Lies, corruption, shame= Spanish democracy

I could write thousands of pages, but I don't want to throw all my rage against the daily revelations on Spanish corruption on the blog. It will be too depressing to read. That has to be enough.... As simple as that: corruption has destroyed democracy in Spain. It's our duty, citizens, to restore it. We are the only ones capable of doing it. Let's not waste too much time talking about our usual liars, our vile, shameless politicians (let's hope justice will do it for us).

When the judge opened the record of corruption, the stench became unbearable

Bye Bankia! (#LiquidarBankia)

Here we go! A campaign is been launched today in Spain by #15mpaRato asking for the judicial intervention of the bank Bankia. Sorry it is in Spanish, but if you can please read the following link:

http://15mparato.wordpress.com/a-toda-troika-le-llega-su-15m/

Please retweet, re-send, spread the word! Let's #liquidarBankia!

Dedicated to the ones who said 15M is dead

Bastards Out of the Spanish Congress Now!

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, THIS (please watch the video below) happens

El PSOE pide la dimisión de la diputada del PP Andrea Fabra

• 
  

As you can see on the video, Andrea Fabra, deputy at the Congress for PP, yells "Fuck them all"  while Mariano Rajoy was announcing cuts in unemployment benefits (5 milion citizens are unemployed in Spain). A political representative insulting the citizens. This is the lowest moment I ever seen in Spanish politics (democratic times). 

It shouldn't be that surprising, in all honesty, as she's the daugther of Carlos Fabra, former president of the Province of Castellón, president of PP there for 22 years, and one of the most corrupted politicians of this country ever. After all, this is a country where a bunch of powerful families have always had the control of the territory, in particular during very dark times (not that long ago) where they were fascists chieftains. The manners may have changed, but sometimes, like Andrea's yelling, the inner truth explodes. Of course, her excuses (she says she reacted against the PSOE congressmen) is ridiculous. Makes absolutely no sense. But what can you expect of a majority of the Congress that applauded, vividly, the most drastic cutbacks of Spanish democratic history.

If we want to restore our democracy, people like Andrea Fabra must disappear from politics. You can help signing the petition for her resignation here at change.org We need to clean out the bastards from the Congress!

Spain: betraying citizens, betraying democracy

"The time to rise has been engaged/ You're better best to arrange"

R.E.M.   "Finest Worksong"

Enough HAS to be enough.

Methods to get out from the crisis:
I. Becoming rich
II. Becoming even richer
III. Run away
Vignette by El Roto

Yesterday, our Spanish government certified another brutal series of measures, the biggest ones we haver ever suffered during democracy, against us, the citizens. Our president, Mariano Rajoy, also proved that Spain is no longer a sovereign country, but a piece of land ruled by the European Union. Did we vote for that last year? Did anyone who vote in that election, no matter which option you voted, or even if you voted blank or null, knew our president was going to be in the hands of someone else (that we didn't choose)? I don't remember it. Which is weird because I do remember casting my ballot then (as I have always done since I'm legally allowed to). 

Rajoy justified the measures explaining us, citizens, that we have to make another effort, and pay more while we earn less, because is the only solution. Which is a FLAGRANT, unacceptable, outrageous LIE. Because:

We, citizens, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for the BANK abuses. We don't have to pay for their rescue.  

We, citizens, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for the vile and corrupted behaviour of our political leaders
We, citizens, ARE BEING IGNORED by the ones that are supposed to represent us. We should never forget that they are representing us, they serve us, not the contrary. If they are not capable of solving the situation without harming us, they should resign. IMMEDIATELY.

The sort of cuts the conservative government are imposing are not the only way out. It is only a political decision that responds to a very contested way of understanding economics. Many voices, in a very open way, around Europe and the rest of the world is asking for another kind of economic policies. Take the announcement of increasing VAT to 21%, for example. It's a measure that will ballast consumption, therefore aggravating the crisis. Misery is just around the corner with that sort of policies. It simply doesn't make sense. The argument argued by our politicians, saying that we had a very low VAT before is a complete, perverse MANIPULATION. Look at this numbers:

Germany VAT: 19% Minimum Wage: 1.993€
United Kingdom VAT: 20% Minimum Wage: 1.201€
France VAT: 19,6% Minimum Wage: 1428€
Netherlands VAT: 19% Minimum Wage: 1446€
Spain: 21% Minimum Wage: 641€

