerea Rodríguez



Thomas Spieker
L’empresari i columnista alemany Thomas Spieker ha escrit un article dirigint-se als directius alemanys que es van posicionar la setmana passada contra la independència de Catalunya, i es queixa que aquests directius “només assenyalen amb el seu dit el nacionalisme català. Si haguessin observat el clima polític una mica més, segur que s'haguessin adonat que el nacionalisme espanyol és molt més agressiu”.

En un article a la web ‘Help Catalonia’, en format de carta oberta per als signants de l’anomenada ‘Declaració de Barcelona’, Spieker els pregunta: Poden imaginar-se el que passaria a Alemanya, si el govern federal tractés d'obligar per llei a les regions (Länder), per exemple Baviera, a espantar de les escoles el seu dialecte propi, per impartir des d'aquest moment les classes de matemàtiques o història exclusivament en ‘alemany neutre’?” I explica: “Doncs va ser precisament aquest l'objectiu del Govern central de Madrid quan el seu ministre de Cultura José Ignacio Wert va declarar al Congrés, que la seva intenció era 'espanyolitzar' els nens de Catalunya”.

diumenge, 2 de febrer del 2014

Help Catalonia : Catalonia, The EU, And The Spanish Suicide Bomber














The European Union has a number of very important tasks – facilitating trade and keeping peace in Europe being among the most important. Whether the European Union is the reason why European countries haven’t engaged in warfare against one another since the end of the Second World War is an interesting question (if you want my view, click here). But, that’s a discussion for another time: What is important is that the EU is supposed to keep peace between European nations, and right now, it’s not doing a good job.

If the title didn’t give it away already; yes, I am talking about Catalonia.


The way I see it, there are two interesting questions we need to ask: What should the EU do, and why hasn’t it done anything so far? This article will primarily focus on the second question.

To understand why the European Union hasn’t done anything to stop Spain, there are a couple of things we need to understand:

First, the Eurozone is very frail. While from a stock market point of view last year was great, growth & unemployment numbers are still dismal. Debt levels are have continued and will continue to rise, and if one country were to declare default, few people doubt that it would cause a ripple effect that would bring a new recession to Europe and quite possibly the world. This is especially true if a large country were to default; such as Spain.


Secondly, we need to understand that Spain is governed by a neo-fascist party which doesn’t have much

dimarts, 28 de gener del 2014

Help Catalonia : Secession: Catalonia And The “Bad Precedent” Argument












Seeing how successful my first post on this topic was, I’m unable to resist the temptation to write a follow-up – so here we go.
For those of you too lazy to read my first post, here’s a recap: Spain is introducing fascist laws to strike down against a region known as Catalonia (mostly known for its capitol, Barcelona) which seeks independence from the rest of Spain. Catalonia is an economically strong (relative to the rest of Spain) region and the Catalans are tired of subsidizing the rest of the country while their culture is being oppressed. Spain has reponded the only way fascists know how to respond: By essentially outlawing demonstrations. Of course, trying to stop people from wanting to secede by banning them from expressing their desire to do so is about as intelligent as trying to stop a flood by legislating against rain. Alas, this is what you would expect from a government that consists of a party with fascist DNA (it was founded by Franco loyalists).
Today, I would like to deal with one of the most popular arguments against Catalonian independence: That it will set a bad precedent. This argument showed up in the comment section after my last post – it goes something like this: If Catalonia can become independent, then what is there to stop Flanders, Scotland, the Basque country, Cornwall and Bavaria from breaking away – just to mention a few of the regions in Europe where separatism exists? What is there to stop Europe from breaking up into thousands of small pieces?
There are several things that can be said in response to this argument. Below, I am going to

divendres, 24 de gener del 2014

Help Catalonia : Madrid's M-30 Ring Road is Twice the Price of the Panama Canal





The image of Brand Spain has deteriorated over the last years. Corruption issues with an impact on the political class first, and then others linked directly to the Spanish Royal Family hasn't been very good publicity. But there is a question that is impossible to ignore regarding Spain: everything related to infrastructure in Spain —construction, costs— is always set in an almost insane context, to say the least. Let's see some examples:








