https://www.liberationnews.org/spanish-governments-crackdown-on-catalan-referendum-socialism-self-determination-and-class-unity/
Spanish government’s crackdown on Catalan referendum: Socialism,
self-determination and class unity
By Party for Socialism and Liberation
Oct 04, 2017
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Spanish government’s crackdown on Catalan referendum: Socialism,
self-determination and class unity
The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands in solidarity with the
victims of the massive violence carried out by the police forces of the
Spanish state against residents of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia
who were attempting to exercise their right to vote in a referendum on
independence. This wave of repression left over 800 people injured.
Nevertheless, 42 percent of the Catalan electorate — nearly 2.3 million
people — managed to vote, and over 90 percent of those participating
voted “Yes.”
While there is no consensus among the people of Catalonia on the issue
of independence itself, the extreme and brutal response of the central
government in Madrid has united Catalans and many others across the
Spanish state in opposition to the right-wing administration of Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy. The principle issue has in many ways become
democracy itself — do Catalans have the right to vote and decide their
future for themselves?
Catalan national sentiment is often traced back to the end of the War of
Spanish Succession in the early 1700s, but much fresher in the minds of
the Catalan people is the experience under the fascist regime of
Francisco Franco, who ruled the country from the end of the Spanish
Civil War in 1939 until his death in 1975.
During the 1936-1939 civil war, Catalonia was a bastion of left-wing
resistance to Franco’s forces. Once the fascists consolidated their
power over the whole country, it became a crime to speak the Catalan
language and pro-independence forces in Catalonia were subjected to
vicious persecution. Much of the anti-referendum repression of the past
days was carried out by the Civil Guard, an infamous institution that
was an important pillar of the Franco regime.
While the Spanish constitution of 1978 marked the formal end of fascist
rule and instituted a multi-party electoral system with a ceremonial
monarchy, it did not thoroughly uproot Francoism from the state
apparatus and maintained many of the oppressive aspects of the old
regime. Although Catalonia gained significant autonomy during the
“transition to democracy,” the 1978 constitution does not afford
Autonomous Communities like Catalonia the right to secede. It is this
anti-democratic provision that the Rajoy government is using as a
pretext to crack down on the referendum.
Class struggle and the right of self-determination
The right of oppressed peoples to self-determination is a core principle
for socialists. The subjugation of whole nations is a main aspect of the
development of capitalism. In order to plunder resources, labor and
markets, capitalist states have subjected peoples around the world to
absolute political tyranny while seeking to eradicate cultural and
linguistic traditions.
We view self-determination as an essential condition for genuine unity
among working people of all nationalities, which in turn is an essential
condition for the overthrow of capitalism on a global scale.
In his 1914 pamphlet “The Right of Nations to Self-Determination”,
Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin wrote:
“The reactionaries are opposed to freedom of divorce; they say that it
must be ‘handled carefully’, and loudly declare that it means the
‘disintegration of the family’. The democrats, however, believe that the
reactionaries are hypocrites, and that they are actually defending the
omnipotence of the police and the bureaucracy, the privileges of one of
the sexes, and the worst kind of oppression of women. They believe that
in actual fact freedom of divorce will not cause the “disintegration” of
family ties, but, on the contrary, will strengthen them on a democratic
basis, which is the only possible and durable basis in civilised society.
“To accuse those who support freedom of self-determination, i. e.,
freedom to secede, of encouraging separatism, is as foolish and
hypocritical as accusing those who advocate freedom of divorce of
encouraging the destruction of family ties. Just as in bourgeois society
the defenders of privilege and corruption, on which bourgeois marriage
rests, oppose freedom of divorce, so, in the capitalist state,
repudiation of the right to self-determination, i. e., the right of
nations to secede, means nothing more than defence of the privileges of
the dominant nation and police methods of administration, to the
detriment of democratic methods.”
