| Spain tightens borders to stem ECB protests |
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Visa-free travel suspended ahead of European Central Bank meeting, overriding Schengen Protocol.
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| Spain has suspended visa-free travel and re-instituted border checks ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Barcelona next week.It is an unprecedented move that overrides the Schengen Protocol that was first instituted in 1985. The agreement means there are no int
ernal border controls for the 26 European countries and their combined population of more than 400 million people. Spain says it needs to regulate its borders to prevent foreign protesters disrupting the ECB meeting . It is not the first time Schengen Protocol has been called into question. Germany and France also want new rules to make it easier to suspend passport-free travel. Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego reports from Madrid. Continue reading “Spanish police block borders to protect Bankers meeting” |
Category: dictators
Somontes..Reocupado en 24 hrs! Land and Liberty!
Cerca de 100 personas han reocupado a primera hora del viernes la finca Somontes, una hacienda de casi 400 hectáreas que la Junta de Andalucía mantiene sin uso en Palma del Río, Córdoba. La toma se produce menos de 24 horas después de que la Guardia Civil desalojara a los ocupantes.
About 100 people have reoccupied the early hours of Friday Somontes estate, an estate of nearly 400 hectares of Andalusia remains unused in Palma del Río, Córdoba. The decision comes less than 24 hours after the Civil Guard to evict the occupants.
“No se han llevado nada de material, tan sólo algunas fotos”, informa Víctor, uno de los jornaleros y miembro del Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores (SAT), impulsor de la acción. “Pero si no hubiéramos vuelto, las huertas estarían sin riego y las gallinas se habrían muerto de sed o se las hubieran comido los perros”, continúa.
“There has been no material taken, only some pictures,” says Victor, one of the laborers and union member Andaluz de Trabajadores (SAT), driver of the action. “But if we had not returned, would be no watering gardens and chickens would have died of thirst or the dogs might have eaten them,” he continues.
Porque la ocupación no pretende ser sólo una denuncia de la falta de uso de los terrenos públicos –en este caso, pendientes de una subasta, sino una vía de autoempleo para jornaleros y jornaleras en paro que están participando en la ocupación.
Because the occupation is not intended as only an allegation of non-use of public lands in this case, pending an auction, but a way of self-employment for unemployed day laborers who are participating in the occupation.
Poco antes de las tres de la tarde del viernes la Guardia Civil no se había presentado para hacer ninguna nueva identificación. Los y las ocupantes se dedican ahora a reordenar lo revuelto por el cuerpo armado (“han dejado alguna casa echa trizas, con todo revuelto y embarrado”) y a preparar los detalles del acto central del 1 de mayo que el SAT organiza precisamente en la finca ocupada. La organización prevé varios conciertos, así como talleres de autoformación sobre técnicas agrarias tradicionales.
Shortly before three o’clock in the afternoon of Friday, the Civil Guard had not submitted the occupiers to any further identification. The occupants are engaged and now it scrambled to reorganize the destrruction by the miltary police. (“left a house check shredding, yet turbulent and muddy”) and prepare the details of the central act of May 1 the SAT union organized precisely on the squatted farm e. The organization provides for several concerts and workshops on traditional agricultural techniques .
El SAT impulsó la ocupación de la hacienda el 4 de marzo. Las 400 hectaŕeas, en su mayoría de secano, de la finca de Somontes son sólo una parte de las 400.000 hectáreas de terreno agrícola que, según el sindicato, son propiedad de la Junta y mantiene improductivas.
The SAT drove the occupation of the property on 4 March. The 400 hectares, mostly rainfed farm Somontes are only part of the 400,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to the union, are the property of the Board and remains unproductive.
http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/spip.php?page=imprimir_articulo&id_article=18353
RELATED POSTS
Anarchist Laura Gomez arrested in Barcelona
Detenida Laura Gomez de la CGT por su presunta participación en los disturbios del 29M en Barcelona. Se trata de una detención más con cara a la toma policial por la Cumbre del BCE el 2 de mayo..
They claim she burnt a box of fake money outside the Stock Exchange.
Arrested a leader of the CGT for alleged involvement in riots in Barcelona General Strike 29M. This is one of many arrests leading up to the police takeover for the European bank Summit on 2nd May. There are now daily demonstrations.
A Laura Gómez, secretaria de Organización de la Federación Local de Barcelona del sindicato anarquista, se le imputan los delitos de desórdenes públicos, incendio, coacciones y un delito
relativo al ejercicio de los derechos fundamentales y las libertades públicas.
