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Will Brazil Be the Next Hotspot for Independence Movements?

October 5, 2017

Will Brazil Be the Next Hotspot for Independence Movements?

If you’ve read my work over the past several weeks, you’ve probably noticed an increased fascination with secession/independence movements around the world. I think we’re at the very early stages of this developing trend, which will see nation-states across the world fracture for a variety of reasons. The historical significance of the political changes we’re about to live through cannot be overstated. As I wrote in last month’s piece, The Future Will Be Decentralized:

To conclude, I recognize that I’m making a huge call here. I think the way human beings organize their affairs will experience the most significant paradigm level shift we’ve seen in the Western world since the end of the European feudal system hundreds of years ago. That’s how significant I think this shift will be. There are two key things that need to happen for this to occur. The first is technological innovation, and that’s already happening. The second is increased human consciousness. As Thoreau noted, in order for us to have greater self-determination we need to be ready for it. Are we ready? I think we’re getting there.

While extremely significant, the Catalan independence movement is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a global drive toward political decentralization. For example, just today I came across another potential secessionist hotspot in an unexpected place, Brazil.

Bloomberg reports:

Inspired by the separatist vote in Catalonia, secessionists in three wealthy southern Brazilian states are redoubling their efforts to break away from the crisis-battered nation.

Residents of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana states are being called to vote in an informal plebiscite on Oct. 7 on whether they want independence. Organizers are also urging residents of the three states to sign a legislative proposal for each of their regional assemblies that would call for a formal, binding referendum. 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Catalan Independence: Why The Collective Hates It When People Walk Away

October 5, 2017

Catalan Independence: Why The Collective Hates It When People Walk Away

I have written many times in the past about the singular conflict at the core of most human crises and disasters, a conflict that sabotages human endeavor and retards critical thought. This conflict not only stems from social interaction, it also exists within the psyche of the average individual. It is an inherent contradiction of the human experience that at times can fuel great accomplishment, but usually leads to great tragedy. I am of course talking about the conflict between our inborn need for self determination versus our inborn desire to hand over responsibility to a community through group effort — sovereignty versus collectivism.

In my view, the source of the problem is that most people wrongly assume that “collectivism” is somehow the same as community. This is entirely false, and those who make this claim are poorly educated on what collectivism actually means. It is important to make a distinction here; the grouping of people is not necessarily or automatically collectivism unless that group seeks to subjugate the individuality of its participants. Collectivism cannot exist where individual freedom is valued. People can still group together voluntarily for mutual benefit and retain respect for the independence of members (i.e. community, rather than collectivism).

This distinction matters because there is a contingent of political and financial elites that would like us to believe that there is no middle ground between the pursuits of society and the liberties of individuals. That is to say, we are supposed to assume that all our productive energies and our safety and security belong to society. Either that, or we are extremely selfish and self serving “individualists” that are incapable of “seeing the bigger picture.” The mainstream discussion almost always revolves around these two extremes.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Spanish Showdown: Catalonia To Declare Independence “In Days” Puidgemont Says Despite King’s Condemnation

October 3, 2017

Spanish Showdown: Catalonia To Declare Independence “In Days” Puidgemont Says Despite King’s Condemnation

As reported previously, in a sternly worded address to the nation, Spain’s King Felipe VI condemned organizers of Catalonia’s independence referendum for having put themselves “outside the law” and said the situation in Spain was “extremely serious”, calling for unity. In his address, King Felipe VI said Catalan leaders who organized the referendum showed their “disrespect to the powers of the state” adding that “they have broken the democratic principles of the rule of law.

“Today, the Catalan society is fractured,” the king said, warning that the poll could put at risk the economy of the wealthy autonomous north-eastern region and the whole of Spain. He said that Catalonia’s authorities, “have placed themselves outside the law and democracy, they have tried to break the unity of Spain and national sovereignty”. Offering firm backing to the Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy, Felipe said it was the “responsibility of the legitimate powers of the state to ensure the constitutional order.”

Felipe also said the Catalan government had “systematically violated the law, demonstrating a disloyalty that is inadmissible” and “undermined the harmony and coexistence in Catalan society”

But he stressed that Spain “will overcome difficult times”.

The address came on the same day as Barcelona’s roadways were blockaded amid a general strike as hundreds of thousands in Catalonia have been protesting over Spanish police violence during Sunday’s vote, in which nearly 900 people were hurt.

