We will take a few days next week to discuss this political history of Spain including Catalonia forced into that national structure of Spain and the movement then for breaking away----talking about how these few decades of ROBBER BARON global banking frauds are shaping that movement today. What is happening in Spain with Barcelona mirrors what is happening in UK and will be what MOVING FORWARD looks like in US after this coming economic crash---all tied to reversing our Western democratic republics with centuries of 99% populist inclusion in governance bringing citizens' protections and rights----to regressing back to DARK AGES of GLOBAL CITY STATE structures controlled by those global 1% rich with 99% having NO RIGHTS, PATHWAY TO JUSTICE, OR POLICY POWER.
What we see today in Barcelona as we saw in Egypt is that massive protest bringing economic disruption demanding changes in political power. These people have every intent and desire to be peaceful---they feel they are legally exercising their rights ---which they are----once elections become rigged and fraudulent the 99% cannot elect ourselves out of cronyism and corruption---the global banking players no matter how populist the PRETEND to be will be MORE OF THE SAME.
SPAIN'S POLITICAL HISTORY NEVER STRAYED FAR FROM OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE FAR-RIGHT EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY MILITARISTIC AUTHORITARIANISM.....WHETHER CHURCH AS STATE OR FAR-RIGHT FASCIST LEADERS AS STATE.
We notice a difference in national protest movements over these several years of Spain's economic collapse from massive global banking frauds-----the greater Spanish 99% have been protesting en mass against the banking frauds and the fleecing of their personal wealth and assets -----while Barcelona's protest has to do with exiting to escape that EURO-BANKING AUSTERITY ------
SPAIN'S POLITICAL HISTORY NEVER STRAYED FAR FROM OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE FAR-RIGHT EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY MILITARISTIC AUTHORITARIANISM.....WHETHER CHURCH AS STATE OR FAR-RIGHT FASCIST LEADERS AS STATE.
When the 99% educates broadly on global political movements it opens understanding of the same in our national politics.
Published on
Tuesday, October 03, 2017
by
Common Dreams
Hundreds of Thousands in Streets as General Strike Engulfs Catalonia After Violent Crackdown
People took to the streets in Barcelona and across the Catalan region to condemn a militant crackdown by Spain's police forces during last weekend's referendum for independence
by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Hundreds of thousands of people filled Barcelona's streets on Tuesday to protest Spanish police forces' militant response to the independence vote on Sunday. (Photo: @CatalansforYes/Twitter)
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Catalonia on Tuesday to join a general strike and protest violence that left nearly 900 people injured this weekend, when Spain's national police forces tried to prevent Catalan residents from voting for secession.
Barcelona | Thousands on the street ahead of #NationalStrike; responding to repression!
Theirs violence.
Our dignity.
We have no fear.
pic.twitter.com/fnpw2Zp5x6
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017#Catalonia #VagaGeneral3O pic.twitter.com/5hhOnK9d50
— Our Revolución (@Latinos4Bernie) October 3, 2017
Ahead of Sunday's independence vote, which Madrid claims is unconstitutional, the government shipped additional forces to Catalonia. Spanish police not only seized ballot materials and closed polling stations but many also physically behaved violently toward the region's residents, which was captured in photos and videos that were widely shared online.
Despite Madrid's efforts to stymie the referendum, preliminary polling has shown voters overwhelmingly supported Catalan independence. Following the vote, Spain's national government is under mounting global pressure, including from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, to resolve the regional independence dispute and investigate allegations of abuse by police.
Those concerns were echoed in Barcelona, the Catalan capitol, on Tuesday, where hundreds of thousands of people—"many draped in the blue, yellow, and red Estelada flag used by Catalan separatists"—stopped traffic and marched through the streets chanting "independence" and "the streets will always be ours," the Guardian reports.
Theirs violence.
Our dignity.
We have no fear.pic.twitter.com/fnpw2Zp5x6
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
Protesters denounced Spanish police as "an occupying force," and urged them to leave Catalonia. "The protest came as several small labor unions and grassroots pro-independence groups urged workers throughout Catalonia to go on partial or full-day strikes," the Guardian reports. More than 40 unions and organizations called for the general strike.