Laura Gomez, Secretary of Organization of Local Federation of Anarchist union Barcelona, is charged with public disorder offenses, arson, extortion or an offense concerning the exercise of fundamental rights and civil liberties.
Demonstration in support of the CGT leader Barcelona Laura Gomez held on Tuesday at the police station in the Catalan police in Les Corts (photo: CGT).
Manifestación de apoyo a la dirigente de la CGT de Barcelona Laura Gómez celebrada este martes ante la comisaría de los Mossos d’Esquadra de Les Corts (foto: CGT).
The Police have arrested Tuesday at the Organizing Secretary of the Barcelona Local Federation of the CGT, Laura Gomez, for his alleged involvement in the burning and destruction caused to the building of the Barcelona Stock Exchange during the day general strike on March 29. Wednesday is scheduled to go to court.
Los Mossos d’Esquadra han detenido este martes a la secretaria de Organización de la Federación Local de Barcelona de la CGT, Laura Gómez, por su presunta participación en la quema y los destrozos causados en el edificio de la Bolsa de Barcelona durante la jornada de huelga general del pasado 29 de marzo. Está previsto que este miércoles pase a disposición judicial.
Carlos Navarro, a spokesman for the CGT, explained that the action took place before the stock was to burn a box containing money and papers that had symbolized a 
message against capital, and is unrelated to the union of the destruction occurred. In his opinion, the detention serves the objective of “clear that people can protest through organizations and unions not officially controlled.”
Demonstration in defense of the arrested
Carlos Navarro, portavoz de la CGT, ha explicado que la acción que se llevó a cabo ante la Bolsa consistió en quemar una caja que contenía papeles que simbolizaban dinero y que llevaba un mensaje contra el capital, y ha desvinculado al sindicato de los destrozos que se produjeron. En su opinión, la detención responde al objetivo de “desactivar que la gente pueda protestar a través de organizaciones y sindicatos no controlados oficialmente”.
Manifestación en defensa de la detenida
Un grupo de militantes y simpatizantes de la CGT se han manifestado durante este martes por la tarde ante la comisaría de los Mossos d’Esquadra de Les Corts, en Barcelona, para exigir la puesta en libertad de Gómez.
A group of militants and sympathizers of the CGT have emerged during this Tuesday afternoon at the police station of the Autonomous Police of Les Corts in Barcelona, to demand the release of Gomez.
CONCENTRACIÓ DIMECRES 25 D’ABRIL a les 8.30h.
a la Ciutat de la Justícia, entrada per Gran Via.
Si ens toquen a una, ens toquen a totes. Solidaritat.
mès informaciò akì..http://www.kaosenlared.net/compone….
Related articles
- anarchism in Occupied Social Centers.. anarkismo el los CSO (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
- Spanish student uprising spreads (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
¡Si tocan a un@ tocan a tod@s! /Solidarity with Spanish General Strikers
Llamamiento a todas las organizaciones políticas, sociales y de derechos humanos:
¡Si tocan a un@ tocan a tod@s!
Este curso el movimiento estudiantil viene respondiendo con fuerza a los ataques lanzados desde el Gobierno central y el de la Generalitat. El pasado 29M los estudiantes también salimos a luchar junto a la clase trabajadora contra la Reforma Laboral y todos los ajustes. La respuesta del Gobierno del PP, de CiU y el conjunto del Régimen está siendo la criminalización de la protesta. Tres compañeros, Dani e Isma de la UB de Físicas, y Javi del barrio de El Clot, están en prisión preventiva a modo de “cabeza de turco”. Quieren mandar un mensaje de miedo, a la vez que preparan fuertes recortes de derechos democráticos y libertades.
Desde No Pasarán creemos que la campaña anti-represiva que proponemos al conjunto de las organizaciones debe implementarse también con fuerza en nuestros centros de estudio. Las asambleas de facultad, la PUDUP y el conjunto de sindicatos y agrupaciones de estudiantes, PAS y PDI, debemos sumarnos con fuerza a la lucha contra la represión, sumando la defensa de nuestros derechos democráticos a la lucha cont ra los ajustes y la liquidación de la universidad pública.
Calling all political, social and human rights groups:
If they touch one of us they attack us all!!