The national struggle does not, however, supersede or put on hold the
class struggle. The nation-state itself is a product of the struggle of
the capitalist class against the feudal lords of Europe. The bourgeoisie
sought to centralize many small, atomized principalities into new
entities such as Germany and Italy in order to provide a secure footing
for their rule.
In the 20th century, in large parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America
the struggle for national self-determination against imperialism and the
struggle for socialism became effectively fused as revolutionary forces
became the dominant wing of the anti-colonial movement. On the other
hand, in places like the former Yugoslavia it is clear that secessionist
movements can also be used to assert imperialist hegemony.
Therefore, there can be no timeless and universal approach to the
national question derived from the “classics” of Marxism. Each
individual situation needs to be analyzed in the context of its
historical development.
Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the Catalan Autonomous Community, is a
conservative and a member of the right-wing Catalan European Democratic
Party. It participates in a coalition called “Together for Yes” with the
social democratic Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC).
The pro-independence section of the capitalist class has a clear
international orientation towards the U.S.-dominated world order and the
European Union. Catalan right-wing nationalists have made clear their
favorable disposition to the NATO military alliance.
Although approximately 16 percent of the Spanish state’s population
lives in Catalonia, it is responsible for about 20 percent of the
country’s economic output. This is the fundamental basis on which a
section of the Catalan capitalist class supports independence. The
bourgeoisie of Catalonia wants to stop, as they put it, subsidizing the
rest of Spain and grow even richer without being impeded by the Madrid
government.
However, there is also a substantial section of the Catalan independence
movement that is pro-socialist in character. The primary organizational
expression of this is the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), which supported
the referendum and called for a “free, independent and socialist
republic” to be formed.
Because of the prominence of bourgeois forces in the pro-independence
camp, much of the left in Catalonia and Spain supports the right to vote
on the question but is opposed to secession itself.
Podemos, which emerged from the 2011 “movement of the squares” protests
that were a precursor to the Occupy movement in the United States and is
now the largest left-wing party in Spain, has this orientation. Podemos
leader Pablo Iglesias and Xavier Domènech, head of Podemos’ Catalan
sister party wrote in July:
“Corruption and the plundering of the public sphere, the norm of
government of the old ruling parties in both Spain and Catalonia, are
the clearest expression of the crisis of popular sovereignties.
Corruption and the plundering of the public sphere are, in fact, the
main threat to popular sovereignty and without popular sovereignty there
can be no national sovereignty … In our opinion, [the referendum on]
October 1 is taking shape more as a vast mobilisation in favour of the
right to decide and as an expression of the desire for sovereignty …
That is why the October 1 mobilisation can be an act of affirming rights
and sovereignty in the face of a situation that must be unblocked, given
the PP’s [the party of Prime Minister Rajoy] categorical failure and its
repressive tendencies. In this sense, we assert the legitimacy of
October 1 as a political mobilisation and support its taking place.
However, afterwards comes October 2 and work will have to continue for a
referendum that must engage everyone and where nobody might feel invited
to stay at home.”
The Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain issued a statement on the
day of the referendum that stated:
“The PCPE [Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain] has spoken clearly
about the political basis of the Catalan conflict and the proposals that
the working class needs in order to get out of the false dichotomies in
which nationalism seeks to trap it. We have said that the road of
independentism is not useful for achieving self-determination in
Catalonia. But while we try to get the working class to choose its own
way, we believe that all those Catalans who wanted to express themselves
through the vote had the right to do so without having to face police
charges. The actions of the State aimed at preventing the vote,
especially those of a police nature, have all our rejection.”
As part of a debate with prominent Popular Unity Candidacy member Pau
Llonch, Alberto Garzon, the leader of the Communist Party-led United
Left alliance which supports the right to decide but not secession, wrote:
“[I]s the referendum the best way to break with the regime [that
currently rules Spain]? … The problem is that, to begin with–even
assuming that this is the best way to break with the regime (which I do
not believe, since the regime exists to defend a mode of production and
a power structure that would not necessarily be altered by the mere
existence of more states)—this is not our way. That is, we do not
control any of the parameters of that break: anything could happen and
nothing is decided in advance. Would the comrades of the CUP manage the
post-independence scenario, or would the Catalan right wing lead it?”