Besides, and never forget, that among the political decisions taken in this terrible 6 months there has been one that is particularly revealing: the "TAX AMNESTY". Until November 30 2012, individual and corporate taxpayers (the millionaires of this country that are evading their capital in fiscal paradises) will be permitted to voluntarily disclose unreported income or assets by paying a special 10% levy on the amount or acquisition value, with no criminal or administrative penalties, surcharges or interest. They are demanding drastic efforts to the vast majority of the population while they are alleviating the much needed pressure to the biggest fortunes, who by the way, are committing an obvious economic fraud. That is an ABERRATION, that invalidates any of their political justifications when announcing an unpopular measure. There are several alternatives instead, but it is clear who they are trying to protect... even at the cost of ending with our welfare state.

I could keep on and on (justice, education, health, freedom of expression, repression, don't even let me enter into football) but its all pretty obvious. Our political leaders are either puppets in the hands of biggest powers, or rats trying to take benefit of their position while they are in charge. THEY DON'T REPRESENT US. Our government is against us, the citizens. And by doing so they have sentenced the concept of democracy to death. They are destroying our rights. That is unacceptable. 

Then, it's time for us, citizens, to restore it. We are the only ones that can revert the situation. It's our duty as citizens. We have to kick them out of the power. Today, more than ever, we need a Real Democracy Now!

And now Bankia... #Rescateciudadano now!

Enough should be enough. Until when our Spanish government is going to keep the financial spoliation? While our ruling conservative party keeps the drastic cuts on health services and education they prepare an estimate 7-10 billions state bail-out of the disastrous corporation Bankia. The rescue of the trouble lender is another reversal of policy, as the government previously announced there were no intentions of additional rescues to clean the country's banking sector, and the best practical example we, Spanish citizens, are being used, exploited to save their political friends, unsurprisingly, the big fortunes of this corrupt and miserable country.

By the way, if you didn't know, Rodrigo Rato, the executive chairman of Bankia has just resigned from the bank (with a compensation of 1,2 million euros, not band for being such a robber). You'll probably know him, he was the "very intelligent, economic expert" that leaded the International Monetary Fund just before the financial crisis started. Did you know what he do then? Resign, of course, he ran before the ship sunk. Oh, and just a "minor" date for your records: the government has already spent €18bn cleaning up the country's financial sector.

First the drastic measures destroying our welfare state, then the first injection of money for the banks, later the "amnesty" for the fraudsters fortunes evading taxes. Police violence on the streets, even against kids demanding better conditions at their schools. Spreading corruption everywhere. And now this....Our government doesn't represent us, citizens. They are just the puppets of the market. That's enough. We need a citizen rescue from the villains that have kidnapped our democracy. See you this weekend in the streets!

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.… where the State places those who are not with her, but against her,– the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor.… Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight [...] If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. 

Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government)

#12M15M
#Rescateciudadano

Corruption 5- Justice 0: the game in Spain

This country it's becoming a very sad joke. Today Spain has decided to favour corruption instead of justice, as simple as that. The first person condemned as a result of the Gürtel case, one of the biggest (if not the most) cases of corruption in Spain, has been Baltasar Garzón, the judge who tried to investigate it, who has been disbarred for 11 years (virtually ending his career, as he is now 57). If you didn't know, the corrupted, Francesc Camps and co., were absolved. Of course.

Yes, he ordered the wiretaps of the conversations between the advocates and their impisoned clients (the corrupted ones). I do understand that this fact is, in principle, illegal, and also in principle, a reason to harm the legimitate defense right of any accused. But these orders to intervene the conversations were endorsed by the anti-corruption prosecutor, by the judge Antonio Pedreira, who took the case when Garzón was inhibited, and by judge José Manuel Suárez Robledano. And they have not been charged of prevarication. Nobody, while the open case was being developed warned Garzón that the practice of the wiretaps was illegal.  Not to mention these wiretaps, among many other findings, revealed that advocates and corrupted (with some precious help from politicians from a party with the absolute majority in Spain) were trying to get away with it. With the money, of course.  

Not my words, but the ones from Reed Brody, international observer from Human Rights Watch, to  resume the situation: "The enemies of Garzon achieved their goal. Given the simultaneous accumulation of charges, there remains the fear that has been subject to retaliation for his role in several controversial cases." "Unless there sufficiently clear and compelling circumstances, to prosecute a judge for his prosecution threatens judicial independence. Many undemocratic rulers would not let pass the opportunity to apply criminal sanctions to silence judges whose work is opposed to vested interests." Seems I don't live in a democracy. Nobody told me that. Oh, and the reference about totalitarism on the sentece says it all. Couldn't be a more biased justice?