1. Sacyr and the Panama Canal: the Spanish construction company presented an extremely low bid —some sources talk of a recklessly low bid— of €2.3bn to win the tender. They won it and they did what they normally do in Spain: once they are awarded the project, midway through the construction of the infrastructure they claim an alleged unexpected cost increase to be covered by the administration. In this case, the claim by Sacyr from the Panamanian Government is to the tune of €1.2bn, and the Panamanian Government seems reluctant to accept. The threat to stop work on the new Panama Canal, an infrastructure of global significance, is obviously not something to be proud of for the Spanish company, and by extension harms Spain's image.
2. The Madrid M-30 Ring Road or Beltway: very similar to the Sacyr issue in Panama, but at a considerably magnified scale. In this case, the companies involved are Ferrovial and ACS —also Madrid-based construction companies, and very familiar with the influence peddling in the VIP lounge of Madrid Soccer Club's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. If for the Panama Canal (77 km) the contract was for €2.3bn, and now Sacyr claims an extra cost of €1.2bn —totalling €3.5bn— the M-30 is unparalleled: the deal was closed for €2.5bn, but the total cost reached €7bn. Surprised? There's more to come. The Panama Canal is 77 km long. The Madrid ring is less than a half that, 32 km. Thus the cost is three times that of the canal. Awesome.
3. The Pajares Rail Tunnel: the High Speed Train frenzy for all Spanish governments (both left or right wing) is notorious. The €50bn spent are good proof. One of the branches with most problems is that which will reach Oviedo in Northern Spain. To do so, it is necessary to cross the Cantabrian Mountains, and this means tunnelling. But the Spanish modus operandi is not going to be deterred by anyone or anything. If for the Saint Gotthard tunnel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel] in the Alps 10 year of geological studies were required before doing the tunnelling, a few months should be enough for the Pajares tunnel. The result, a botch that caused a hydrological imbalance of 10 to 12 hm3 per year between two adjacent river basins, the Cantabrian and that of the Duero river, resulting in a tunnel that is more like a river, and works that have drained €3.2bn —so far. An endless nightmare.
4. The Bridge On the River Cau-Cau. Azvi, a Spanish construction company based in Seville, has committed a huge gaffe in the construction of a bascule bridge e over the river Cau-Cau near the city of Valdivia in Chile. The gaffe was no more and no less than to place one of the leaves of the bascule the wrong way round, so the lanes shift and don't meet at the middle of the bridge.

5. S-80 Submarines: The poor image goes beyond infrastructure construction, and extends to other activities, like weapons building. The most relevant example we can find is the new program of Series 80 submarines for the Spanish Navy. Because of a design error, the submarines have an excess weight of around 70 to 100 tonnes, so it's impossible for them to surface once submerged. In other words, they sink and won't float again. It sounds like a joke, but it's a very expensive one, since the budget for the 4 S-80 units is over €2.2bn, which will now have to grow to repair the malfunction. Yet another botch up.

All in all, in Spain efficient economic resource allocation doesn't seem to be a priority for the country's ruling elite, regardless whether the right-wing Partido Popular or the left-wing PSOE is in power. These huge budget overruns at the taxpayers' expense doesn't seem to concern the political class. A real symptom of the Spanish disease. This is one of the reasons —not the only one— for Catalans to want to build a better country, away from the practices that assault the citizens unchastened.