Schools and universities as well as most small businesses shut down, responding to union calls to "vigorously condemn" police action. Barcelona metro stations "that are usually busy were deserted as services were cut back sharply," as was the city's Boqueria market.
Videos of Tuesday's protest spread rapidly on social media:
All Barcelona streets full of people demanding the Spanish police and military police (guardia civil) to leave #Catalonia pic.twitter.com/MuczK4L4QB
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
Catalan people marching peacefully against Spanish violence of @marianorajoy pic.twitter.com/AcvJO0z1Tx
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
_____________________________________________
Spain's 1% just as our US 1% went from being millionaires to billionaires during these few decades of global banking frauds moving all of Spain's wealth to these top families who do their banking in BARCELONA. This same thing occurred in US with our global banking center being NYC/Wall Street. These several years after economic crash Barcelona has emptied of its 99% of citizens pushed into greater Spain while global 1% and their 2% filled Barcelona ----as happened to London-----Berlin----US-----Canada.
The Basque region of Catalonia has always been the scene of SEPARATISTS so they have that ready-made population bound to Barcelona and that extreme wealth. They also have the same history of ELECTION RIGGING as we have today in US.
So, our Basque population no doubt has no sympathy with greater 99% of Spain---and it no doubt feels separate from those pesky Spanish global 1%.
The 99% of Spanish citizens were not loafers living off of left socialist largess----they were hard workers who saved and had those medical and retirement savings just as US WE THE PEOPLE. The Barcelona 1% like to paint these left social capitalists as they do Greek left social capitalists---lazy and no deserving of their earned income.
We can be sure these 10 families are OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% from a thousand years ago.
Spain’s 10 Wealthiest Billionaires of 2013
Julie Mahfood 01.09.14 National Money
Living in the Sierra Nevadas, the hills of Southern Spain, or in fabulous Barcelona in the north, what would you do with $64 billion dollars? Or even $1 billion? Would you buy a luxurious condo in fashionable Madrid? Build a replica of the Alhambra in the Alpujarras? It would be fun to be a fly on the wall of Spain’s top ten wealthiest, to note whether it’s all work and no play, or whether money does, indeed, buy time – and extra-long siestas.
Spain is a country with a fascinating history: there’s the Moorish influence in the South and the Basque culture of the North, land ties to Portugal and France, and only the narrow Strait of Gibraltar to be crossed to reach Northern Africa. The top ten wealthiest of Spain comprise people in a variety of circumstances, from old, inherited money (and a title) to pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps wealth. The wealthiest person in Spain is actually of the latter variety, and recently made it onto Forbes top three wealthiest in the world for the first time. His company – today worth more than all nine others on our list put togethe – began in his living room. Inspiring stuff.
With the Spanish language one of the most widely-spoken in the world, the ten business magnates on our list have truly gone international to convert their millions into billions. How hard does a person work to get so far so fast? To amass tens of billions of dollars in just a half a century? Does it cost them their marriage or the love of their children? The children not only inherit, but often end up working alongside their industrious parents. Is this type of work ethic born or taught? And how can you get a piece? Just ask the following ten magnates from Spain: “¿Cómo lo hiciste?” In other words, “How did you do it?” We’ve collected information on the 10 richest people in Spain, from all walks of life. Read on to find out who is, according to the latest figures released in October 2013, the richest individual in Spain – and how he did it.
10. Herráiz Mahou and Gervás Families: $2.9 Billion
9. Juan and Carlos March & family: $3 Billion
8. Cayetana Fitz James Stuart: Duquesa de Alba: $4.1 Billion
7. Juan-Miguel Villar Mir: $5 Billion
6. Isak Andic & family: $5.2 Billion
5. Manuel Jove: $5.3 Billion
4. Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo – $7.2 billion
3. Sandra Ortega Mera: $7.3 Billion
2. Juan Roig: $7.9 Billion
1. Amancio Ortega: $64 Billion
___________________________________________
Below we see that same OLD WORLD MECHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% ORTEGA controlling what they have always seen as THEIR COLONIES----Latin America in this case NICARAGUA-----they of course call themselves a POPULIST LEFT PARTY-----'SOCIALISTS' as in Spain but the families tied to Ortega are OLD WORLD RICH. So, today's Ortega family in Barcelona, Spain are tens of billionaires because of the wealth they fleeced from not only Spanish citizens but from these Central American nations. Both Guatemala and Nicaragua have decades of violence tied to US/UK global 1% sending in military to undermine those Spanish family global rich.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front
(Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is now a democratic socialist[5][6] political party in Nicaragua.