As Javier Alvarez, Professor of Criminal Law at the University Carlos III of Madrid adds: "This sentence should be valued as a triptych, the three trials in which the sole objective is Baltasar Garzon. Today, drug traffickers, terrorists and the extreme right are celebrating. The Supreme Court has convicted the judge who has given the most prestige to the Spanish courts. The Government can not accept a sentence like that, it must act now with measures of grace." I'm sure he won't do that. They are celebrating too.

I'm fearing the worst is yet to come. The trial for judging Francoism. The labour reform... Urdangarín.... SPAIN, WHAT A SHAMEFUL COUNTRY!

Shame on Spain: going backwards

Ferreras cartoon on Fraga's funeral. The text says:
While it's true he overshadowed a brilliant service to
Franco embracing democracy, we must understand,
he did because he had no choice

I have been avoiding another political post for a long time, but today's news have been the straw that broke the camel's back to me. Like a frozen, black & white image, Spain has quickly gone back to the past. This is just my personal opinion.

First. On January 15th Mr. Manuel Fraga Iribarne passed away, with a pretty disturbing, incredibly depressing and completely unappropiate (public funds, aren't we in a terrible economic crisis?) pomp and fanfare for his funeral. Sure, he was a long time politician of the country, founder of PP, and almost eternal president of Galicia. But foremost, he was a fascist, a Franco's ministry (he was our, modest by comparison, Joseph Goebbels), responsible of several political murders (during Franco's dictatorship as well as in the transition towards democracy) for which he never apologized, and of course, he never was asked for responsibilities. He was the living example that Spanish democracy (he participated in the draft of our consitution) never broke with Francoism. Something that the amount of people present on the funeral (included many supposed socialists) and the media coverage has shamefully proved.
Second. Since Monday we are judging, in our Supreme Court (our highest instance), the judge Baltasar Garzón, for investigating the crimes committed by Francoism. Something that is, simply, an atrocity (and a ridiculous process, with so many faults and mistakes that is evident the whole thing is "intentional"). As any expert on human rights or international law knows, the investigation of crimes against humanity by any judge cannot, ever, constitute a criminal conduct. The accusation's argument is based on the 1977 Spanish amnesty law, which does not preclude investigating crimes committed during the Civil War and the dictatorship period. This is a law that obviously contravenes Spanish obligations under international law, something that has been denounced repeatedly by the UN and several international experts. Spain has the obligation of fostering the investigation of any violation of human rights.

Third. Today Gallardón, ministry of Justice, announced major changes in pretty important laws. What a package of steps backwards. Let me summarise:
1. Everyone expected that when the PP arrived to government our current abortion law was going to be modified, but no one thought it would be with a publicized desire to go back to the legislation of 1985 (which is pathetic). The proposed PP's reform does not respond to current social reality. Not letting girls of 16/17 years wether decide or not to interrupt her pregnancy (as the law allows today) is a great injustice, because the law of patient autonomy it allows kids that age to decide about medical treatment that they receive such as chemotherapy. Therefore, the intentions of the PP does not respond to any scientific or medical criteria, only ideological/moral. Besides, the fact, with almost two years of implementation of the current abortion law is that it has decreased the number of abortions in young women, both as children under 25 years, because there have been many important prevention measures. That is, the greater access to abortion is not promoted, but has served as the girls who really need it (vast majority girls with a difficult family situation/structure) could do legally. Is quite simple. Not everyone believes in God. The country where we live is not religious (at least that's what it says in the Constitution), so laws cannot be based on it.
2. Intrinsically linked with the previous one: Minors will now be subjected to same type of criminal penalties, pending on the seriousness of the charge, that adults. Do I need to say it evidently contradicts the previous point?

A "bit" of social alarm in Madrid,
don't you think?

3. And surprisingly despicable. Our ministry of Justice has said that depending on the social alarm caused by the crime, a revisable life imprisonment sentence will be acceptable. This is atrocious. So that means Spanish justice will now be based on the media coverage the case receives? That means that channels specialised in rubbish tv (Antena3, Tele5) or in defamation (Intereconomia) will now decide someone has to be imprisoned for life? Where's the independence of the judicial system then? With that scenario, and considering the glaring social unrest, that means that Francesc Camps, Carlos Fabra, Fèlix Millet, Urdangarín, bankers, and corrupt troop, or even Pepe (don't tell me his systematic acts of violence against soccer are not causing alarm) will be sentenced for life? I doubt it.