Àlex Furest











Spanish  


http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2014/01/madrids-m-30-ring-road-is-twice-price.html 

 

dissabte, 11 de gener del 2014

HelpCat Française : L’ambassadeur américain fait trembler l’Espagne











Après avoir été reçu par M. Artur Mas, l'ambassadeur américain en Espagne, M. James Costos, a déclaré, lors d'une interview au journal La Vanguardia : « À ce jour, je n'ai jamais entendu qu’aucune des 500 entreprises américaines en Catalogne soit en train de partir ou l’envisage. »


Ainsi, M. Costos contredit le président de la Chambre de commerce des États-Unis en l'Espagne, M. Jaime Malet, président de la société espagnole Telam international Business Partner, et proche des thèses du gouvernement espagnol, qui avait déclaré que l'indépendance de la Catalogne pourrait conduire à une délocalisation massive des emplois et des investissements des sociétés étrangères, surtout les américaines.


Et il ajoute que M. Jaime Malet est lié à ces sociétés mais que son point de vue ne représente pas le gouvernement américain, et qu’il est possible que certaines entreprises, potentiellement intéressées par une installation en Catalogne aient adopté l’habituelle stratégie entrepreneuriale du « wait and see.


M. Costos a insisté pour ne pas parler de la Catalogne, parce que c'est une affaire interne et que c’est la position qu’on est obligé de prendre, tout en affirmant l’intérêt américain sur son développement futur.


M. Mas et l'ambassadeur des États-Unis se sont réunis au palais de la Generalitat. Ensuite, M. Costos a été reçu par Mme Nuria de Gispert, présidente du Parlement de Catalogne, accompagné par Mme Tanya C. Anderson, consule générale à Barcelone.


Les contacts de M. Costos avec la Catalogne font trembler la presse espagnole, avec des titres tels que celui du journal digital Diálogo Libre, « Les États-Unis rendent hommage à M. Artur Mas », ou moins expressifs dans d'autres grands médias, comme le journal ABC, qui a publié l’article de l’agence EFE, "M. Mas reçoit le nouveau ambassadeur des États-Unis en plein débat sur la souveraineté [de la Catalogne] ".


M. Costos, ancien vice-président de la multinationale de la communication HBO, et ouvertement défenseur des droits des animaux, a fait partie du conseil d'administration de The Human Society, une des principales organisations américaines de défense des animaux, et a applaudi publiquement à l’interdiction des corridas en Catalogne, qui a eu une forte répercussion sur de nombreux secteurs aux États-Unis.




http://fr.helpcatalonia.cat/2014/01/lambassadeur-americain-fait-trembler.html?spref=tw




dissabte, 4 de gener del 2014

Help Catalonia : Panama Canal fiasco confirms Spain as clear and present threat







Whoever chose a Spanish company to lead the consortium working to enlarge the Panama Canal must clearly be regretting it, following Sacyr's announcement that they were suspending the work to press for additional payments. This is no mere commercial dispute, rather, we are talking about a key infrastructure essential for Japan's national security. Tokyo needs a larger Panama Canal at least for two key reasons. First of all, to facilitate the quick movement of US and Allied naval assets from the Atlantic and the Pacific. Second, to open the way to natural gas exports from America, facilitating the diversification of Japan's energy mix in the wake of Fukushima and lesser reliance on SLOCs (Sea Lines of Communication) going through the South China Sea.

Right now, only some 6% of the world's LNG (liquefied natural gas) tankers can use the Panama Canal. The expansion was designed to raise this percentage to 90%. A bigger canal would enable American natural gas to be conveniently shipped to Asian markets. In a gangster-style thinly-veiled threat, a Sacyr spokesman told Foreign Policy that “If the customer doesn't provide additional funds to cover the unexpected costs, the project will soon face a cash crunch”. According to that publication, the Spanish company has told the Canal Authority to come up with extra cash within three weeks or face a halt to the expansion work.