However, despite the King’s warning and hinting that a showdown, potentially violent, is coming, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont told the BBC the region will declare independence in a matter of days. In his first interview since the referendum, Carles Puigdemont said his government would “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The future of the EU at stake in Catalonia

October 3, 2017

People react as they gather at Plaza Catalunya after voting ended for the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain October 1, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Susana Vera

People react as they gather at Plaza Catalunya after voting ended for the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain October 1, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Susana Vera
EUROPECATALONIA INDEPENDENCE

The future of the EU at stake in Catalonia

A new paradigm has been coined right inside the lofty European Union: ‘In the name of democracy, refrain from voting, or else’

Fascist Franco may have been dead for more than four decades, but Spain is still encumbered with his dictatorial corpse. A new paradigm has been coined right inside the lofty European Union, self-described home/patronizing dispenser of human rights to lesser regions across the planet: “In the name of democracy, refrain from voting, or else.” Call it democracy nano-Franco style.

Nano-Franco is Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose heroic shock troops were redeployed from a serious nationwide terrorist alert to hammer with batons and fire rubber bullets not against jihadis but … voters. At least six schools became the terrain of what was correctly called The Battle of Barcelona.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Total Stoppage”: Barcelona Paralyzed By General Strike, Barricades As Protesters Take To The Streets

October 3, 2017

“Total Stoppage”: Barcelona Paralyzed By General Strike, Barricades As Protesters Take To The Streets 

The Catalan rebellion escalated on Tuesday, resulting in a day of “total stoppage” for the Catalan capital, in which Barcelona metro stations were closed, pickets blocked main roads and civil servants walked out on Tuesday in response to a strike called by pro-independence groups as separatist activists took to the streets of Barcelona to press home their demands for independence after winning an referendum on Sunday which despite a violent crackdown by the Spanish government, saw nearly 90% of the vote cast for splitting away from Madrid.

According to Bloomberg, public transport and shops were closed as demonstrators gathered in the center of the Catalan capital to protest the police violence that marked Sunday’s vote and reinforce their demands for a split with Spain. Photographs showed traffic backed up behind protesters on one of the main highways connecting Catalonia with the rest of Spain. Roads are blocked in 48 places in the region, the Spanish traffic agency said.


Demonstrators in Barcelona, Oct. 3.

Regional traffic authorities in Catalonia told The Spain Report on Tuesday morning that more than 50 barricades or protests had blocked roads across the region, including major toll roads and motorways used for commercial traffic to and from France.

Normally busy metro stations in Barcelona were deserted as services were cut back sharply, pickets blocked traffic on Gran Via street and traffic on six major highways in the region was disrupted by protests, Reuters reported. Elsewhere, the response to the strike call was patchy with some shops, supermarkets and cafes open and some closed. The Boqueria market in Barcelona was almost empty. Pro-independence groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday after Spanish police forcibly tried to close polling stations on Sunday after a referendum on Catalan independence from Spain was banned by the constitutional court.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Spain Reveals EU Does Not Stand For Human Rights & Making Revolution Inevitable

October 2, 2017

Spain Reveals EU Does Not Stand For Human Rights & Making Revolution Inevitable

The Spanish state police violence have turned against the people showing that they are clearly still a fascist reign supported by troops. Riot officers have been firing rubber bullets at crowds protesting in a Barcelona street, sending people running for cover. Countless are injured. This demonstrates that Spain is not a place for investment and one should be very cautious about even buying a house in Spain after this display of ruthless authoritarianism. The  Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy has demonstrated he is a fascist and this is EXACTLY the type of person that caused the American Revolution.

We should all take pause and read just the first two paragraphs of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. The King sent a whole army to his house to kill him for writing these words. He was warned the army was coming and told to flee into the hills which he did. I fully disagree with Donald Trump for supporting Rajoy. That has been a total disgrace and Trump needs to study history.

The suppression of the vote will now only turn even those who were on the side stand against the government. In war, you kill someone’s father. Their family will remember for generations. Spain has just confirmed that revolution and civil war will be inevitable. Canada allowed two referendum votes to separate for Quebec and Britain allowed Scotland to vote. It is a fundamental human right to overthrow any government when it becomes oppressive. Rajoy is a disgrace to the EU and Brussels is a disgrace for shutting down the vote of the people.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Mariano Rajoy, You are a Disgrace to Spain and the World, Please Resign: Catalonia Has Spoken Loud and Clear

October 2, 2017

Mariano Rajoy, You are a Disgrace to Spain and the World, Please Resign: Catalonia Has Spoken Loud and Clear

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, the man who said there would not be a vote, now has to face the facts: 90% Voted for Independence.