Its members are called Sandinistas [sandiˈnistas] in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.[7]
There was less a fear of SOCIALISM then a fear of a Spanish OLD WORLD RICH gaining too much power and this is what has made life in Latin America extremely violent and unjust.
When we look today at Spain's global 1% billionaires----it is these same OLD WORLD FAMILIES who fought to colonize North and South America now cashing in our former COLONIES.
HERE IS NO REAL LEFT SOCIALISM HAPPENING WHEN THESE GLOBAL RICH ARE TIED TO THE POLITICAL MACHINES----THEY SIMPLY USE MARXISM TO CREATE EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY
'1. Amancio Ortega: $64 Billion
Ortega's victory was no surprise - Katy Watson, BBC News, Central America'
Nicaragua leader Daniel Ortega wins third consecutive term
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has won a third consecutive term in office.
With two-thirds of the votes counted, the left-wing leader had secured an irreversible lead with 72%, election officials said.
His closest rival, centre-right candidate Maximino Rodriguez, only had 14.2% of the vote.
Mr Ortega had been widely expected to win both due to the popularity of his social programmes and because he faced no obvious political challenger.
A former left-wing rebel, Mr Ortega has led Nicaragua through a period of economic stability which has made him popular with Nicaragua's business sector and foreign investors.
Who is Daniel Ortega?
Supporters of Mr Ortega took to the streets to celebrate his victory.
But even before the first results were announced, members of the opposition coalition Broad Front for Democracy (FAD) called the elections a "farce",
he FAD, which had urged voters to boycott the election, alleged that more than 70% had abstained from voting.
They were contradicted by the electoral authorities which put voter participation at 65.8%.
International observers were not allowed to monitor the vote.
Mr Ortega's running mate was his wife, Rosario Murillo, who now looks set to become vice-president.
Analysts say that Ms Murillo already shares decision-making with Mr Ortega and could become president if her 70-year-old husband were to bow out.
Ortega's victory was no surprise - Katy Watson, BBC News, Central America
The vote was seen as the most one-sided election in Nicaragua since the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 - a process that Mr Ortega himself was involved in.
But Nicaragua is sharply divided over the 70-year-old former guerrilla.
Many feel that the elections were a farce, that with this, his third consecutive term, there is growing autocracy in the country and the role of his wife as running-mate is too much of a family affair.
The fact remains, though, that he was the most popular candidate by far.
Overseeing Nicaragua's stable economic growth and the lack of violence compared to the problems of its neighbours El Salvador and Honduras in recent years have cemented him as the best option for many Nicaraguans.
Nicaragua's economy has grown at double the Latin American average, but the country still needs to attract more foreign investment.
A $50bn (£40bn) plan to build an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua with Chinese investment gained international attention, but there are serious doubts over whether it will ever be built.
The country has been able to avoid the sky-high murder rates of some of its Central American neighbours but it also faces the ever pervasive threat of drug-trafficking.
________________________________________
Flash forward from REAGAN and the Contras fighting those Ortega Sandanistas-----and we see that OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% ORTEGA family expanding their wealth into Mexico and since Clinton and NAFTA expanding to FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE development bringing global corporate factories into Central America and Mexico in exchange for expanding their wealth and power inside US.
Latin American 99% spent these few decades being killed in civil wars and shipped out as global labor pool---while Ortega family super-sized their wealth.
So, CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA saw MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE in colonial Latin America AND in Spain expanding globally to Foreign Economic Zones. Meanwhile, Central America and Mexico have the worst of civil unrest for 99% of citizens struggling with extreme poverty.
WHAT WAS BEING CALLED 'POPULIST' WAS SIMPLY SPANISH GLOBAL 1% FIGHTING AGAINST REAGAN/CLINTON UK GLOBAL 1% FOR CONTROL OF LATIN AMERICA.