Madrid's slow response to reports of trouble in the expansion work shows once again how, despite being an EU and NATO member state, Spain is as always the odd man out. Spanish leaders do not seem to recognize the need to ensure quick and flexible naval deployments plus the positive impact of the US going from net energy importer to exporter. Why is that? Not least among the causes is the fact that, while the maritime democracies see their Armed Forces as designed to counter revisionist powers and asymmetric threats like maritime terrorists and pirates, this is irrelevant for Madrid, only obsessed with Catalonia and Gibraltar. The Spanish Government has persistently sought to disrupt life in the Rock, as a reprisal for Gibraltar's refusal to be absorbed. At the same time, Madrid has refused to rule out resorting to force to prevent the coming 11/9 referendum in Catalonia, and has not punished any of the different military officers and politicians who have openly advocating staging a coup to prevent Catalans from going to the polls.

As a result, while Allied nations have been deploying in the Philippines to bring succour to the victims of Haiyan / Yolanda, Spain has been using her naval assets to harass Gibraltar and to persecute Catalan fishermen not flying the Spanish flag. Madrid has not uttered a single word against Beijing's East-China Sea ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone), while some Spanish commentators went as far as suggesting seeking China's support to conquer Gibraltar, in exchange for allowing Beijing to use her as a naval base.

In the case of Japan, Madrid persists in supporting China's claim on the Senkaku Islands, as well as in speaking out in favour of Buenos Aires' demands for the Falklands. Time and again, Spain sides with aggressors, never with the maritime democracies. Her naval assets are simply not available to support the rule of law at sea in the Indian-Pacific Ocean Region, they are simply too busy harassing those who want out (Catalonia) and those who do not want in (Gibraltar). To add insult to injury, Madrid has launched a campaign against Portugal, claiming before the UN that the Savage Islands are not true islands but rocks under UNCLOS, meaning they give rise to no EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), thereby providing indirect support for similar Chinese claims against Japan concerning Okinotorishima.

Now, if Spain's Rajoy administration wants to prove that his country is indeed a maritime democracy, and not simply a Trojan Horse or Europe's North Korea, as some are calling her, there are some steps that it must take at once:

a) Guarantee that the Spanish company heading the consortium upgrading the Panama Canal will complete the work on time. This will allow US natural gas exports to Asia, and Allied naval movements between the Pacific and the Atlantic, to proceed unimpeded.

b) Stop employing military assets against civilians and Allies, devoting them instead to collective security

dilluns, 23 de desembre del 2013

Help Catalonia : European Commission sent letters to the authorities of Spain addressing the issue of border in Gibraltar















"Today the European Commission sent letters to the authorities of Spain and the United Kingdom addressing the issues raised by the border and customs controls between Spain and Gibraltar.

During the past years, the Commission has received a series of complaints about the checks made by the Spanish authorities at the border with Gibraltar. To better understand the specificities of the crossing point of La Línea de la Concepción, the Commission organised a technical visit on 25 September 2013.

On the basis of its observations during this technical visit and of the information provided by both authorities, the Commission has not found evidence to conclude that the checks on persons and goods as operated by the Spanish authorities at the crossing point of La Línea de la Concepción have infringed the relevant provisions of Union law.

The management of this crossing point is nevertheless challenging, in view of the heavy traffic volumes in a relatively confined space and the increase in tobacco smuggling into Spain. The Commission believes that the authorities on both sides could take further measures to better address these challenges, and is addressing three recommendations to both Member States.

In its letter to Spain, the Commission recommends: 1) to optimise the physical space available on the Spanish side of the crossing point in view of ensuring a greater fluidity of traffic (and in particular to review the traffic organisation on entry into Spain and on exit from Spain in order to increase the number of vehicular lanes for travellers or to make better use of the existing lines); 2) to optimise risk-based profiling: carrying out more targeted checks, based on a refined risk analysis, in order to reduce the large amount of random border controls and 3) to develop the exchange of information with the United Kingdom on tobacco smuggling.