The student movement has responded forcefully to attacks launched from the central government and the Generalitat. (Catalan Gov.) Last 29M (General Strike) students also went out to fight alongside the working class against the Labor Reform and all the Cuts. The Government’s response PP, CiU and the whole scheme is still the criminalization of protest. Three colleagues, Dani and Isma UB Physics and Javi in the neighborhood of El Clot, are in custody as “scapegoats.” They want to send a message of fear, while they prepare deep cuts in democratic rights and freedoms. Here at ‘No Pasarán’ we believe the anti-repressive proposals of all the organizations should be implemented , and also featured strongly in our study centers, assemblies, faculty meetings, the PUDUP and all trade unions and student groups, PAS and PDI, we must adhere strongly to the struggle against repression, adding the defense of our democratic rights to the fight against extreme Cuts and the liquidation of the public university.
Desde No Pasarán denunciamos la campaña de criminalización y la durísima represión de los Mossos en particular y la Policía en general, contra los trabajadores y jóvenes de la Huelga del 29M. Creemos que el repudio a esta política que la mayoría de las organizaciones de derechos humanos, sindicatos de izquierda, asociaciones, asambleas barriales y grupos políticos de izquierda están llevando a cabo mediante una gran cantidad de declaraciones, podría transformarse en una gran campaña en c
omún en todo el Estado.
From ‘No Pasarán’ we denounce the campaign of criminalization and harsh repression of the Autonomous Police in particular and generally against young workers and the general strike of 29M. We believe that the present repudiation of this policy by most human rights organizations, leftist unions, associations, neighborhood assemblies and leftist political groups , could lead to a common campaign throughout the state.
Desgraciadamente otros grupos como como Iniciativa per Catalunya i Esquerra Unida i Alternativa han publicado declaraciones condenando a sectores de los trabajadores y la juventud indignada como ”violentos”. Así también lo han hecho las direcciones de CCOO y UGT. Y lo más lamentable, es que la CGT también se ha declarado “ajena” a la respuesta de los jóvenes y trabajadores a la represión policial. Estas organizaciones también están sufriendo este ataque represivo: dos estudiantes del AEP (Asociación de Estudiantes Progresistas) están en prisión preventiva, fueron encarcelados trabajadores de CCOO, criminalizados y reprimidos manifestantes de la izquierda sindical.
Interior ha expedientado a los sindicatos de CGT y CNT por convocar la manifestación.
Reject calls against ‘violence’ by Unions and politicians.
Unfortunately, political parties such as the Initiative for Catalonia, Esquerra Unida and Alternativa have issued statements condemning sectors of youth and workers and indignant as “violent.” So too have the leadership of the majority of CCOO and UGT trade unions. And most unfortunate is that the CGT has also declared itself to be “alien” to the response of young people and workers to police repression. These organizations are also suffering this repressive state attack: two students in the AEP (Association of Progressive Students) are in custody, CCOO workers were jailed, left wing trade union protestors have been criminalized and repressed .
The Interior Ministry has brought charges against the trade unions CGT and CNT for convening the event.
Por eso llamamos a las compañeras y compañeros de estas organizaciones a que reconsideren esta posición. Ante la ofensiva del Estado es necesario conformar la más amplia movilización en defensa de nuestros derechos y poner en pie una campaña en todo el Estado para enfrentar la política de represión y criminalización de la protesta social que la Audiencia Nacional, el Gobierno Central y el 
Govern de Catalunya están llevando a cabo contra las trabajadoras, trabajadores y el pueblo.
Por la dimisión del Conseller de Interior de la Generalitat Felip Puig y el Ministro del Interior del Gobierno central, Jorge Fernández Díaz.
Solidarity Call
Therefore we call upon the comrades of these organizations to reconsider this position. Against the offensive of the state it is necessary to form the largest mobilization in defense of our rights and put in place a statewide campaign to address the policy of repression and criminalization of social protest that the Courts , the Central Government and the Govern Catalonia are carrying out against workers, employees and the people.
We call for the resignation of Councillor of Interior of the Felip Puig and the Minister of Interior of the Central Government, Jorge Fernandez Diaz.
Libertad Deteni*s YA
Al mismo tiempo que exigimos la libertad inmediata y sin cargo alguno de todas las personas detenidas y encarceladas durante esta jornada, proponemos a todas estas organizaciones y sindicatos como una de las primeras medidas a tomar en común, formar una “gran caja de resistencia” que pueda afrontar las multas y fianzas impuestas a los encarcelados; como se ha exigido a 5 personas que paguen entre 3.000 y 4.000 euros y uno de ellos no ha podido pagar por lo que se quedó en prisión.
