Posted on 09/25/2012 11:04:00 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
Two weeks ago I was interviewed by the Catalan newspaper El Punt Avui. I said it would be unthinkable for the Spanish state to stop Catalan secession by military force.
Such action would violate EU Treaties and lead to Spain’s suspension from the European Union. You do not do such things in the early 21st Century.
"No pots ser membre de la UE si utilitzes la força" was the headline.
I may have underestimated the vigour of the Spanish officer corps.
First we have the robust comments of Colonel Francisco Alaman comparing the crisis to 1936 and vowing to crush Catalan nationalists, described as "vultures".
"Independence for Catalonia? Over my dead body. Spain is not Yugoslavia or Belgium. Even if the lion is sleeping, don’t provoke the lion, because he will show the ferocity proven over centuries," he said.
Actually, it is not remotely like 1936. I spent part of the weekend rereading Paul Preston’s magisterial biography of Franco, a worthwhile refresher for all of us.
Franco’s military uprising/coup in 1936 was directed against the newly-elected Popular Front, seen by army commanders (though not all of them) as the start of a Bolshevik take-over of Spain. The Franco revolt was a defence of The Catholic hierarchy against Communism and French subversion (in their mind).
Spain now has a Right-wing nationalist government with Opus Dei links, the Partido Popular.
Yet Col Alaman is in a sense correct.
In case you think he is an isolated case, former army chief Lt-Gen Pedro Pitarch said his views reflect "deeply-rooted thinking in large parts of the armed forces".
Gen Pitarch said Catalan independence is out of the question, though he also said Madrid had bungled the crisis of the regions disastrously. "Are we looking at a failed state?" he asked.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
More “Europe of the regions” nonsense again.
Not from the EU.
The Basques were supposed to be seceding as well. Unthinkable when you consider the centuries Spain has been united, but with economic meltdown on the horizon, we may see a breakup.
It all depends on who offers the bigger welfare checks.
What if they got the church to annul the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella? Would that make Aragon independent of Castille?
people still watch that bombastic head trip in a bad suit??
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