South American Organizations in Support of Catalonia's Independence

“The people of Catalonia have the right to regain their independence through a democratic process, there is no other way.” This is how Carles R. Capdevila speaks, who is the president of Casal dels Països Catalans in Argentina, one thirty organizations that have signed a manifesto in support of the Catalan Declaration of Sovereignty and the Catalan independence process.


In the document, Catalan-American communities from South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean defined “the building of a legal frame” as the primary goal for the Catalan Government and Parliament so as to be able to have a binding referendum with a clear question which would be supervised by the international community.


The document, which has been signed by about 30 organizations, appeals to citizens to cooperate actively in “the process towards independence” and in the campaign to broaden and strengthen the social majority in favor of independence. “It is time to reach to every single corner of the country and the world,” the document reads, and it proposes a referendum for not later than 2014.

The declaration confirms the failure in all the attempts to provide Catalonia with its own political space within the Spanish State, especially during the last 30 years as a Spanish autonomy, and emphasizes that the ruling by the Spanish Constitutional Court against Catalonia’s Statue of Autonomy leaves two possible choices: either Catalonia disappears as a nation, or it begins the process towards independence. Besides, the September 11, 2012 demonstration is regarded as the beginning of the last stage towards Catalan independence.

The document also remarks the willingness of these international Catalan communities to continue working in explaining the Catalan case to their local governments, institutions, and different entities.

In this sense, Mr. Capdevila points out the importance of these international Catalan communities as “spokespeople” for the Catalan cause. For instance, in Buenos Aires, Mr. Capdevila remarks, all the media reported about the September 11 demonstration, but after that, the main Argentinian newspapers have mostly sided against Catalonia’s independence because of the “close ties with the Spanish motherland.” That is why Capdevila considers that one of the main duties of Casal dels Països Catalans is to keep explaining to the world about Catalonia’s plight through articles, commentaries, conferences, networking, and through exchanges with the press.

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