Pau Llonch replied in defense of the Popular Unity Candidacy position:
“We defend concrete potentialities, you defend abstract alternatives.
Since you ask for concrete analysis, an alternative in the strictly
institutional sphere with a chance of being hegemonic in a Catalan
Republic already exists: it is the sum of Catalunya en Comú [one of the
principle Catalonian left-wing formations], the ERC and the CUP. Note
that we can allow ourselves to leave the PSC-PSOE [neoliberal ex-social
democrats] out of the equation, unlike what can be proposed at the level
of the Spanish state. Of course, this does not guarantee the eventual
building of socialism in Catalonia, because that will depend, as always,
on what happens on the streets rather than in the institutions, but it
does offers an opportunity—very concrete—to continue fighting for
possible alternatives in the current phase of post-crisis capitalist
restructuring in the absence of totally antagonistic institutions, in a
contest between honest social democracy (Catalunya en Comú and the ERC)
and socialism (the CUP): that could be an example for many peoples in
the Spanish state and on the European continent … There is no
alternative to democratic resolution of this conflict, and no democratic
resolution is possible within the Kingdom of Spain. The constitution of
1978 was erected on three pillars: capitalism as mode of production, the
monarchical system and denial of the right of self-determination to the
peoples of the State.”
In other words, the Popular Unity Candidacy believes that there is a
clear left-wing majority in Catalan society, and unlike in the rest of
Spain a left-wing government would not need to include the morally
bankrupt and misnamed Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE). This,
they argue, is a much more favorable environment in which to conduct the
struggle for socialism than the framework of the thoroughly reactionary
Spanish state.
In the election for the Catalan regional parliament in 2015, the big
tent pro-independence coalition Together for Yes came in first place,
but did not secure a majority. After extensive internal debate, the
Popular Unity Candidacy finally decided that it would use its votes in
parliament to allow Together for Yes to form a regional government for
the purpose of organizing an independence referendum. But in return the
bourgeois nationalists had to choose someone other than the widely-hated
and corrupt President Artur Mas to lead Catalonia.
Surge of opposition to reactionary Rajoy government
The sheer brutality of the Rajoy government in Madrid, both in the
lead-up and during voting, has backfired. The anti-referendum hardliners
have become increasingly isolated, and the police crackdown has had a
unifying effect on progressive forces throughout the Spanish state.
Ada Colau, left-wing mayor of Barcelona, helped facilitate the
referendum even though she herself cast a blank ballot. She condemned
the police attacks on voters, saying “As mayor of [Catalonia’s capital]
Barcelona I demand an immediate end to police charges against the
defenseless population.”
Prime Minister Rajoy’s People’s Party and their right wing allies in the
Citizens party hold a minority of seats in the Spanish legislature. For
their parliamentary majority, the right wing relies on the center-left
PSOE, which does not participate in the government but allowed it to be
formed.
After it became clear that the wave of police violence on the day of the
referendum had resulted in hundreds of injuries, center-left leader
Pedro Sanchez criticized the Rajoy government, urging it to pursue
“peaceful coexistence, not confrontation” and supporting “opening a
political negotiation channel that is more urgent than ever.” The
Catalan referendum has done significant damage to the cohesion of the
ruling reactionary bloc in Spanish politics and even raises the
possibility of a no-confidence vote to bring down Rajoy.
The degree to which the Madrid government’s dictatorial attitude has
boomeranged was on full display on October 3, when hundreds of thousands
of people marched across Catalonia as part of a general strike that was
called to protest the police repression that took place two days prior.
Large sections of the economy were shut down as workers walked off the
job and hit the streets in a massive display of defiance.
The opportunities for revolutionary struggle can be seized and the
pitfalls of reactionary nationalism can be avoided only if Catalans are
free from the oppressive boot and baton of the Rajoy government and its
fascistic police.
catalonia, europe, referendum
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