As in Spain today--the 99% were losers no matter the sides in civil unrest
'A former left-wing rebel, Mr Ortega has led Nicaragua through a period of economic stability which has made him popular with Nicaragua's business sector and foreign investors'.
This is what we call ALT RIGHT AL LEFT OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1%
01 Dec
iTexico Founder Guillermo Ortega Sees More U.S. Firms Coming to Guadalajara
Software developer iTexico is one of the many companies that has found nearshore success in Guadalajara. Based in Austin, Texas, with another office in Silicon Valley, it maintains not just an IT delivery center but a true, collaborative partner in the Mexican tech hub as it specializes in the mobile app world and increasingly moves into work based in the cloud.
In just a few years since opening up shop in 2010, the company has become a major player in the industry and maintains partnerships with the likes of IBM, Microsoft, and Appcelerator. Guillermo Ortega, COO and co-founder of iTexico, recently sat down to talk to Mexico IT about his company’s success, their future plans, and what makes Mexico and Guadalajara different from other nearshore locations.
“It’s not a coincidence that we are in Guadalajara,” says Guillermo Ortega, COO and co-founder of iTexico
Mexico IT: You have made quite a name for yourself in just a few years. What has been the key to your quick success?
Guillermo Ortega: We started with a lot of energy, and part of the formula that has been very successful is to work tightly with the teams in Mexico and the United States. This is not a U.S. company sub-contracting a Mexican delivery center. We are the same company. Besides that, we have been very flexible with our customers and very agile in the way that we deliver the service. We don’t have a unique formula to do this, but we like to hear what our customers have to say, and that is something the U.S. market appreciates a lot. And of course, we just put in a lot of work. We took this company from zero to 120 people in less than five years. That can only be done with a lot of passion and hard work.
What is special about the IT world in Guadalajara. Is the city something you that has helped you succeed so quickly?
Absolutely. It’s not a coincidence that we are in Guadalajara and have our deliver center here. The local IT world is very well developed and has been growing since the late ’60s when Kodak, IBM, Motorola, and the first guys came here to start developing the ecosystem. So Guadalajara is a very unique region in Mexico. It’s an educational hub, so the talent is available.
Getting the right talent is a key factor in this business because it’s all about talent. We are facing some challenges because there are a lot of new players in the ecosystem — it’s getting a little bit crowded — so we are in a constant fight for the best talent available. But even with that reality Guadalajara is still a very nice spot in the country to start an IT delivery center. It’s really a very nice city, and you can get talent from all over the country — and in our case, from all over the world. We have people from India, Croatia, the United States, Cuba, a lot of countries. It’s easy to attract people to the city because it’s just a great area of Mexico.
So, yes, more companies are coming, but more talent is coming, too. It’s the joint work between the industry, local and federal governments, and academia. There are many engineering programs here and the universities are doing a good job in recruiting new engineers and increasing the attendance. These three things — that combination — is a very good thing for the region.
You call outsourcing to Mexico “Nearshore Plus.” What does that mean?
Everyone puts nearshore locations in the same basket, and it shouldn’t be that way. Because it is not that way. The way we can interact with our customers by being in Mexico is much easier and smoother than going anywhere else in Central or South America.
What is going to happen if someone in Houston wants to go to Buenos Aires? It would take a long time. And with all due respect, going to Santiago, Chile, is like going to Madrid or London. You are on the other side of the world. The only difference is you are talking north-south instead of east-west. Whereas here, right now it is 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Guadalajara, and I can be in California tonight. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight, and that makes all the difference.
“We are going to grow more. Next year is very important because we’re getting more customers, the sales team is doing a great job in the U.S., and people are starting to understand all the benefits of working with Mexico.” – Guillermo Ortega
That’s the reason we’re calling it “Collaboration Plus.” It’s very easy for the teams here to go and work directly with the customers in the U.S. — if needed. Of course, most of the time the people are here, but this is technology. Sometimes you need to shake the hands of the developer.
Also there are the visas. With a TM visas, if you want to have a developer for a long period of time in your office in the U.S., that’s also very easy unlike some other areas in Central America or South America. Mexico is unique.
How do you see iTexico expanding in the next five years?