Govern. Generalitat ✔@govern

📊 Resultats del Referèndum de

  • 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted on Sunday voted in favour of independence, according to preliminary results released by the region’s government. The region has 5.3 million voters. Officials said 770,000 votes were lost due to disruption which resulted in polling stations being raided by Spanish police.
  • Carles Puigdemont, Catalan’s leader, announced in a televised statement that the region had earned the right to become an independent state and that results would be passed the region’s parliament in the coming days.

This video of Madrid thugs stomping on people attempting to vote is worth a replay

WikiLeaks ✔@wikileaks

Catalonia says ‘Yes’ to independence from Spain with %90.09 of the vote. Around 80% of polling stations managed to stay open.

Dear PM Rajoy, Here are the Results

  • Despite the hundreds of thousands of police goons you sent in to stop the vote, a vote did indeed take place.
  • With 90% of the vote in, over 2,020,144 voted for independence.
  • Only 176,565, were against.
  • Your thugs seized another 770,000 ballots, the vast majority of which were undoubtedly in favor of independence.
  • 5.3 million were eligible to vote, and over 50% tried, despite your thug actions.

Dear PM Rajoy, Please Resign

Dear Rajoy, your career is over. Please resign before you are booted out.

But before you go, please take a look at For All the World to See: Police Brutality Videos and Images in Catalonia, then apologize.

Catalan Leader: “We Have Earned The Right To Form An Independent State”

October 1, 2017

Catalan Leader: “We Have Earned The Right To Form An Independent State”

Though the results of today’s referendum have yet to be announced, separatists in Catalonia are urging the government to declare independence from Spain, citing today’s violent crackdown as the reason. In a rousing speech following the close of voting, Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the Catalan government, said his citizens have earned the right to form an independent state and that the results of the referendum, to be announced shortly, will be sent to the local parliament for ratification.

Though the central government in Spain declared the refendum illegal, and sent federal Civil Guard and National Police forces to try and suppress the vote in a dramatic crackdown that sent shockwaves around the globe, police only managed to shut down a small sliver of polling stations, allowing many in the region of more than 7 million people which has a larger economy than Portugal, to cast ballots.

Carles Puigdemont ✔@KRLS

(1) A vosaltres, que heu ensenyat al món el civisme d’un poble pacífic, que heu resistit vexacions i repressió, us dono les gràcies

In his public remarks, delivered shortly after a speech from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Puigdemont also said that “with this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form a republic.” He also said that the EU could no longer “continue to look the other way” from human rights violations around the referendum, according to a translation in the Guardian.

“The Spanish government has today written a shameful page in its relationship with Catalonia,” adding that there had been abuses of human rights committed by Spanish police.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“This Is Fascism”: Shocking Footage Of Spanish Police Firing Rubber Bullets, Brutally Beating Peaceful Voters

October 1, 2017

“This Is Fascism”: Shocking Footage Of Spanish Police Firing Rubber Bullets, Brutally Beating Peaceful Voters

Update (10:30 am ET): The number of people injured in clashes between pro-independence voters and riot police dispatched to the restive region by the government in Madrid has climbed to 337, including at least 11 police officers, the Daily Star reports.

* * *

Update (10 am ET): In a statement condeming the Spanish government’s efforts to stamp out the “free expression” of the Catalan people, FC Barcelona announced that it will be playing today’s match against Las Palmas, its first of the season, behind closed doors after the Professional Football League refused to postpone it.

FC Barcelona

✔@FCBarcelona

* * *

Update (9:15 am ET): So far, Catalonian emergency services says that 91 people have been injured in violent clashes between Catalonians trying to vote in today’s “illegal” independence, according to AFP.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Dark Days Ahead for Catalonia

September 30, 2017

Dark Days Ahead for Catalonia

It isn’t just about what happens on Sunday; it’s about the ensuing days and weeks.

The next 72 hours could be crucial not only for Catalonia, but also for the rest of Spain and Europe. For now, the cards are overwhelmingly stacked in Madrid’s favor. The central government enjoys the outward support of all European institutions, key Western partners and has the full power of the law on its side as well as the full arsenal of state repression at its disposal.

After confiscating millions of ballot slips and thousands of ballot boxes, and launching what Wikileaks’ Julian Assange has termed the “world’s first Internet War” against Catalonia, freezing telecommunications links, occupying telecoms buildings and censoring hundreds of websites, the Rajoy administration has made it logistically difficult, if not impossible, for the region to hold a credible referendum.