Free the prisoners .. Call for Bail fund
At the same time we demand the immediate release without charge of all persons arrested and detained during the General Strike, we offer all these organizations and trade unions, as one of the first measures to be taken together, the formation of a “big Fund of resistance” that can stand up to fines and pay bail bonds, imposed on the prisoners, as 5 people have been required to pay between 3,000 and 4,000 euros and one of them could not pay and remained in prison.
¡Libertad a los presos por luchar!
¡Anulación de las causas y procesos judiciales a todos los activistas del 29M!
¡Basta de persecución y criminalización a los luchadores!
¡Puig y Fernandez Díaz Dimisión!
Juicio y castigo a los responsables políticos y policiales de la represión
Por la mayor unidad contra la represión del régimen con manifestaciones,
campañas y cajas de resistencia.
Freedom for those imprisoned for fighting back!
Cancellation of the charges and prosecutions for all activists of 29M general strike!
No more persecution and criminalization of the fighters!
Diaz Fernandez and Puig … Resign NOW!
Trial and punishment for policy makers and police repressers
For the greatest possible unity against the repressive regime, 
with demonstrations,
campaigns and resistance bail funds.
http://arevolucionarianopasaran.wordpress.com
Iceland first to have to forgive mortgage debts
Iceland ”partly forgives Mortgage Debt ”
”This is awesome. It shows when the people DO STAND UP they have more power and win against the corrupt bankers and politicians of a country. Iceland is forgiving and erasing the mortgage debt of the population. They are putting the bankers and politicians on the “Bench of the Accused.” Which means I assume they are putting them on trial for corruption.
Now the rest of people of the world need to start doing the same thing. We all need to stand up and against all the corruption and fraud of the banks and politicians that are puppets of the banks and corporations.” Sherrie
The country’s banks forgave loans equivalent to 13% of gross domestic product, according to a Bloomberg article Richard cites. The equivalent in the United States would be about $1.95 trillion of mortgage debt writedowns. Icelandic banks agreed to forgive all mortgage debt over 110% of a home’s value. “I think I may have been one of the first commentators with a wide audience to point out how relatively well Iceland was doing.” What he didn’t mention, though his commentator “iInfoliner” did, is that the credit rating agency Fitch upgraded Iceland’s debt to investment grade last week. Moreover, according to the Business Week story, the country can now borrow in U.S. dollars at a mere 4.77%. Compare this to Greece at 35.98% and Portugal at 12.77%; even Spain and Italy are a little over 5% (the FT link has no rates listed for Ireland, which has no 10-year bond).The moral of the story is that a different approach to dealing with the banks is necessary. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/24/1067831/-Iceland-Solves-Banking-Crisis-by-Indicting-Bankers-Forcing-Mortgage-Relief
C0rrection., Iceland had to forgive just a part of mortgage debt
The romantic view on Iceland
There is one misunderstanding apparent when Iceland and Ireland are compared. People seem to sometimes think that Icelandic people said “Oh, hell no! We’re not going to save your arses, you just have to go bankrupt and that’s the end of it” to the banks. Some people make a gesture to Icesave referendum to justify that point of view. Furthermore, the “splendid” 110% debt write-off that was passed by the parliament is considered to a fantastic success and shows on top of that the will of the people to simply get the banks to understand that debts that cannot or should not be repaid, won’t be repaid.
Sorry, there is a bit of romanticism in this story.
First, the Icelandic government tried absolutely everything it could possibly do in 2008 to save the banks. It was Iceland’s “fool’s luck” to have allowed the banks to grow up to 1,000% of GDP that made the government rescue impossible. There was no other choice than to let the banks go bankrupt, even though it has been painted in the foreign media as “Iceland chose to let the banks go bankrupt instead of shoring up their broken pieces.”
Second, the Icesave agreement was forcibly passed through the parliament by the government. It was the president that stopped the bill to become a law after the world of bloggers had been on fire for months while the public anger against the government ascended day by day. More importantly, the Icesave dispute had nothing to do with Icelandic “banksters” as they were called by that time. It was and is an international quarrel regarding how to interpret the EU/EEA treaty concerning deposit insurance schemes and passport-banking within the EU. Icesave wasn’t and isn’t a question of bailing out the banks.