We are growing like crazy, so we will need to find a way to keep rolling and keep things under control. We are investing efforts into processes and at the same time keeping an agile approach to our customers and projects. It’s a very interesting challenge. But we are not just hiring any people. We really need to hire the right people who will be build the base of the company we want to be in the near future. So every single hire is very, very important. It’s strategic, I would say. For instance, I’m interviewing every single person that we are making an offer to because I’m interested in only bringing the best people to iTexico.
We are going to grow more. Next year is very important because we’re getting more customers, the sales team is doing a great job in the U.S., and people are starting to understand all the benefits of working with Mexico. To be honest, in the past, “Mexico” and “software” in the same sentence was not very common. But now things have changed. The U.S. companies are more familiar with the concept of high-technology software and Mexico. It makes a lot of sense. If you see the map, the itineraries for flights, the talent we have, how the city is, and how well people live here, you start to understand why Mexico, why Guadalajara, and why us.
Are there any innovative or particularly notable projects you’ve been working on lately?
I wouldn’t pick only one type of application. I don’t have a favorite. Every single project seems to be more exciting than the previous one. That’s one of the nice things about this job.
We have worked with the clothing industry and retail to build apps for wardrobe administration. And we have been working to make it easier for companies that provide supplies to new buildings — things like mattresses, curtains, rugs and everything they need. For healthcare, we are helping companies to build administrative systems for hospitals and maintain the clinical record for patients.
We are also working now in the Internet of Things field. We have a client based in Boulder, Colorado, that is working on a device that measures the level of gas tanks. We are building the whole platform — not only the mobile side but also the backend and the web. Here in Mexico, in the residential areas, we use stationary tanks, and we never know when we are running out of gas unless we see the tank meter. This whole platform is to avoid running out of gas for the user, and from the company’s point of view, it will improve the logistics for the distribution of the gas. You have all the power in your smartphone, and this company has investors in Colorado and Mexico, so it is a bi-national startup.
We are starting to see that combination more and more: U.S. companies partnering with Mexican entrepreneurs. That’s sort of new. I’ve been in this business for 20 years, and I’m just starting to see that.
__________________________________________
As in Egypt, those at the top of these 'populist' movements are always that global 2% working to create that NEW ORDER in those nations. MAS below is that person---he positioned himself as leader of the SEPARATIST MOVEMENT for Catalonia when 99% of Catalonia citizens do not see him as such and his goals for separation will harm those 99% of Catalonia citizens. MAS is no doubt a global banking 2% sent in to capture this separatist movement and tie it to EUROBANK BAILOUT debt escape for Spain's global 1%.
THE GLOBAL 1% IN SPAIN ARE USING A CENTURY'S OLD CATALONIA EXIT MOVEMENT TO CREATE THAT GLOBAL CITY STATE AS BARCELONA FOR THOSE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2%.
'- Branded a 'swindler' -
Left-wing critics despise Mas for passing tough spending cuts in the region during Spain's recession'.
Meanwhile, national and international media sell this Spanish/Barcelona separatist movement as 'POPULIST' by 99% of Catalonia citizens.
99% of Catalonia citizens KNOW they will be losers with these global banking players as movement leaders just as will the 99% of Greater Spain----fleeced just as occurred in Latin America....heading for that same Latin American civil strife.
Artur Mas: Catalonia's unlikely independence champion
Roland Lloyd Parry
,
AFP•September 27, 2015
1 / 3
Observers wonder how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist like Catalonia's regional government president and leader of the Catalan Democratic Convergence party Artur Mas, came to court the wrath of Spain
Observers wonder how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist like Catalonia's regional government president and leader of the Catalan Democratic Convergence party Artur Mas, came to court the wrath of Spain (AFP Photo/Josep Lago)Madrid (AFP) - Catalonia's leader Artur Mas admits that he was not always a nationalist. But now he is pledging his political life to the cause of making his region independent from Spain.
Observers wonder at how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist came to court the wrath of Spain by trying to break its richest region away from it.
A hero to some Catalan nationalists and a shyster to their opponents, Mas was described by centre-right Spanish newspaper El Mundo as "the technocrat who turned into the Catalan Odysseus."
With his spectacles and neatly brushed quiff, the 59-year-old father of three started out as a businessman and then served in the regional government before being elected its president in 2010.