In its letter to the United Kingdom, the Commission recommends: 1) to develop risk-based profiling (in particular Gibraltar should ensure non-systematic and risk analysis-based checks on travellers and their belongings upon exit from Gibraltar at the crossing point of La Línea de la Concepción); 2) optimising legislation and safeguards in view of contributing to an efficient fight against tobacco smuggling and 3) develop the exchange of intelligence on tobacco smuggling with Spain.

Lastly, as for any border crossing point, the Commission is of the opinion that the results in fighting smuggling and cross-border crime as well as maintaining a smooth flow of traffic can best be achieved through daily cooperation between the authorities working on each side of the border. The Commission thus encourages all relevant authorities to strengthen their constructive dialogue with their counterparts for this purpose.

The Commission will continue to monitor the situation at the crossing point of La Línea de la Concepción and has asked to receive information from both authorities within six months on how the recommendations have been taken into consideration.

The Commission reserves the right to reconsider its position should the situation change or evolve and also to pay another visit to the crossing point of La Línea de la Concepción if appropriate in the future."
 
http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2013/12/european-commission-sent-letters-to.html 
 
 


divendres, 13 de desembre del 2013

Help Catalonia : Mariano Rajoy: "I guarantee you that the Catalan self-determination consultation shall not take place"











The president of the Spanish government closes the door on any possibility of negotiating the agreement on the date and the questions

The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, is very clear about the consultation agreed by the Catalan pro self-determination parties today: "the consultation shall not take place." This is what he said. In fact, he "guaranteed" it in a press conference in which he stated that the consultation "is radically contrary to the Constitution and collides head on with the very foundation of the Constitution, the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".

Furthermore, Rajoy said that the Spanish government "cannot authorize or negotiate anything that belongs to all Spaniards," since "to say what Spain is and how it is organized behoves to the whole of Spain." "Neither I nor any government are able to give, permit or consent to deprive the Spanish from the rights that the laws and the Constitution guarantee," he added.

Thus Rajoy closed the door on any kind of dialogue whilst assuring that the possibility of agreeing the consultation is "out of all discussion and negotiation", and appealed to the "responsibility of the President of the Catalan Government to fulfil his commitment not to violate the laws".

The president of the Spanish government also stressed that the agreement of the opposition leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba "is total."

Source: Nació Digital


http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2013/12/mariano-rajoy-i-guarantee-you-that.html

dijous, 5 de desembre del 2013

Help Catalonia : The Kingdom where convicted coup leaders are pardoned





Let’s take a trip back to 1981. Spain’s so-called democracy is less than 3 years old, and some historical nations are recovering their autonomous governments. Catalonia’s Generalitat had been restored in 1977 and held its first post-dictatorship elections in March 1980, and its Parliament was slowly but surely claiming jurisdiction on a wide array of issues. In a civilized country, this would have been seen as a natural process towards reestablishing the democratic state of things that had been torn apart by the Fascist uprising that led to the Spanish Civil War.

In Spain, this has led to King Juan Carlos and the military designing a coup in order to scare Congress into legitimizing the regime and putting the breaks on further democratic reform. The implication is straightforward: either accept the current pseudodemocracy, with a king annointed by Franco as his heir as Head of State, or we’ll return to a military dictatorship. 
The “failed” coup is led by General Alfonso Armada, who will be annointed President upon its succesful completion. But wait! Here comes King Juan Carlos to save the day and have the rogue servicemen arrested and sentenced to as many as 30 years in jail. Case closed, all hail the King!
Or not.

dilluns, 2 de desembre del 2013

Help Catalonia :Europe includes Spain in the “black list” of countries without freedom and the only one in the world that won’t allow inspections of its regime





Spain is the only country in the world that won’t allow international inspections by the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) of its curious regime of a monarchy of parties (or particracy,) which has lead it to be included in the “black list” of countries with limited freedom such as Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kosovo. Whilst condemning Spain on the one hand, the OSCE values the democratic progress made in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Moldavia, Kazakhstan, Belorussia, Azerbaijan, the Ukraine, and Montenegro in their penal, border, judicial, industrial policies, freedom of the press, copyright, gender violence, and the environment with respect to communiqués of reprobation similar to those featuring the Spanish regime.