Spain’s constitutional court even went so far as to ask Google to shut down the app that allows Catalans to see where they have to vote on Sunday. Even the two main civil associations behind Catalonia’s push for independence have begun to tamp down expectations, conceding that the police operations have made it “very difficult” to hold a meaningful vote.

Now, all the government in Madrid has to do is sit back, watch and enjoy as the referendum’s organizers struggle to achieve a turnout even close to that of the purely symbolic consultation it held on November 9, 2014. Then, on Monday or Tuesday, Rajoy, with a small dose of humility, can launch political negotiations with Catalonia’s representatives from a position of strength.

But he probably won’t.

The Spanish government’s strategy so far has been to use the full extent of Spanish law to crush each and every attempt by Catalonia’s independence movement and regional government to organize this vote. It’s unlikely to stop now, when it’s winning.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Rajoy Shuts Down Airspace & Orders Google to Stop Assisting Separatists

September 30, 2017

Rajoy Shuts Down Airspace & Orders Google to Stop Assisting Separatists

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy who is becoming a disgrace to the image of a free society,
The Catalan supporters are now occupying poll points to protect their right to vote, while Rajoy has now blocked airspace over Barcelona as he wants to prevent the referendum in Catalonia by all means.

Rajoy had his puppet Spanish Supreme Court order that Google had to delete an app that had been used by the operators of the referendum to communicate with each other. The corrupt Spanish court ruled that the “On Votar 1-Oct” application on the Google Play smartphone app shop violated the ban imposed by Spain to conduct the referendum. Rajoy is totally out of control and is illustrating everything that is wrong about the EU and how it claims to stand for human right with the refugees but crushes anyon Europe who disagrees with the politic elite.

The vote will take place in a total of 2,155 polling stations. The government has shut down airspace to prevent others from flying into Barcelona to join the protests.

The Rajoy’s judiciary has also initiated investigations against more than 700 Catalan mayors, who support the independence referendum. The Regional Parliament had passed a bill in Barcelona in early September, which freed the way for the popular decision. The government in Barcelona had originally declared that if the independence won a majority, they would decline independence in 48 hours.

Canada allowed Quebec to vote of separatism TWICE. Even Britain allowed Scotland to vote on separation from the UK. Spain is showing the world that it is still a fascist state true to heart – not a democratic state. This raises serious concerns about foreign investment into Spain. If the government changes its position, you will find that country risk overpowers investment opportunity. BEWARE!

“The Rule of Law Such As Ours” (And as Imposed in Catalonia) 

September 29, 2017

“The Rule of Law Such As Ours” (And as Imposed in Catalonia) 

Photo by thierry ehrmann

The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, referring to the “illegal” Catalan referendum on independence slated to take place on October 1, opined, “This illegal plan of rupture has no place in a democratic state under the rule of law such as ours.” Not famous for intellectual agility, Mr Rajoy has cack-handedly drawn attention to what his government calls “rule of law”, a key issue in the present situation and one that affects not just Catalonia but the whole of Spain.

The Spanish government is playing hardball. Whatever post-Franco party has been in power, Madrid has always done everything possible to suppress Catalonia’s attempts to claim the right to self-determination but, this time, as October 1 looms, the response against a peaceful citizen movement has been much rougher than anyone imagined, including measures like police and Guardia Civil ships in the harbor, water-cannon trucks roaring along the highways, helicopters clattering overhead, taking control of Catalan finances, raiding the offices of the government’s IT center, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Catalan government offices, detaining fourteen officials, impounding close to ten million ballot papers (so activists took printers into the streets to make off new ones), shutting down websites about the election (swiftly restored with mirror sites), and placing the Catalan police (Mossos) under the command of a colonel from the Guardia Civil (who, from a long lineage of Franco supporters, was charged with torture in 1992).

When Spanish police trained to hunt down terrorists were sent to guard the Catalan Finance Ministry, the Mossos formed a line in front of them, making it clear that they are in charge of security in the streets of Catalonia (as they had honorably and ably proven with the tragedy of the terrorist attack in Barcelona on August 17).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Catalonia Bonds Collapse As Police Warn Of Chaos If Referendum Canceled

September 29, 2017

Catalonia Bonds Collapse As Police Warn Of Chaos If Referendum Canceled 

While the Catalan people prepare to decide whether to break with Spain, the bond market appears to have already made its mind up as Catalonia bonds decouple from Spanish sovereign yields.