He has said that as a youth he was not linked to Catalan nationalism.
But at rallies ahead of Sunday's crucial regional election, he addressed crowds in a booming voice about the "dream" of Catalan independence.
"To some he is an example of loyalty to his homeland and to others he is someone who will lead it to disaster," said Jordi Amat, a writer specialising in Catalan nationalism.
"How did a man seen as a technocrat turn into a patriotic leader?"
- Technocrat turns leader -
Amat said the "turning point" for Mas was in 2006 when he negotiated political deals including a new statute recognising Catalonia as a "nation".
But the agreements with Spanish leaders ultimately fell through and the feeling of betrayal hardened Mas's nationalism.
"That was when the technocrat really became a nationalist leader," Amat said.
Carefully measuring his words in fluent Catalan, Spanish, French and English, Mas trod a cautious line at first as president, trying to negotiate more fiscal autonomy for the northeastern region.
But in September 2012, at the height of Spain's economic crisis, more than a million Catalans filled the streets of Barcelona demanding the right to self-determination.
"I understood that the people were on the march demanding for the first time loud and clear that the right to decide and to be a new state within Europe be made a reality," he was quoted as saying in an interview by the author Teresa Pous.
For months he nevertheless avoided using the word "independence." It was not until 2013, after Madrid had rejected his fiscal demands, that he first publicly said he would vote for secession.
He initially wanted a referendum on independence but shifted tack in the face of legal challenges from Madrid.
Now he has framed Sunday's vote for the regional parliament as an indirect independence ballot. He is running in an alliance with left-wing nationalists and other pro-independence groups.
- Branded a 'swindler' -
Left-wing critics despise Mas for passing tough spending cuts in the region during Spain's recession.
Opponents also point to recent corruption investigations against his CDC party.
They brand him a liar and a populist.
"Mas is swindling the Catalan people," said the leader of Spain's main opposition Socialist Party, Pedro Sanchez.
"The world is connected and Artur Mas wants to disconnect us," said Albert Rivera, the Catalan leader of the centre-right party Ciudadanos.
Whatever his motives, Mas has pinned his political fortunes to the independence bid in Sunday's vote. If he wins, he vows Catalonia will declare independence by 2017 -- a move Madrid warns is illegal.
"Once this political process is over, I have no great desire to continue my political career," Mas told AFP in an interview this week.
"It is not my ambition to be the first president of the Catalan state. I want to be the last president of the Catalan region."
________________________________________________
MAS is seen here in a global hedge fund IVY LEAGUE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY----that is NYC's IVY LEAGUE----as having moved to this leadership role of a SEPARATIST CATALONIA MOVEMENT in 2010-----that of course was right after the 2008 global economic crash and massive sovereign state frauds against SPAIN.
So, MAS is NOT A POPULIST leader---he works for that global 1% in creating a INDEPENDENT GLOBAL CITY STATE of Barcelona leaving greater Spain in extreme poverty holding all the debt from banking fraud.
This is why we shouted-----real 99% of Catalonia citizens do not see this as their movement----they know it will not end well for them ---and we can be sure elections in Spain are as rigged today as in Europe, US, et al.
Catalonia at the Crossroads
ANC NYC
Published on Apr 9, 2015
A talk with Artur Mas i Gavarró, the President of the Government of Catalonia, who will discuss Catalonia’s next steps in the wake of the 2014 vote on independence. Introduction: Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University
'Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication before the referendum came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence'.
These protests in Barcelona are much like our US Bernie Sanders Democratic primary elections. Bernie captured what is our LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE CAPITALIST DEMOCRATIC PARTY gaining the support of over 80 % of labor and justice Democratic voters but he also had those far-right Clinton neo-liberals morphing into ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE LIBERTARIAN MARXISTS---which is who Bernie Sanders really is----what looks to be a populist mass movement are 80% of Democratic voters wanting to keep our last century's social progressive capitalism.
That is what we see in Barcelona -----the REAL separatists wanting Catalonia come out to protest but they know the leaders of this movement, like Bernie Sanders or Jill Stein, do not represent them.
It is interesting this Barcelona separatist referendum came in with final voting numbers much like UK's Brexit. The majority of UK citizens were polled and it is felt strongly did not want BREXIT----the UK global 1% wanted BREXIT.
