The Spanish Government honors the nazis

by d'acord Fri Oct 15, 2004 13:31

Yesterday, the Generalitat honoured the tomb of Lluis Companys (1882- 1940)president of Catalonia (1934-1940) who on Oct 6th 1934 declared Catalonia as a republic "within the 2nd republic of Spain".
in 1939, Companys went into exile crossing the Pyrennes where in 1940 he was arrested by the Gestapo and returned to Franco and executed October 16th 1940 in Montjuic Barcelona.

Plans are underway to inscribe all the republican (and anarchist) vicitms of the Franco dictatorship on a memorial plaque.
By which is meant those citizens of the 2nd Republic who were hunted down, used as a slave labour, tortured and executed in the immediate 10 years after the cessation of the civil War.

There will be over 50,000 names.

Meanwhile, many (myself included) are calling for a "truthful process of reconciliation" and the proper exhumation and burial of the many thousands of victims of the Fascist oppression who are still in unmarked mass graves throughout the peninsula.

The Republican Veteran of the LeClerc armoured division (made up of civil war republicans) which entered (and liberated) Paris in 1944, who walked last Tuesday has confirmed that he would not have taken part if he had known he was expected to walk with a veteran of the Blue Division.

Calls are increasing for the resignation of José Bono, the PSOE minister of the Defence, from the smaller parties of the Left (most notably in Catalonia) and members of academia and the inteligentsia. It is felt that this gesture "of reconciliation" was premature, badly concieved and has at end only served to put salt in old wounds and cause serious discomfort throughout Spain and most notably in Catalonia and the Basque.

details of the "revindication of the Republican victims of Franco"-
http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=6&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=155643&idseccio_PK=130&h=

an account I wrote of Last Tuesday's polemic military celebration of "Hispanidad" or Columbus Day, an event which originally was termed the "day of the race" by Alfonse X king of spain at the turn of the last century and instituted by Franco as "hispanidad" and continues to the present day may be found in they other press section-
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66999&type=otherpress

It has been 64 years since Companys the democratically elected president of Catalonia was shot by Franco in Montjuic, the same place where today francoist and neonazi groupings hold their flag waving ceremonies every October.

I recommend reading the link in the above article for a good overview of Catalan nationalist feeling and history in english.

by Ruri Fri Oct 15, 2004 15:22

The usual misty eyed attention seeking shite you get from deluded goons occasionally about a war long over and a dictator long dead. Forget about it. Freedom for Catalonia? Yeah, isn't the oppression you suffer there just awful.

Hala Madrid

by lluire Fri Oct 15, 2004 15:42

you've learnt so much already.
Unlike your country, the victims of a war which finished about 60 years ago, continued to live under a fascist dictatorship until 30 years ago, and had their last fascist coup d'etat attempt 23 years ago.
it's all so long long ago and they are still talking about oppression. Their Grandparents talk about the camps, their parents talk about going to school in a military dictatorship and their children talk about Linguistic, Cultural, oppression and over 50,000 potential grandparents.
And interestingly they don't feel the need to support armed terrorist groups to voice those feelings for freedom.

Would you like to see a Paratrooper marching in 2016 in front of the GPO as a token of "reconciliation"?
Would the British like to see an IRA veteran at the Cenotaph?

Were the paratroopers as bad as the blue division?

by Ezetz Fri Oct 15, 2004 16:09

The minister for defence, Bono, stated that if you remove the fascists, there is little left in Spain. An idiot's slip of the tongue. And how truthful. That's what Spain is, a fascist regime, Franco may be 'long gone' but the system that had him up is still alive and well. PP = PSOE and PSOE = PP, the rest of Spanish parties are simple servants and brownnosers out of fear and mercenary.
How is the Spanish 'National Day' celebrated? A military parade, of course, because it is a military state that has succesfully brainwashed most of its population. The history of Spain is a history of blood and war, theaf and murder. The history of a bullying, imperialist, ethnocide entity engaged in the oppresion of other nations both in the Peninsula and outside. Why do you, Ruri, express your support to that 'Spain' with 'Hala Madrid'? Because if you remove the football achievements of your football club, there's nothing to be proud of, not even for you, 'Spaniard'.

by Buzzby Fri Oct 15, 2004 18:06

Don't wet your pants, folks...

by hmmm Fri Oct 15, 2004 18:40

live blogging-

The comemoration of President Companys has just ended and was broadcast live on all Catalan TV whilst the more middle brow spanish national did an interview with a bullfighter.
The event was attended by his succesor the current president of Catalonia (interestingly a grandson of a poet of that era) Maragall and the vice President of the Spanish State, Mrs de Vega, who is president in functions (as ZP is abroad) in Montjuic.
At at exactly the same time, in a surprise visit, Queen Sofia of Spain has just turned up on my very street and is currently in a "key national building". (you can't really miss it it's got police all over the roof)

My opposite neighbour on her balcony, calls over to me
"who is it?",
I answer that I reckon it's the Queen. (I'm prety sure royal crest on car, little well dressed woman with grey hair)
- Oh. the Queen of _*Spain*_? retorts the neighbour.

by Mike Fri Oct 15, 2004 20:24

To see that on THIS site.

And aren't people on your lsland still holding marches and attacking each other over battles from 500 yeays ago. And you can't imagine that the Catalans could harbor dreams of recovering their indpendence because that was lost so long ago.

Correct me if I am wrong in my European history, but I thought you folks were conquered by the British and lost your independence BEFORE the folks of Southern Spain did (the process there not completed till very late in the 15th century).