Breaking Up

The Wall Street Journal published an article called "Spanish Break-Up Party" that showcases the right wing primal fear towards self determination.

Since the WSJ requires being signed up in order to read their web page, I reproduce here only the paragraphs that called my attention.

Here we go.

Things start to warm up in the very first paragraph:

Peaceful separations are as rare among nations as they are among humans, but the Catalan and Spanish governments have pulled one off, for now. The long-term implications, though -- for Catalonia, Spain, and other European regions seeking autonomy -- are potentially unsettling.

Why are the implications so unsettling?

Why does a news outlet from a country that wrestled independence from another country sees a process were other nations seek their own way so troublesome?

Why do US citizens get so worked up about the self determination of other people when they love saying that they live in the "land of the free and the home of the brave"?

When did the US citizenry decided no to side with the underdog?

Shouldn't they support those who are brave enough to demand their freedom?

Then, the author splurges in a bit of Basque bashing:

On the bright side, local government tends to be more responsive to citizens' needs. The Catalan government, moreover, pursued its quest for greater autonomy through peaceful, legal means, drafting a new statute and negotiating its content with Madrid before putting it to voters. That's an important precedent in a country where the Basque region's ETA terrorists pursued independence with bombs and guns, before announcing a "permanent ceasefire" this past spring. Basque nationalists had sought to unilaterally change the terms of their relationship with Madrid. The Catalans chose a different path. "The system has shown its capacity to adapt," Spain's former deputy foreign minister Miguel Nadal, a Catalan, told us. "This is important, even if the final outcome isn't the one you wanted."

Once again, mixing all the Basques in the same bag.

He claims that unlike the Catalans, the Basques "had sought to unilaterally change the terms of their relationship with Madrid". How little understanding and how little knowledge of the Basque quest for self determination.

Not once the author refers to the so called Ibarretxe Plan, a proposal almost identical to the Catalan new statut.

Why do that?

It is easier to say that the Catalans deserve more autonomy because they have never used violence to achieve what they want. Instead, the author mentions ETA and proceeds to bundle all Basque nationalists together, whether they are the lukewarm members of the Basque Nationalist Party (Ibarretxe's party) or the members of an armed group.

In doing so, the author makes two mistakes:

First of all, the violence he regrets so much emanated in the first place from Madrid. He does not mention that the present struggle for self determination by the Basques and the Catalonyans was fueled in great measure by the Francoist Regime's violent repression of the cultural identities of the nations within Spain. Nations that are within Spain against the will of their respective peoples.

Thousands were tortured and murdered in Catalonya and Euskal Herria to ensure Francisco Franco's vision of an Unified Spain Under God. This point of view by the fascist Spanish dictator is shared by a large percentage of the Spanish society. Strangely enough, it is also shared by large sectors in the US society, a country that fought a "Great War" against Fascism in Europe.

But somehow, now one talks about that violence, it is all about ETA and the violent Basques, as opposed to the pragmatic Catalonyans, so willing to negotiate.

The second mistake is blatant, and it may not be a mistake, but a conscious effort to vilify the Basques. But what is it?

Simple, to repeat the old Spanish propaganda mantra that all Basques are violent, and that there is no difference between the Basque political parties and ETA, since they share the same goal, they are all the same.

What is that goal?

The independence of the Basque country.

So I ask, was there a political party wrestling more autonomy from England back in 1776?

Would Washington followers had settled for more control over the taxes for the Colonies?

Did London considered the Colonials a bunch of violent individuals, what today are called terrorists?

Hopefully this will clear the picture for my US readers.

But lets us continue to dissect the WSJ article, here you have this pearl of wisdom:

Despite some cries of alarm, the result doesn't mean that the end of Spain is nigh. A majority of those who voted want more autonomy; that's not the same as independence. In fact, the outright separatists in Catalonia opposed the statute for not going far enough. Given their strong feelings on the subject, it's a good bet they hit the ballot box rather than the beach last weekend, making up part of the 21% of voters who voted "no."

The so called "outright separatists in Catalonia" did opposed the statute, because as part of the Catalonyan negotiating team, they did not approve of the modifications that produced a light version which accommodated the Spaniards more than the Catalonyans.

And regarding that bet, what about those voters being among those who refused to cast a vote that day? Because there is no mention in the article about the low turn out for the referendum. To say that the "outright separatists in Catalonia" voted for the "no" is to say that they are willing to torpedo any initiative that does not give them what they want, to the extreme of siding with the Spaniards that live in Catalonya who are the ones that voted "no" in an effort to disrupt the will of those who have the right to decide the future of their nation.

The author then minimizes the fact that not voting for a proposal that does not fulfill what you expect from a legislation that would ensure more freedom for your people is actually a democratic way to express you are not happy with the actions of those who allegedly represent you. The low turn out is then sending a strong message to Barcelona and Madrid: the new statut is toothless, that 48% of Catalonyans that did not vote want more.

What they want is independence, what they want is freedom, give them the chance given to the Montenegrins and you will see.

Same goes for the Basques.

And regarding all the yadda-yadda about the poor regions of Spain, why should the nations colonized and subjugated by an imperialist power should renounce to their right to be independent in behalf of the failure by the invading state to resolve its own deficiencies?

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