Catalonia Bonds expiring next year have seen yields spike over 2% – the highest in over a year – and more than 230bps higher than the equivalent Spanish sovereign bond yields…

As The FT reports, in a special report released earlier this week, Rabobank’s Maartje Wijffelaars warned that “the relationship between Madrid and Barcelona has exponentially worsened in the past months, and it’s unclear how to put the genie back in the bottle”.

And judging by the Catalan police concerns, this will get a lot worse before it gets any better…

As France24 reports, Catalan police warned Wednesday that public disorder may erupt as Spain orders the authorities to seal polling stations and stop the region holding a referendum on independence.

Late on Tuesday, Catalonia’s chief prosecutor ordered the force to seal off buildings that will house polling stations before Sunday’s referendum which Madrid has declared illegal.

But such a step “could lead to undesirable consequences,” the Mossos d’Esquadra warned in a posting on Twitter on Wednesday.

“These consequences refer to public security and to the more than foreseeable risk of a disruption of public order that this may generate.”

The prosecutor also ordered police to deploy officers on the day of the ballot to prevent people from voting.

The order puts intense pressure on the regional police who are caught between their loyalty to local Catalan leaders who are pushing ahead with the referendum and their pledge to uphold the law.

Ignacio Gonzalez, a spokesman for Judges for Democracy, said it was “feasible” for police to seal polling stations.

“The problem is the unrest that this could cause,” he told AFP.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Kurds in Iraq and Syria: a new chaos is redefining the Middle East’s borders

September 26, 2017

Kurds in Iraq and Syria: a new chaos is redefining the Middle East’s borders

There is no doubt that most Iraqi Kurds will say “yes” to the referendum and start materialising the dream of the 30 million Kurds inhabiting Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Armenia, a dream of establishing an independent state in Kurdistan-Iraq to start with. Despite the announcement of the Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani that the referendum is only the beginning of a negotiation with the central government in Baghdad (and not a “divorce” from the state of Iraq) he hopes (and most probably knows) that the independence will be recognised as a fact by the international community sooner or later. For certain, this referendum – if its result is implemented – will lead to a redefinition of the map of the Middle East, and the countries of Iraq and Syria to start with where Kurds in both countries control enough energy resources to sustain their “state”. Leaders around the world said – during the war in Syria – that the Middle East would never return to the way it was before 2011, probably referring to the “Islamic State” (ISIS) occupation of large part of Syria and Iraq. But today, their prediction may come true through the Kurds – even though the “Islamic State” (ISIS) “project” failed to reach its objective, that of dividing both Syria and Iraq.

Thus, the Kurdish will to establish an independent state is giving greater power to Turkey, holding the key of the Kurdish future state, and to the partition of the Middle East. In fact, in Iraq, Ankara will play a crucial role in the coming months and years in reshaping Mesopotamia and the Levant. Kurdistan exports its main oil revenue through Turkey, putting Erbil at Ankara’s mercy. Therefore, if Turkey considers the independence a threat to its national security, it will not hesitate to send troops into Kurdistan, triggering probably little effective action or reaction from Baghdad.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“Forget Germany, Spain Is The Real Problem”

September 25, 2017

“Forget Germany, Spain Is The Real Problem”

Following yesterday’s German election, which despite Merkel’s 4th victory was a rout for the establishment “grand coalition” parties of CDU/CSU and SPD which saw its worst election performance since the 1940s offset by a surge in the ascendant right-wing AfD, there have been numerous analyst reactions to the “sudden reemergence” of populism in Europe, but one we find perhaps the most insightful and useful, comes from Bloomberg macro commentator Mark Cudmore, who writes this morning that for all the concerns, it’s not so much Germany as what is about to happen in European peer Spain, where Catalonia is set to hold an independence referendum on October 1, that should be on traders’ radars.

Below is his latest Macro View explaining why…

Euro Crisis Trading May Be Due for an Encore

The euro is once again set to suffer from an outsized political premium. Spain, rather than Germany, is the real problem. 

The AfD’s strong performance in the German election and the lack of a clear coalition are both concerns at the margin, but they wouldn’t provide a sustainable headwind for the euro in isolation.

Much more worrying is Catalonia’s planned independence referendum on Oct. 1. Investors have been ignoring this story, but this week will see it take center stage.

The heavy-handed response by the central government in Spain has significantly elevated the probability of civil unrest as well as potentially increasing support for independence for the region.

People opposed to breaking away probably won’t vote, so any poll that proceeds will return an unrepresentative and overwhelming result for independence. If Mariano Rajoy is able to snuff out the illegal referendum, it’ll only intensify the demands for another, more official independence vote. Failing to stop it means there’ll be a symbolic declaration of independence.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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