What a shameful country is Spain

Spanish Elections Results: and the real parliament is...

1. The Congress shall consist of a minimum of three hundred and a maximum of four hundred Members, elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage, under the terms to be laid down by the law.

Section 68, Spanish Constitution

... A total fake. Sorry folks, but equal? That's, frustratingly, not true. The results of Sunday's parliamentary elections prove it. The axiom one person, one vote, is false in Spain. On the previous graphic (sorry they are in Spanish, but they are quite clear in my opinion) it is showed how much does a seat "cost" depending on the party. The variations are so disproportionate (thanks to the unacceptable criteria of the circumscription divisions in provinces) that the whole system HAS to be questioned.

This second graphic estimates how would have been the results of Spanish elections with a proportional system. In this case, there wouldn't be a conservative (extreme right if you ask me) absolute majority, and the deserved socialist electoral setback would have been even worse. The system has given Mariano Rajoy's PP their absolute majority, not Spaniards. Never forget that. I'm not saying the electoral system has to be a pure proportional one, but it is clear that what we have now doesn't represent equally the voters-citizens of this country. So where's the political legitimacy then? What a shame. We have to fight to change this.

Spanish Election Day Eve: think for a minute!

An imaginary conversation between the only honest politician in our country and a potential voter, today, on the Spanish Election Day Eve.

Politician: You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. No BRICS. No America. There are no third worlds. There is no West. No European Union. No United Nations. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, euros, rubles, pounds, and shekels.

It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today! And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU WILL ATONE!

Am I getting through to you, dear voter?

You get up on your little twenty-one inch TFT HDI screen and howl about Spain and democracy. There is no Spain. There is no democracy. No PP or PSOE. There is only Banco Santander and Inditex and Telefónica and LaCaixa, Endesa, Repsol, and Abertis. Those are the nations of the world today.

What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state - Karl Marx? What do you think Merkel and Sarkozy talk about in their meetings -saving the European welfare state? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do.

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, dear voter. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, dear voter. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And I have chosen you, dear voter, to reveal this truth.

Voter: But why me?

Politician: Because starting tomorrow, you can stop this nonsense. Please, think for a minute before voting. 

(adapted from "Network", 1976)

"The Wave", fascism is just around the corner

The Wave (Die Welle, German original title)

It's not easy to find films with a sociological perspective, or with the aim of being thoughtful, even getting political, without the usual fault of being too discursive or seriously slow. In that sense, "The Wave" is refreshing, being seriously profound while at the same time is vibrant and really absorbing. And the fact the whole idea is based on a real "experiment" makes the movie even more attractive (also scary).

The whole premise is based on the aim of giving a very special class, miles away from the usual lectures on an historical/political time or concept, that Reiner Wenger (powerfully performed by Jürgen Vogel), an unorthodox but committed German high school teacher has to give his students. The subject? Autocracy.

Director Dennis Gansel starts the fire in a very credible way. The kids are bored and don't want to hear about Nazism again. They argue that "it is impossible to fall into something like that again" to justify their demand to change the development of the class. Then Reiner proposes them a simple yet unusual experiment to prove their students they are so wrong. What he intends is to show the students the virtues, idiosyncrasy and practices associated to an autocracy. And the kids follow him blindly and become quickly obsessed by the experiment, transforming the classroom into a social entity with its own life, structure and codes. "The Wave" is born.

There's something really powerful and challenging on how "The Wave" is constructed. The film takes its time to focus the story in some students, reflecting how different is the reaction in front this sort of proposal depending on the student character and his/her social background, but also how are the social dynamics of a class (leaders, outsiders) and how the roles are modified or aggravated by the experiment. The elements of an autocratic regime are also displayed: a name, an image, a gesture, a uniform... Kids seems to get into it as if they were playing some funny game, but soon they are trapped by its rewards: a sense of community, protection, belonging. Wenger, the teacher, also gets enthusiastic with the level of interest his students are showing, being unaware of the influence he is having on them.

But very quickly, the game spins awfully. It gets out of control as "The Wave", as every authoritarian regime or religion does, defines itself as "us" against the "others". Exclusivity and exclusion appear, and the ones that criticise the group are rejected. The threat of violence is also there.

