Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist)
The Rajoy Government has more than fulfilled its threats, setting in
motion all its repressive machinery as soon as the Generalitat de
Catalunya formalized its call for a referendum for October 1st. As has
been announced, there has not been a formal suspension of Catalan
autonomy nor the military intervention contemplated by the Monarchical
Constitution. But there is no doubt that the Government has stretched,
at its convenience, what the Popular Party (PP) understands by
“legality”, imposing a de facto state of emergency and converting the
rights formally recognized on paper: This is the Francoist “force of
the rule of law,” which is often cited when a political conflict
arises.
Threatened officials, closed websites, seized publications,
assaults, acts and rallies suspended by the police, political material
confiscated, more than seven hundred mayors persecuted, hundreds of
police transferred to Catalonia to search for “evidence” and suppress
citizens, a Constitutional Court acting as a simple arm of the
Executive, the Prosecutor’s Office threatening detentions that are not
within its jurisdiction.
That is the panorama that today envelops
Catalonia and all Spain: The threat of a revived fascism that (although
it was never truly gone) in the de facto reestablishment of the crime
of “illegal propaganda” and which has had its most vivid advocate in an
exultant Catalan PP, that dances and whistles of ecstasy of the
announcement of the seizure of one hundred thousand political posters.
Our comrades, the ones who suffered prison and torture for what were also
crimes under fascist “legality,” know full well what this means.
This
does not stop the Government, just the opposite, it clings cynically
to the defense of its “legality”: The same “legality” that the Popular
Party violates with impunity or interprets at whim as many times as
necessary. This is demonstrated by its more than 1,300 proposals; but,
above all by the express reform of article 135 of the Constitution,
enforcing payment of the national debt; the insertion of Spain into the
military structure of NATO (against the outcome of the 1986
referendum); the secret agreements with the US and, now, with Saudi
Arabia. Not to mention the social rights included in the monarchical
Constitution in order to have it pass as democratic, which are
systematically ignored.
On the other hand, the Catalan nationalist
bourgeoisie, appeals to the solidarity of the peoples of Spain, but
knows that without a radical change, a rupture, with the regime of ‘78
which it helped to settle, it is impossible to exercise the right of
self-determination. However, throughout those years (the last time
being in 2012, when CIU deputies supported the Rajoy’s brutal reforms,
including the labour reform) it has given support to a regime that in times
of crisis has always shown its true reactionary face. Is it any wonder
that most workers consider that this is a political bet wagered between
two bourgeoisies outside of the interests and most deeply felt needs of
the people?
There is no turning back: After the gag laws, Rajoy’s
supporters have found in Catalonia the pretext to give another twist to
the process of degradation of democratic rights and the fascistization
of the State. If the Government is unable to seek a political solution
it is because it does not want to - in order to further oppress the
popular classes for it is the executive arm of the interests of the
oligarchy — nor is the allowed with the framework of ‘78. On October 1,
will lay bare the true nature of the bourgeois state, which in
situations of profound crisis gets rid of its democratic garb to appear
as the naked instrument of the domination of one class over the rest.
It also demonstrates, as we communists have repeatedly said, that
the monarchist regime of ‘78 is irreformable, a barrier to democratic
and social rights and a prison for the peoples.
For this reason, the
referendum on self-determination in Catalonia (more than possible
independence) can be a point of rupture that puts in check the
monarchical State. It may be so, despite the fact that the rush of some
leading separatists — who considered themselves “disconnected” from
Spain even before the referendum - give the whole process certain comic
opera tone; irrespective of the outcome of the vote, if there is a
positive result; and it may be so because it has managed to revitalize
the broad and dynamic popular movement that gave it its drive in the
first place.
Starting from this base, one has to emphasize the
lamentable performance of the Spanish “Left,” as always playing the
role of his majesty’s loyal opposition. That in a question of
principle, as is the right of the self-determination of the peoples,
the “leaders” of the “mainstream left” choose to back down, shielding
themselves in formalities, is already serious problem; but that they
demand a “conditional referendum” under the monarchic regime is
unworthy and demeaning. The problem is not technical, but ideological
and political: They simply have no alternative program to the ‘78
regime. As was demonstrated in 2014, at a time of popular struggle,
when they evaded coming down clearly in favour of the Republic in the
midst of the announced abdication of Bourbon king. Now that same lack
of response is again evident, when the State clings to a law that is a
dead letter to justify its repressive escalation.
That an immense
majority of Catalans wishes to exercise their legitimate right to
self-determination, whether “legal” or not, is undoubtedly the case, as
is they will at least try to put it into practice on October 1. It is
not the task of revolutionaries, of course, to examine the technical
aspects of the matter, just as the fight for democratic rights and
against fascism is not exclusively the job of the Catalan people.
What
we now have to do, therefore, is to apply all our energy to deepen the
political weakness of the monarchical State, to advance a rupture with
the rot inherited from the Franco regime. This is a task that engages
all Spain, and that is concretized in supporting without distinction
the right of the Catalans to decide their future; to combat coercion
and the infringement of rights; to denounce the manifest incapacity of
the State to face the crucial problems of our peoples and our class;
and to promote a broad anti-fascist and republican front, which will
boost the rupture with the regime based on a general response to the
repressive wave of the PP, regardless of the result of the referendum.
These are the tasks we call on all people and organizations that consider themselves to be left-wing to jointly develop.
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist), Executive Committee
Madrid, September 19, 2017
Translated by Red Phoenix Staff
Click here to return to the September 2017 index.