Catalan far left wants independence to “sweep away capitalism”

CUP party launches campaign in run-up to planned referendum on secession from Spain

Barcelona 11 AGO 2017 - 10:10 ART

CUP regional deputy Anna Gabriel announces her party's campaign for the independence referendum on October 1. MIRIAM LÁZARO

Catalonia’s far-left pro-independence movement launched its election campaign on Thursday ahead of the planned October 1 referendum on the northeastern region seceding from Spain with the slogan: “Sweep them away, disobedience and self-determination, Catalan nations.”

At an open-air event held in front of Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce, Anna Gabriel and Mireia Vehí – both deputies in the Catalan regional parliament for the Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP), a small anti-capitalist party that supports leaving the euro zone and holds the key to power in the region – defended the need to “disobey” the Spanish state.

We want to bring down the structures of power that stimulate inequality and privilege
CUP MANIFESTO

“Holding the referendum, driving the constituent process and the construction of a new republic is only possible through the exercise of disobedience against unjust laws,” said Gabriel.

CUP’s campaign includes Arran, a radical student group that has been involved in a number of attacks against tourist infrastructure in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands in recent months.

“We want to bring down the structures of power that stimulate inequality and privilege,” reads the campaign manifesto. “Let’s sweep away capitalism, the patriarchy, corruption and the monarchy. Let’s decide our own future, let’s disobey unjust laws to build a free, independent and socialist republic,” it concludes.

The campaign is supported by a poster that shows a map of Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics. A woman is sweeping away around a dozen figures who supposedly represent economic and political power, among them Spain’s King Felipe, his sister Princess Cristina, former Prime Minister José María Aznar, and Artur Mas, the former head of the regional government of Catalonia, and who has driven the independence process over the last decade.

Similarities between the poster and one dating from the Russian Revolution showing Lenin were immediately pointed out on social networks.

English version by Nick Lyne.