Despite how appealing the movie is, that fast developing into a "little-scale" fascist unit would be my only complaint about the film. The monster is created too fast to being entirely credible. It is hard to assume such a reaction could happen with this sceptical youth, which, as showed in the film, is also quite smart. The activity Reiner proposes to his pupils is quite innocent to turn into a night of vandalism the same day. One could argue they are just a few students acting like that. True. But then it gets hard to believe they can influence a whole classroom so dramatically when we also see not everyone is buying "The Wave".  

Anyway, despite my doubts in the development of the story, this film should be overtly praised. Because it deals with a very delicate topic with dynamism, tension and an engaging interest. Because it shows how attractive and engaging this system could be, and as you keep watching, it is hard not to understand the reasons why students like it. And because it shows how easily society could fall into fascism. Now if I make  the simple exercise of watching the national (and international) news, or reading/hearing the political slogans of some political parties in my country (yes, I'm referring to PP, CiU and obviously to minor fascist parties like Plataforma per Catalunya), the European extreme right or the American Tea Party, its clear to see how the hatred speech, the "us" against "them" is so popular again. Fascism is just around the corner.

SCORE: 7,25/10

The death of Spanish democracy: referendum now!

And if Iceland should be the model to follow, Spain is the shameful example of what we mean by giving up to the pressure of the market, banks, and the countries that rule the European Union. Here's another article, by professor Vicenç Navarro (sorry is written in Spanish, but I guess an online translator would do fine) about why WE MUST celebrate a referendum in order to, we citizens, have our say regarding all this economic nonsense. Otherwise, we will be certifying the death of Spanish democracy.

Un referéndum necesario

[...]La democracia queda limitada en España a votar cada cuatro años sin que se le ofrezca a la ciudadanía la oportunidad de participar en referéndums vinculantes y otras formas de democracia directa que permitieran una mayor capacidad de incidencia de los ciudadanos en el quehacer común. [...]La única expresión de desaprobación que los representados tienen a su alcance es dejar de votar o votar por opciones distintas cada cuatro años. Ello es un indicador de lo enormemente limitada que es la democracia española.
Hemos estado viendo recientemente cómo partidos gobernantes (tanto a nivel central como autonómico) están aprobando medidas altamente impopulares, que no estaban incluidas en sus propuestas electorales, y que se están llevando a cabo supuestamente por mandato de los mercados financieros, a quienes nadie ha elegido. El 82% de la ciudadanía estaba en contra, por ejemplo, del retraso de la edad de jubilación; el 86% en contra de la congelación de las pensiones; el 68% en contra de los recortes del gasto sanitario, y así un largo etcétera, lo cual no fue un obstáculo para que la mayoría de las Cortes españolas aprobaran tales medidas. Una consecuencia de ello es la enorme distancia que se está creando entre representados y representantes, con la pérdida de legitimidad de los últimos. No es de extrañar que la clase política dominante esté considerada por la población como el tercer gran problema que tiene el país.
Y estamos a punto de ver otro caso en el que una decisión de enorme trascendencia (la reforma de la Constitución, para garantizar un límite al gasto público) se está proponiendo por la dirección de los dos partidos mayoritarios, medida que no estaba en el programa electoral de ninguno de ellos (y que afectará negativamente a la calidad de vida de la mayoría de la población). 

Full article here: http://blogs.publico.es/dominiopublico/3895/un-referendum-necesario/

We must mobilize in order to let "them" now we won't remain silent while our rights are buried.

I love Iceland. Lessons to face the crisis

I suggest you to read this great article by Deena Stryker, that I was lucky to find at the interesting website Daily Kos. It explains briefly how a country, Iceland, can collapse, economically speaking, and go back stronger while opposing to follow the unique's receipt the rest of the European countries (Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal on top) seems to be forced to take in the "sacred name" of the market. Is a bit long, but worth every second of your time, so please read it. This are the opening paragraphs:

Iceland's On-going Revolution

As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here's why:

Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.

Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.

Full article here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/01/1001662/-Icelands-On-going-Revolution

What an enormous lesson. To overcome the crisis, why don't become more democratic, inclusive and active, instead of letting the ones that created the problem start again? It's a bit embarrassing to read the article when PP and PSOE, the two biggest parties in Spain, have decided to reform the constitution together, in order to satisfy the markets, and without having a referendum. Let's learn something from Iceland, please!