The text below was read out from Alfred, CUP activist and member of the cooperative social centre LA BAULA.
The text below was read out from Alfred, CUP activist and member of the cooperative social centre LA BAULA.
In my city, Lleida there were dozens of violent evictions of polling stations. One of them was my own polling station, a local school, where myself and others from our community had organised together collectively to defend against the police. It was just ordinary people, realising that the police force was not on our side, but on the side of the state against our democratic rights and immutable freedoms.
So, we organised ourselves to defend those rights and were correct to do so because the next day, the police came in with full force against us, using violence to force the will of the state onto us peaceful protesters, injuring scores of people and stealing the ballot boxes where people had exercised one of their basic rights – that of self-determination.
This is what happened yesterday across Catalonia, the inhumanity and full, ugly face of the state’s brutality was met by our people with humanity, solidarity and love.
On the side of human dignity, I saw the whole spectrum of our society — young and old, men and women, middle and working class, grassroots activists, shop owners from the neighbourhood, local and regional elected individuals, public officials, students, teachers, neighbours with their families, farmers, migrants – even people not registered to vote in Catalonia, coming down to support and the self-determination of our people.
These ordinary people proved absolutely fearless in the face of threats and acts of violence committed by Spanish police forces and sanctioned by the State. We proved yesterday that the power lies not in the hands of the elites, the politicians or police, but with ordinary people – and that people power has changed Spain utterly forever.
If at some point you’re told that the cause of Catalan people is merely a nationalist one, that we are acting selfishly against the rest of Spain, please think about what we saw yesterday. About the more than 800 people who were injured peacefully protesting for the rights of us all to live in a world we determine for ourselves.
We see today that the Spanish establishment, the state but also the media, still blame the Catalan people and their institutions, whilst the EU remain painfully silent in the face of the Franco-esq style bullying tactics of the Spanish government. Yesterday’s victory is only the start of what we must organise, mass mobilisations are needed to hold Spain to account and to uphold our success.
Here’s where international solidarity is crucial and that’s why your presence here today is so important. We must confirm the massive victory that yesterday’s resistance meant and a crucial component of this is will be a continued pressure on the Spanish state and institutions.
We thank you with all our hearts. We won’t soon forget the solidarity from the people of Ireland.
Els carrers seran sempre nostres!"
Video: Andrew Flood (follow Andrew on Twitter)