Update Update Update The General Strike in Catalunya called for Wed 8th Nov by small

main Republican civil groups, Òmnium and ANC

Intersindical-CSC trade union has been supported by the USTEC education union and the

The strike is to protest the jailing of protest leaders and Government ministers, the occupation of paramilitary security forces, the imposition of Direct Rule, etc

However the majority CCOO (ex comminist) and UGT (ex socialist) trade unions again came out against it and the anarchist CGT made a statement in favour but left it to their members to decide individually, arguing they haven’t time to consult them.

All schools and Universities and public offices will certainly close down as well as cities like Girona and LLeida which have a native Catalan majority.

But the bosses organisation Foment de Treball have taken a High Court case to declare the General Strike Illegal.

The neo-fascists in Madrid have been hiring fleets of coaches and even trains to bring in thousands of violent right wing ‘demonstrators’, as seen at last weekend’s huge demo openly led by thugs sporting swastikas, zieg heils and Francoist symbols.



The insidious campaign is to split Catalan society down the middle. over 40% of the population are workers from Spain, most are well integrated over generations with families who consider themselves Catalan. Mixed marriages are common and normal with the 2 languages coexisting perfectly in their homes. Tension between the communities has been minimal (as in ex Yugoslavia before politicians whipped up xenophobia for personal power).

The anarchists too are divided, actively calling and sup`porting the 3rd Oct General Strike from an anti nationalist workers standpoint, but reluctant to continue if a nationalist civil conflict in Catalunya is provoked.

The Spanish nationalist media these days has become a torrent of anti Catalan hatred and outright lies. With an explosion of racist attacks the General Strike on Wednesday and the ‘Mega Demo’ on Sat 11th could finally break the self imposed pacifist stance of the Catalan republicans, which is what the State needs to justify mass criminalization of the majority democratic movement.





we include below a translation of a key text

A triumph of popular mobilization



by LLuita Internationalista on Barcelona Indymedia The proclamation of the Catalan Republic is the expression of the will of the people of Catalonia to break with the Monarchy. It is the result of a permanent and massive popular mobilization (demos of over a million for 5 years) , which, until now, has forced the governments of the Generalitat Catalan Govt to apply the popular mandate. The regime of the transition, which Franco left “tied up and well tied up “ (by his legacy) is in its most serious crisis, cracked and may not survive.

The monarchy and the government of the PP head the repressive offensive, with the support of rightwing C’s and the ex socialist PSOE. The arrest without bail of the presidents of Omnium and ANC (the main Republican civil groups) and the Government ministers were a warning to all the popular movement, using them as hostages and intimidation currency.

Now the application of article 155 implies full intervention: the removal of the entire Catalan Government and the dissolution of Parliament, the control of all areas by the ministries and the maintenance of the repressive apparatus of Catalonia with the Spanish police and the Civil Guard imported and installed sine die.

Rajoy, faced with the inability to keep up a long struggle over time, decided to convene autonomous elections on December 21, trying to divide the majprity independence block. In parallel, prosecutors and judges begin the purge, and declare that they will strike with full force. Already jailing without bail many government ministers and ordering the arrest of Puigdemont and his exiled ministers on charges that could amount to 50 years jail each. The list of those who made the arrival of the Republic possible is long, almost endless.

The weakness of the direction of the new Republic is also evident. After the jug of cold water jug of the October 10th suspension, until the last moment, the President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, tried to avoid the Independence proclamation seeking an agreement with the Spanish president Mariano Rajoy to find an election exit: autonomic elections . (Which he had already offered 18 times to no avail)

The position of the Catalan employers’ association and the transfer of social headquarters of over 2000 companies and the main banks outside of Catalonia has been clear, their pockets come first and, if necessary, they are intervene on the side of the regime against the freedoms, fearing a situation of discontrol that endangers their privileges.

With voices such as those of Artur Mas or Santi Vila (a resignation of the directors of the PDeCat), the president’s doubts, the virulent condemnations of the EU things look bad… without the popular mobilization of course we would be facing a new disappointment. We can only now trust people mobilized on the street.

The role of CSQEP (ICV, Podem, EuiA) has been disastrous. ….. Until today, CSQEP, like the Ada Colau Communes, have tried to position themselves in an impossible equidistance, which makes them accomplices of the State offensive. It is grotesque that they still defend the way of dialogue with the state and the possibility of a referendum agreed that, as has been seen, there is no place within the regime of the monarchy.

