I think every good cause deserves a day like today. A day in which the transparency of the air enables you to see the very last wrinkle of your opponents' sullied face. And this is what today's newpapers have supplied us with. Firstly the astounding news that judge Baltasar Garzón is to be tried for having dared to open up the possibility of investigating the truth about the mass graves and other crimes perpetrated by the Franco regime. But that is not all. The newspapers also inform us that the huge monument honouring the Cruiser Baleares in Palma bay -the pride of Franco's fleet sunk by the Republicans after having shelled thousands of fleeing refugees on the coastal roads of Andalusia- is not to be demolished. It is to be conserved! What an example for today's youth, to be sure! Can you image the same occurring with amonument dedicated to a Fascist-manned warship in any other part of the democratic world? But there is yet more. Today the Basque Parliament (where PP, PSOE and Rosa Diez's clique have the majority allowed them by the suppression of the Basque left) have voted against instating a Truth Commission (such as the ones established by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in the early nineties) to discover the truth about the crimes of Franco.
As you can see, today has been a good day for the cause of democracy and that of Catalonia, which are indeed part and parcel. We may go to democrats the world over and point to Spain's huge democratic deficit without fear that anyone with eyes in their head might fail to perceive it. Europe largely ridded itself of Fascism in 1945. The one place it lives on is in Spain, the capital city of which still has 56 streets bearing the names of Francoist generals. As Euronews said today, who can be surprised that Catalans want to be free of all this? I write because I feel the sooner the whole world knows the truth about Spain, the sooner we can put an end to so much iniquity and sgrace.
As you can see, today has been a good day for the cause of democracy and that of Catalonia, which are indeed part and parcel. We may go to democrats the world over and point to Spain's huge democratic deficit without fear that anyone with eyes in their head might fail to perceive it. Europe largely ridded itself of Fascism in 1945. The one place it lives on is in Spain, the capital city of which still has 56 streets bearing the names of Francoist generals. As Euronews said today, who can be surprised that Catalans want to be free of all this? I write because I feel the sooner the whole world knows the truth about Spain, the sooner we can put an end to so much iniquity and sgrace.
Toni Strubell Trueta
Coordinator of the Dignitat Commission, Barcelona, Catalonia - ww.strubell.cat
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