Third, the 110% debt write-off that was introduced by the government hasn’t been that successful and certainly not very influencing in the overall scheme of things.
Hanged-Man-Project! :-summary of the Icelandic revolution: -resignation of the whole government -nationalization of the bank. -referendum so that the people can decide over the economic decisions. -incarcerating the responsible parties -rewriting of the constitution by its people Have we been informed of this through the media? Has any political program in radio or TV commented on this? No! The Icelandic people have been able to show that there is a way to beat the system and has given a democracy lesson to the world ...See MoreWall Photos ICELAND. No news from Iceland?… why? How come we hear everything that happens in.. By: RePeace
ICELAND. No news from Iceland?… why? How come we hear everything that happens in Egypt but no news about what’s happening in Iceland:
In Iceland, the people has made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, it was decided to not pay the debt that these created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial politics and a public assembly has been created to rewrite the constitution.
And all of this in a peaceful way. A whole revolution against the powers that have created the current global crisis. This is why there hasn’t been any publicity during the last two years: What would happen if the rest of the EU citizens took this as an example? What would happen if the US citizens took this as an example.
This is a summary of the facts:
2008. The main bank of the country is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market stops. The country is in bankruptcy
2008. The citizens protest in front of parliament and manage to get new elections that make the resignation of the prime minister and his whole government.
The country is in bad economic situation.
A law proposes paying back the debt to Great Britain and Holland through the payment of 3,500 million euros, which will be paid by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with a 5.5% interest.
2010. The people go out in the streets and demand a referendum. In January 2010 the president denies the approval and announces a popular meeting.
In March the referendum and the denial of payment is voted in by 93%. Meanwhile the government has initiated an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis, and many high level executives and bankers are arrested. The Interpol dictates an order that make all the implicated parties leave the country.
In this crisis an assembly is elected to rewrite a new Constitution which can include the lessons learned from this, and which will substitute the current one (a copy of the Danish Constitution).
25 citizens are chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly starts in February of 2011 to present the ‘carta magna’ from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.
Debt write off was only partial
The 110% debt write-off was simply a measure that was offered to over-indebted households. It was very simple on the surface: if your mortgage was higher than 110% of the estimated market value of the property, you could have the debt written off down to the 110% mark.
The total debt that was written off based on this jubilee was 43.6 billion krona. On top of that came 6.2 billion due to “special measures”. In comparison, the debt that was written off due to illegal foreign-exchange-linked loans was 146.5 billion krona. In September 2008 (the last point in time where it is known how high the face value of household debt was) the debt of households was 1,890 billion krona (128% of GDP). The government induced debt write-off has been roughly 2.5% of the total debt of households. Is that meant to be a huge turning point? Give me a break! The indexed debt of households has in the meanwhile risen by a rough estimation of 200 billion ISK due to rise in consumer prices since 2008. This is not a typo.
Longer term view
The debt dynamics in the Icelandic economy are scary! The mortgage and financial system is built to collapse, it is an unmissable feature of the organisation of the system.
Shit on the system! Tögg: english When Elections took place in Iceland one voter decided to use his rights to vote. Showed up at the voting station and literally took a dump on the political party system, the power abuse and the general democracy distortion, wiped his ass on the ballot, neatly folded it and slipped into the ballot box. HEHEHE The video is here http://aftaka.rusl.org/tag/english/
Related articles
- Iceland forgives mortgage debt of its population (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
Remembering Agnes..Stop Hate Crimes!
“Femicide is an act of fear, of hate, of incompetence, omission, of cowardice and abuse. Not one more.”
Agnes Torres, a transsexual psychologist and gay rights activist, left her home in the central Mexican state of Puebla on her way to a party. The next day, her body was found in a gully, naked from the waist down. Her throat had been slit.
“Agnes’s case had major repercussions because she was an activist involved deeply in the struggle for our rights. But there are many other cases that no one has ever heard about,”
Torres was 28 years old and in the process of changing her identity in Mexico City, the only part of Mexico that has passed progressive laws such as the decriminalisation of abortion, same-sex marriage and a gender identity law http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51861 allowing transgender people to change their gender and sex, under the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), which governs the capital.
Big demo against homophobia and femicide
…….The protesters, who according to news reports numbered between two hundred and one thousand, filled the central square with pictures of 
Torres, art, candles, and signs that read “La homosexualidad no es una enfermedad, la homofobia sí,” (Homosexuality is not a disease, homophobia is.) Members of the crowd also taped signs to the walls of the buildings that border the central square: “Exigimos justicia,” (We demand justice) “¿Cuántas más?” (How many more?) “No somos todas; faltan nuestras muertas,” (This isn’t all of us; our dead are missing.)