On the other hand, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, Croatia, Hungary, Moldavia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and the Ukraine have allowed inspections, with independent diplomats of the OSCE acting as observers, to check if democratic conditions apply with regard to the right of their fellow citizens to hold meetings and demonstrations.

Diplomats all around the world look on in amazement as Spain denies its citizens the right to hold demonstrations and meetings and begin to wonder how a country with 6 million unemployed, 2 million expatriates, and 1 million malnourished children doesn’t take to the streets more often against the authorities. In fact OSCE fact sheets are compulsory reading in the world of diplomacy and are received in every member country of the organisation.

This official European organisation, which looks out for the freedoms of countries which want to corroborate the quality of their democracy, last Friday had to issue an official communiqué from Vienna (Austria) condemning Spain for the expulsion of 6 diplomats who came to inspect the demonstration with the slogan Jaque al Rey (Check to the King) which was aiming to protest against the corruption of the Spanish crown and the lack of a referendum for people to legitimize it, together with the demand for a constituent process to establish the main characteristics of democratic regimes: division of powers, direct election of representatives, freedom to demonstrate and hold meeting, etc.

Today the OSCE is the most politically influential worldwide organisation on the planet and Spain belongs to it, which has left democratic diplomats perplexed: “With 57 states in Europe, Central Asia and North America, the OSCE is the largest organisation for regional security in the world” they point out and, in fact, the 6 observers expelled from Spain are part of their staff: Omar Fisher, Irina Urumova, Aleksandra Dloubak, Bartlomiej Lipinski, Marcin Jezulin and Yevgenia Aretisova.

In an unusual gesture loaded with significance, the official OSCE communiqué against Spain is signed by the Slovakian diplomat Janez Lenarcic, their highest representative and director of the Office responsible for inspecting Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). Ambassador Lenarcic makes clear that Spain agreed before the international community to guarantee freedom to hold meetings and the international control that verifies this must always be preserved.

With the arrival of a new PP government and the stable alliance with the PSOE, to which “monarchic regime” refers, the only thing that the OSCE has been able to establish is that “this change is surprising” because, before this, the authorised diplomats could check on the state of freedom in Spain with “good cooperation” and now they can’t, as their representatives are expelled.

Four months ago, in May to be precise, President Mariano Rajoy and minister Garcia Margallo “agreed to cooperate fully” with the OSCE allowing inspectors to check on the state of freedom in Spain. After images which flooded televisions and newspapers in half the world with the brutal repression of the mass demonstration of Rodea el Congreso (Surround Congress) organised by Coordinadora 25-S, the 25 September Group (the same civic association that organised Jaque al Rey), the international diplomats feared the worst.

And that is in fact what happened: 1,400 police for between 2,000 and 9,000 demonstrators, according to figures given by the government and the organisers and, in addition to this, previous detentions, massive identity checks, closure of a metro station (Opera) to prevent access, blocking buses with participants, etc. Last 25 September all this was also accompanied by prolonged detentions in police stations, fines, police aggression and even “confiscating subversive material,” since the Delegation of the Madrid Government, presided by the still convalescing Cristina Cifuentes, alleged that the flag sticks and the placards were in reality material to attack the police.

Ambassador Janez lenarcic, however, doesn’t seem to believe the version of the Spanish authorities with regard to preventing inspection. “The sudden opposition on the part of the Spanish authorities concerns us as to its intentions” says the OSCE in its public statement, at the same time asking the Spanish politicians in power to “guarantee full respect for the freedom to hold peaceful meetings in accordance with agreements with the OSCE and other international norms of human rights.”