A regime that does not accept any democratic reform. To complete it, Pablo Iglesias also takes part by stating that the declaration of independence is illegitimate and illegal: as the PSOE did in the Transition.

Shocking statements have also come from statist CCOO and UGT unions, who strongly reject the declaration of independence, and are limited to asking for prudence and measurement in the application of 155 Direct Rule and endorsing the elections (under duress) of 21 December.

The old left are stopping the solidarity of the workers and towns of the state from flowing, which would allow to turn the page and end the ‘regime of the 78’ (post Franco limited democracy agreement)…………

The proclaimed Republic is far from effective if no clear and urgent decisions are taken by the Government and Parliament. It is necessary to request that the Government, Parliament, together with the support of an assembly of mayors and councilors, require the removal of the state security forces in Catalonia and initiate the constituent process of the Republic.

We need to activate a plan of urgent measures to guarantee your own finances, create a public Bank and activate urgently all the laws that demand the social sectors (energy poverty, minimum rent … housing) that have been suspended by the Constitutional Court.

There needs to be an unequivocal signal to the popular classes that the new Republic is for us lower ones to live better. The mobilization has been largely determined by ANC and Òmnium, today within the framework of the Table for Democracy, with the employer’s and the directorates of CCOO and UGT.

We can not leave the street exclusively in their hands or be waiting for their calls. Without the platform of trade unionism and the combative left in defense of rights and freedoms, the general strike of October 3 would not have been possible, which was key in the response to police repression against the referendum on October 1 .

It is also through this platform that the connection with working classes, to a large extent absent, must be made and neither CCOO nor UGT want to join the struggle for a new Republic. The Catalan working class will be decisive in the outcome of this confrontation with the state and also in providing social content with the new Republic.

Without the Referendum Defense Committees and the decision of many people on the street to go further than the slogans received in the defense of schools and polling points, more than 2.3 million would not have been able to vote on October 1 . Without the irruption of the student movement with the strikes and the occupation of the streets before the referendum or this week, we would not be where we are.

Without the determination of the farm workers assembly and the mobilizations of the 31st, either. Moving forward in the organization, coordinating these sectors is absolutely essential to determine a plan of struggle.

The repressive offensive is growing and it will be necessary to prepare new mobilizations and new calls for general strikes. To defeat the repressive drift we need the mobilization of workers and peoples throughout the state. It has already been threatened by PP leaders that the 155 Direct Rule could also be used in Navarra, Basque Country and even in Castilla la Mancha.

The repression that is being fought against by the Catalan people will be used tomorrow against the rest. More than solidarity with Catalonia, what is needed is the conviction that we are in a single struggle, a struggle to end the Franco regime that survives in the monarchist regime.

The regime separates and confronts peoples, freedom of peoples will allow for stronger solidarity. As internationalists, we will look to a meeting point for peoples within the framework of a Federation of Republics, which we want from and for working people, socialists.

We have seen in the same EU that the Greek people crushed under misery plans and denied their referendum: they are doing the same today with Catalonia. The international Solidarity that the Catalan ex-government looked for in the European institutions and institutions, without success, we will find instead in the workers and the peoples.

The same day that the Catalan Republic was proclaimed, Juan Carlos Giordano, deputy and militant of Socialist Left in the Front of the Left and the Workers presented / displayed in the Argentine Parliament a proposal of recognition of the Catalan Republic.

The international movement “With Catalonia” has been created by coordinating solidarity committees of leftist organizations, trade unions and the defense of freedoms. Popular mobilization has been key to proclaiming the Republic, and it will be key to defending it.

We demand immediate measures to enforce and defend the Republic: Government, Parliament, and assembly of mayors and councilors, require the removal of state security forces and initiation of the constituent assembly process.

Urgency measures, plans to guarantee our own finances, create a public Bank and activate urgently the laws that demand the social sectors (energy poverty, minimum rent … housing) suspended by the TC. There must be an unmistakable signal to the popular classes that the new Republic is for us lower ones to live better. To deepen the organization from below: coordinate CDRs (local Defense Committees) and the Platform of unions and organizations that promoted the general strike of 3-Oct. We need to prepare and summon a new general strike. by LLuita Internationalista Internationalist Struggle italics updates added



original in Catalan