The crowd chanted “va caer, va caer, la homofobía va caer.” (It will fall, it will fall, homophobia will fall.) Instead of a minute of silence, the demonstrators had a minute of applause to remember and celebrate Torres’ life. After filling the square for two hours, the group marched to the state government offices in downtown Puebla.
Word of Torres’ death spread quickly through social media, allowing the protest to be organized within about 24 hours. On Monday night Twitter users were writing about plans for protests and memorials in other Mexican cities such as Xalapa and Guadalajara.
“People should know about her. #AgnesTorres she was a daughter, she was a friend, she was a professional, she was human being. She is no longer with us. She was murdered”
-@mtorch on Twitter
Messages were directed at politicians such as state governor Rafael Moreno Valle asking him to take action to prevent hate crimes in the state. Tweets expressed a range of emotions from grief to anger and indignation.
Angry comments on Twitter also centered around a user who tweeted that Torres had deserved to die. The account purported to belong to Juan Pablo Castro, a young man who had earlier in the week been forced to apologize for using a derogatory slang word for homosexuals at a political event for young people in the congress building in Mexico City. However the account tweeting about Agnes Torres contained a slight variation in spelling from the real Juan Pablo Castro’s account name (substituting a capital i for an l) leading many to believe that it was a case of stolen identity. The fake Castro account continued to tweet negative comments about Torres throughout the evening. Perhaps in response to the backlash against “Castro,” other politicians took to Twitter on Monday evening to condemn Torres’ murder.
Image
“Femicide is an act of fear, of hate, of incompetence, omission, of cowardice and abuse. Not one more.” Photo via @feminicidios on Twitter.
People attending the protest also tweeted that the body of César González Martínez, a gay man, had just been found in Momoxpan, Puebla, at 2 PM that afternoon. Some news outlets reported that including Agnes Torres, there had been three murders attributed to homophobia in Puebla so far in 2012; activist groups, some represented by Ibrahim Zamora and the organization “De Ser” (To Be), claimed that there have been six homicides of members of the gay community in Puebla so far this year.
According to the autopsy performed by the coroner, the cause of Torres’ death was hypovolemic shock caused by beheading with a sharp weapon. The autopsy was performed as part of the preliminary investigation into case number AP/406/2012/Atlixco. News reports also stated that part of the body had been burned.
In addition to working as an activist, Torres was a psychologist specializing in gender identity. She was 28 years old.
Reads more HERE with thanks http://awayfare.wordpress.com/
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Spanish crash to bring down Banks??
All the pain in Spain… Millions refuse to lie down and see their lives smashed for the benefit of a few bankers, says Escobar.
Zaragoza, Spain – Make no mistake; the future of the euro is being played in Spain. The euro may win – but at a price; millions of Spaniards as “collateral damage”.
It took less than 100 days in power for the right-wing Popular Party (PP) government led by Mariano Rajoy to face its first general strike, on March 29.
The strike was mostly called by minority unions; the major ones, the opportunistic and bureaucratic CCOO and UGT, have been in bed with the
powers that be for years.
The strike was a response to Rajoy’s EU-imposed labour market reforms that, according to Antonio Carretero from the CGT union, are “a counter-reformation that erases with a single stroke many labour and union rights acquired by the working class in decades and generations”. That includes extremely harsh cuts in health, education and social services.
Predictably, the spin war was relentless. Madrid insisted “only” 800,000 workers took part in over 100 demonstrations nationally. According to unions, 900,000 people marched in Madrid, 800,000 in Barcelona and hundreds of thousands more in 111 cities, especially Valencia and in the Basque country (the unionist vanguard in Spain). In Zaragoza, a city of 700,000, at least 150,000 people may have been in the streets; it certainly looked like it by late afternoon.
Spain strikes over austerity measures
The country virtually stopped – at a 77 per cent overall rate (much higher than the 18 per cent predicted by corporate media). In the manufacturing sector, it was 80 per cent; in mining and construction, a whopping 97 per cent. Only 30 per cent of the national transportation system was active. And even though scores of cities kept the streetlights on all day – or used other tricks to bump up the numbers – consumption of electricity in Catalunya, for instance, fell by 24 per cent.
