Former FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta proposes an inclusive Catalan pro-independence coalition

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0200

Joan Laporta, together with ERC's former Member of Parliament Uriel Bertran and former CiU official Alfons López Tena, announced the setting up of a new pro-independence list named Solidaritat Catalana, where candidates with different background could join forces for the common cause of independence. Former Barça President and prominent ERC and CiU members held a press conference to call citizens and Catalan political parties "to unite into Catalan Solidarity for Independence" and run the forthcoming Catalan elections in a joint list. The list should be aimed at setting up an free independent Catalan state.

The promoters of the coalition took the precedent of the great coalition formed by pro-Catalan parties in 1907, which won a landslide election and inaugurated the political home rule movement. Laporta, Tena and Bertran said the Spanish Constitutional Court left Catalonia's self-government defunct, and added the path of autonomy within Spain is over and therefore Catalonia must set out to create its own free state within the European Union.

In order to achieve the 2 goals proposed -joint list and a pro-independence government-, the promoters encouraged citizens to organize local committees in support of Catalan Solidarity for Independence.

Carretero endorses the proposal, but ERC's decision depends on CiU's

Leader of Reagrupament Joan Carretero and spokesman for ERC Ignasi Llorente are the only politicians who responded the proposal. Carretero said he is prepared to participate. To that end, he will hold talks with Laporta, Tena and Bertran. He deems as an important progress that promoters ruled out the possibility of holding a referendum to declare independence, thus agreeing to his own road map consisting of a "unilateral declaration of independence in the Catalan Parliament".

Llorente said ERC would not consider coming aboard unless CiU joins the list. He said CiU is the largest pro-Catalan party and that it would be useless to back such a proposal if CiU does not enrolls in the project. CiU sources said they would refrain from considering the idea from the time being.

Further information:

Crida de Solidaritat Catalana
Vilaweb: Laporta, Tena i Bertran presenten una crida a la solidaritat independentista
El Periódico: Laporta proposa una reedició de la Solidaritat Catalana per declarar la independència després de les eleccions
Avui+El Punt: Carretero: "Solidaritat Catalana ens dóna la raó i ho celebrem"
Directe.cat: Esquerra jutja imprescindible que CiU lideri la Solidaritat Catalana que proposa Laporta com a garantia d'èxit
Nació Digital: El delegat del Govern a la Catalunya Central dóna suport a Laporta

Catalan Countries/Països Catalans

General information
Population: 13.450.000 inhabitants (est)
Area: 65.000 km² (est)
Institutions: Autonomous governments of Catalunya, País Valencià, Illes Balears and Government of Andorra
State administration: Spain, France and Andorra
Major cities: Barcelona, València, Palma, Perpinyà
Territorial languages: Catalan and Occitan
Official languages: Catalan, Occitan (Aranese), Spanish and French
Major religion: Christianity (Catholicism)

Mapuche political prisoners endure first week on hunger strike

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0200

Twenty Mapuche prisoners serving sentence in two different Chilean prisons started a hunger strike to protest against Chile's judicial system. They are against the implementation by the state of the Antiterrorist Act on Mapuche activism. The Mapuche struggle is mainly engaged in occupying the land from where they were previously evicted. The strikers also condemned the government for applying military proceedings to their trials, called for political prisoners to be released and the Mapuche communities to be demilitarized.

According to Radio Universidad de Chile, several prisoners -jailed in the penitentiaries of Concepción and Temuco- are prominent leaders of the Mapuche community, such as the former head of the Arauco Coordinator Committee (CAM) Héctor Llaitul, who is remanded in custody for over 1 year.

Alejandro Navarro, member of the Chilean senate, visited the hunger strikers to express them support. He required the government to "dialogue on the comunero's demands now, not when their lives are in imminent danger". Senator Navarro reminded that the United Nations sent an observer to Chile to look into violations of human rights infringed upon indigenous peoples, particularly Mapuches. He encouraged the government to act immediately so that the matter does not turn into a "political affair".

In the meantime, Mapuche representatives traveled to Geneva in order to file a lawsuit against the government of Chile before the UN Human Rights' Commission. They argued Mapuches are victims of constant abuses committed by judicial and police authorities, and also informed the Commission about the current hunger strike.

Photo: Previous Mapuche protest (Wikipedia).

Further information:

Radio Universidad de Chile: Mapuches cumplen una semana en huelga de hambre en reclamo por garantías judiciales
Bío-Bío La Radio: Navarro llama a dialogar con comuneros en huelga de hambre antes de que sus vidas estén en riesgo
emol: Comuneros mapuches demandan al Estado ante la Corte de DD. HH. de la ONU
Mapuexpress: Demandas de presos políticos mapuches están en perfecta sintonía con recomendaciones de la ONU al gobierno de Chile

Mapuche/Wall Mapu

General information
Population: 700.000 inhabitants approx. (2002 and 2004)
Institutions: None
State administration: Chile and Argentina
Territorial language: Mapudungun
Official language: Spanish
Major religions: 1. Traditional Mapuche beliefs 2. Christianity (Catholicism)

Nationalia - Latest news

Former FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta proposes an inclusive Catalan pro-independence coalition

Catalan Countries/Països Catalans

Mapuche political prisoners endure first week on hunger strike

Mapuche/Wall Mapu