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October 10th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned anew Monday that Spain will not be divided by a declaration of independence from Catalonia and said the government is ready to respond to any such attempt. His statement came one day before Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont plans to address the Catalan parliament on Tuesday evening to debate the current political situation.
Rajoy’s assertive statement – some would say implied threat – came as many supporters as well as opponents of an independent Catalonia believe Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont and the broad pro-independence coalition are planning to deliver a declaration of independence Tuesday evening, or later this week. The declaration would primarily and initially be symbolic but it will be setting a course and convey a very clear message in response to the bloody crackdown Madrid imposed during the referendum.
Symbolic or not, Rajoy was being as explicit as possible without directly threatening the use of military force when he was warning that the national government in Madrid would not stand for such a declaration. Speaking to the German daily Die Welt, Rajoy said:
“Spain will not be divided and the national unity will be preserved. We will do everything that legislation allows us to ensure this. … We will prevent this independence from taking place.”
“I went to vote and look what that nice police officer from Madrid gave me, isn’t that pretty?”
Secessionists in Catalonia have vowed to break away from Spain after claiming victory in a disputed independence referendum earlier this month. The October 1 vote in defiance of Madrid led to a brutal and bloody crackdown by Spain’s national police, leaving scores injured. The crackdown was followed by mass protests against Madrid’s use of violence.
Politicians supporting Puigdemont’s minority government – backed by a broad coalition with regard to independence – and civil society groups backing independence say they will not accept anything less than a full declaration of independence. “Credibility and dignity suggest making the declaration of independence tomorrow,” Jordi Sanchez, the head of the civil group National Catalonia Assembly, said Monday.
Puigdemont has not clarified what his intentions are; A move that may be prompted by the fact that Madrid has developed the habit to storm Catalonian ministries, arrest elected officials including ministers and mayors, as well as police officers and other functionaries who refuse to submit to Frankoesque dictates. Madrid’s tenor is bellicose. Rajoy’s deputy, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, warned that Spain would act decisively if there was any independence declaration.
“If they declare independence, there will be decisions to restore the law and democracy,” she said on Monday during a radio interview. She called for members of the Catalan government “who still respect democracy and freedom to refrain from jumping into the void.” Catalonia’s top judicial official, meanwhile, ordered additional Spanish police protection for the headquarters of the regional judiciary.
The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force, whose hierarchy reports to the Catalan government, had been in charge until now of guarding the palace in central Barcelona that hosts the judiciary. However, the Madrid-compliant High Judiciary in Catalonia says its president, Jesus Barrientos, has asked the chief of the National Police force in the region to join in the protection of the building. The statement says a declaration of independence, even if illegal under Spanish laws, could trigger the suspension of the judiciary and the ouster of its president.
Catalan authorities claim the “Yes” side won the referendum with 90 percent of the vote, although only 43 percent of the region’s 5.3 million eligible voters turned out in polling that was marred by police raids of polling stations. One might note that many voters could not vote because national police stormed polling stations, beat up voters including elderly and women, and showed other behavior to demonstrate how much Madrid values civil rights and liberties.
Rajoy has said the central government could take control of the governance of the Catalan region. Many analysts believe that such a decision could lead to a civil war or at the very least to the formation of an armed resistance.
F/AK – nsnbc 10.10.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/10/10/86589/
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