Austerity ergo sum
The catalogue of Spain’s “austerity” is the usual catalogue of neoliberalism in trouble. A previous, nominally socialist and now an ultra-conservative government have furiously decimated unemployment, retirement and severance benefits; turned virtually all labour contracts into precariousness hell; steeply raised fees for education and transportation; vastly militarised the police; and spent fortunes to bail out banks.
Spain inevitably follows the post-modernist mantra that democracy controls protest and rebellion by managing it – sort of. That’s where the cooption of those unions, CCOO and UGT, fits in; as they had already tamed rebellion in exchange for funds from Madrid, they called the strike virtually at the last minute.
Corporate media – and Spain is a small market run by monopolies – also fit in with the usual script. There will be violence by “anarchists”. The strike will be bad for tourists. Everyone has the right to work. No one will show up for this strike.
In Zaragoza, repression was harsher in the dead of the night and in suburbs, with no cameras watching. Morning pickets concentrated on banks across its mini Wall Street, driven by Brazilian-style samba drums and demonstrators dressed up as bankers. That sparked an internal debate among the protesters; with many shouting that this was not a party, in the end the samba drums were sent packing.
By late afternoon, during the massive main demonstration that crisscrossed the city centre, everyone and his neighbour seemed to be there – immigrants, whole middle-class families, the unemployed, the precariously employed, anarchists, socialists, progressives, and every indignado in town.
In powerhouse Barcelona, there were riots but mainly sparked by people’s rage against infiltrated cops [SP], some of them chased down and 
beaten up.
Significantly, more people in Barcelona took part in a spontaneous protest in landmark Catalunya square than in the official union protest. In Barcelona, and to some extent in Zaragoza as well, it was clear that the strike was not a union thing, but a collective effort of a loose network; neighbourhood assemblies; workers’ assemblies; smaller anti-authoritarian unions like the CNT and CGT; groups that sprang up out of the indignados movement – the precursor of Occupy Wall Street.
In Zaragoza and Barcelona, there were flyers, posters and stickers all over town. Neighbourhood assemblies and average workers went door to door – and shop to shop – to talk about the strike; and crucially, there was as much criticism of the major unions as criticism of the government………
“Your debt – we won’t pay it.” The mood during the March 29 Spanish general strike [Al Jazeera/Pepe Escobar]
The Harpies are coming to get you
The destruction of Greece may eventually be seen as an Aristophanes comedy compared to the Sophocles tragedy in store for Spain. Spain is the fourth largest economy in the eurozone. If it goes down, the EU goes down.
The infernal mechanism is the same; more “austerity” is followed by steeper Wall Street-engineered interests rates on Spain’s debt so every single euro in budget cutting is diverted to higher interest payments – and then some.
Of course Madrid will never have the guts to tell Spaniards that this budget-cut hysteria has less than zero chances of improving their lives. For 2012, Madrid has budgeted a whopping 29 billion euros for interest payments alone; that’s 30 
per cent more than in 2011.
On top of it Rajoy offered an “amnesty” for major tax cheaters – thus encouraging future tax cheating.
And this in a country with a staggering 6 million unemployed. The official unemployment rate is 24 per cent – higher than Greece and the highest in Europe. In reality it’s more like 30 per cent. Among young people, it’s between 45 per cent and 50 per cent. An extra 600,000 Spaniards will definitely lose their jobs in 2012.
…..
The US has a budget deficit of 10 per cent of GDP. Its colossal $4 trillion-plus national debt is already 100 per cent of GDP. Compare it with Spain a few points above the EU’s debt ceiling of 3 per cent of GDP, and a national debt of 79.8 per cent of GDP. Of course, if you are Washington/Wall Street you can get away with anything.
But even if Spain is now a barely disguised protectorate, still elections, strikes and a powerful concept of citizenship are kept alive. There’s serious talk of organising a European general strike. After all, the indignados started their movement in Spain, in May 2011 – the inspiration for Occupy Wall Street, a new, self-organised push for a global solidarity culture, way beyond the old, tired institutions of the organised Left, and the washed-up categories of Left and Right, East and West, North and South.
The future may be grim, but a global ola of rebellion may still be at hand. As I left Barcelona’s airport back to Asia I couldn’t help erase the verse of a classic Echo and the Bunnymen song ringing in my head: “See you in the barricades, 
babe.”
Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times. His latest book is Obama Does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/20124712153186201.html Full article HERE
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