The fact is that for the OSCE every country has its problem and the protests of its citizens reflect this, with underlying concern about government repression. In Spain it is “the institution of the crown,” in Serbia it is equal rights for homosexuals, in Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, freedom of the press.


http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2013/12/europe-includes-spain-in-black-list-of.html


divendres, 29 de novembre del 2013

Help Catalonia : Flash News More on Catalonia’s Independence Process













** THE SPANISH ARMY is planning to increase troops in Catalonia in 2014, particularly in the Arapiles 62 unit based in Sant Climent Sescebes near the border with France. In the recent months, there has been an increase in Spanish armed forces in Catalonia, especially those of the of Spanish police corps.
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** PEDRO PABLO PEÑA, leader of a Spanish right-wing extremist group, was interviewed on Intereconomía TV station, where he made pro-fascist comments and proudly defended the assault on the Catalan government building in Madrid on September 11 . The assailants were released and given fines of 300 euros.


** By a margin of 9 votes to 2, the Spanish Constitutional Court rejected the motion for impeachment by the Government of Catalonia against the president of the Spanish Constitutional Court, Mr. Fancisco Pérez de los Cobos. Before being elected president, Pérez de los Cobos repeatedly expressed his hostility against anything Catalan.


http://www.helpcatalonia.cat/2013/11/flash-news-more-on-catalonias.html

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Traducció : 

Flash News Més sobre el procés de la Independència de Catalunya
** L'EXÈRCIT ESPANYOL té previst augmentar les tropes a Catalunya l' any 2014 , especialment en la unitat d'Arapiles 62 amb seu a Sant Climent Sescebes , prop de la frontera amb França . En els últims mesos , hi ha hagut un augment en les forces armades espanyoles a Catalunya , sobretot els de la dels cossos policials espanyols ..
** PEDRO PABLO PENYA , líder d'un grup d'extrema dreta espanyola, va ser entrevistat a la cadena de televisió Intereconomía , on va fer els comentaris pro -feixistes i orgullosament defensar de l'assalt a l'edifici del Govern català a Madrid el 11 de setembre. Els agressors van ser posats en llibertat i se'ls va donar una multa de 300 euros .

** Per un marge de 9 vots contra 2, el Tribunal Constitucional espanyol rebutja la proposta de destitució pel Govern de Catalunya contra el president del Tribunal Constitucional espanyol , el senyor Fancisco Pérez dels Cobos . Abans de ser elegit president , Pérez dels Cobos va expressar en diverses ocasions la seva hostilitat contra tot el català .




dissabte, 16 de novembre del 2013

Help Catalonia : Rajoy: The very one who does not allow to vote, is accused of receiving pluses.








After weeks of information that presumably linked the Partido Popular (PP) and various of its leaders, including Mariano Rajoy and Maria Dolores de Cospedal, with an unlawful funding plot and, the same day in which Luis Bárcenas  – former manager and former PP treasurer– stated that there was a system of extra pays and flows of dirty money within the PP, the Presidend of the Government Mariano Rajoy has carried on with his strategy of not facing the problems, not meeting the requests, and letting the time go by.
Not only the President of the Government has not accepted an appearance request presented by the opposition and a large proportion of the Spanish population, but also he has merely denied everything in a press conference with the Prime Minister of Poland.
 
This evasive behaviour and paying little attention to the citizens’ demands are not new. For months now, in Catalonia –starting even before the regional elections of 25th November 2012–  millions of citizens have been asking to be allowed to celebrate a referendum in order to decide the future of Catalonia as a new State. The answers from Madrid are simply refusals and empty words whose only aim is to scorn the will of the Catalan people, through threats, mockery and even lies.
The Head of Spanish Government is buying time by postponing problems and any requests that are not in his best interest. This is a useless and counterproductive attitude since the Catalan independence movement keeps on growing covers an ever-increasing left-right political spectrum and it is becoming more and more solid. The only thing this is achieving is reducing the nearly absent possibility to avoid political conflict between Catalonia and Spain.

@IndepCastellano