Zero Hedge: The Results Are In: 89% Of Catalans Vote For Independence
In further proof that Spain's brutal crackdown on today's Catalan independence referendum only helped bolster the seccessionist cause, the regional government announced that voters had overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence, with 89% voting to separate from Spain.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull announced that 2,262,424 ballot papers had been counted. There were 2,020,144 "yes" votes, or just under 90% of the total, and just 176,565 "no" votes.
The regional government has promised to officially declare independence within 48 hours.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The Spanish Guardia Civil were completely out of control .... and I have lost count on the number of videos that I have seen tonight of police brutality and violence. Saying that this is a PR disaster for the Spanish government is an understatement .... Spanish Police Beat Catalan Voters in PR Nightmare for Rajoy (Bloomberg). What also undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the central government is that the majority of the polls did stay open (I am reading that 80% were opened), and that the overwhelming sentiment was for independence. But after what happened today .... I would wager that if another referendum was held tomorrow without the police obstructing the vote .... the 90% that voted for independence would probably become 98%. My big worry right now is that both sides may over-react.What's happening in Catalonia reminds me of what happened in eastern Ukraine right after the Maiden revolution. Russian-Ukrainians protested .... the interim government sent in the police and para-military units .... and the rest is now history. And while I do not see any country supporting Catalonian independence .... Spain has a long history of conflict and civil war .... anything is possible now.
ReplyDelete"But the British Foreign Office gave tentative backing to Madrid.
A spokesperson said: "The referendum is a matter for the Spanish government and people. We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld.
"Spain is a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us."
Enough said.
"The referendum is a matter for the Spanish government to and people. We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld." Hmm, that's interesting. Why wasn't this the position during the "maiden revolution" of Ukraine? The "maiden revolution" was coup against a duly elected government. Properly or not, the Russians blame us for this coup.
ReplyDeleteA similar statement during the Ukrainian coup could as the one issued by the British foreign office giving tentative backing to the elected government and in opposition to the coup could have been issued and the coup and its leaders crushed. Instead we had to stupidly back the corrupt chump government of the maiden revolution in arguably the stupidest move ever made by a major power in world history and further inflamed tensions with Russia in the process exactly as I predicted at the time would happen.
There do seem to be some differences here. 1.)The maiden revolution appears to have never had 90% support. 2.)The Catalonians currently do not have the backing of a major world power as the Eastern Ukrainians do and the elected government of Ukraine did.
Perhaps real-politic dictates supporting Spain in this cause. Clearly real-politic would have meant supporting the government of Ukraine and opposing the maiden revolution. The hypocrisy of these people is amazing!!
Catalonia will get its independence most likely sooner rather than later. The Spanish government cannot prevent it. Neither can the British Foreign Office or any other "western" entity. As such, the appropriate position would have been to negotiate. By acting in this manner the Spanish government has only dug itself a deeper hole. When in a hole, the first step is STOP DIGGING!! Had the Spanish government acted prudently in this manner, a negotiated exit for Catalonia could have probably been implemented whereby Spain would have been able to achieve some benefit. As it is now, there will be no negotiations and Spain will ultimately get nothing except more losses. Actually, the EU itself is a doomed entity. The powers that be need to be acting in a manner that when it comes apart the member states have a "soft landing" as opposed to a "hard landing." Any policy whose goal is to hold the EU together is destined to fail and should not be pursued.
Haven't "western" governments supported regime change against so called "totalitarian" governments for doing much less than what the Spanish government has done to Catalonia? Haven't crippling sanctions that hurt the people of those countries been implemented as well in response to such things? I suppose these hypocrites will need to sanction themselves and Spain and call for regime change against Spain and themselves.
Let's suppose some foreign power, say Russia, did incite the Catalonians in an attempt to undermine a vulnerable "western" country and NATO member such as Spain. After the coup against the Ukrainian government and endless operations by NGOs against the Russian government perceived by the Russians and their leaders as orchestrated by "western" governments such blowback would be expected. Blowback can be a real b!tch!!