Much of these passions are driven by Spain's young adults trying to find pathways after that great depression from economic crash of 2008----they want change but they understand what extreme wealth extreme poverty will look like under the MAS/ORTEGA ---global 1% Spain in Barcelona. These same population dynamics will occur when US heads into deep depression from this coming economic collapse from the same global banking frauds.
Catalonia referendum: Does the region want to leave Spain?
Image caption A Catalan protester offering flowers to Spanish police as they search for materials related to the banned referendum
Catalonia's separatist government has staged a referendum on leaving Spain - against the wishes of the national authorities. With a population of 7.5 million, its capital is the proud city of Barcelona.
Organisers say 90% backed independence - 2,044,038 of the 2,286,217 people who took part - and that turnout was 43%. There have been several claims of irregularities.
The Spanish leadership has rejected the vote as illegal. But the Spanish government's representative in Catalonia has also apologised to hundreds of Catalans who were injured during police efforts to stop the vote taking place.
Catalans have taken to the streets in protest. So what has stirred this hunger for independence - and could it happen?
How did we get here?Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest and most productive regions and has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years. Before the Spanish Civil War it enjoyed broad autonomy but that was suppressed under decades of Gen Francisco Franco's dictatorship from 1939-75.
When Franco died, Catalan nationalism was revived and eventually the north-eastern region was granted autonomy again, under the 1978 constitution.
Four voices: Why some Catalans want independence
A 2006 statute granted even greater powers, boosting Catalonia's financial clout and describing it as a "nation", but Spain's Constitutional Court reversed much of this in 2010, to the anger of the regional authorities.
Angered by having their autonomy watered down as well as by years of recession and cuts in public spending, Catalans held an unofficial vote on independence in November 2014. More than two million of the region's 5.4 million eligible voters took part and officials declared that 80% had backed secession.
Separatists won Catalonia's election in 2015 and set to work on holding a binding referendum, defying Spain's constitution, which states that Spain is indivisible.
What was the question?The Catalan parliament enacted its own law in a vote on 6 September. There was just one question on the ballot paper:
"Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?"
And there were two boxes: Yes or No.
Under the controversial law, the result is binding and independence must be declared by parliament within two days of the Catalan electoral commission proclaiming the results.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont insisted that "no other court or political body" could suspend his government from power.
How did that go down in Madrid?
Badly. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy condemned the vote as illegal and has since warned Catalonia's regional government against declaring independence.
Before the referendum, the Constitutional Court suspended the law passed by the Catalans at Mr Rajoy's request. The Spanish government also moved to take control of the region's finances and policing.
Catalan officials involved in organising the vote were arrested, some 10m ballot papers impounded, and websites informing Catalans about the election were shut down.
Catalonia's own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, was ordered to accept the command of Spain's paramilitary Civil Guard to stop the vote taking place.
"Spain has de facto suspended the self-government of Catalonia and has applied a de facto state of emergency," President Carles Puigdemont has complained.
The Constitutional Court then suspended a session of the Catalan parliament in a bid to prevent a declaration of independence - this time in response to a petition from the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, which opposes secession from Spain.
What happened on the day?Voting took place in some areas, but nearly 900 people were injured when police used force to try to stop the referendum.
A Catalan spokesman said more than 750,000 votes could not be counted because polling stations were closed and urns were confiscated.
The national authorities had brought in 4,000 police from outside Catalonia to help thousands of local Mossos police and national officers to keep security and stop the vote.
Media caption
Students have declared a pro-independence "strike"Parties loyal to Spain who won about 40% in the 2015 Catalan election boycotted it, so the No vote was likely to be tiny and hugely unrepresentative.
Under the Catalan government's referendum law, a declaration of independence has to take place within 48 hours of a Yes vote.
But Carles Puigdemont has said Catalonia does not want a "traumatic break... We want a new understanding with the Spanish state".
Do Catalans really want independence?
Pro-independence supporters have certainly produced large-scale demonstrations in favour of secession. A million people turned out in Barcelona for the national day on 11 September.
Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication before the referendum came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence.
We know that 2.2 million voters backed independence in the previous vote in November 2014, and that coalition of separatist parties called Junts pel Si (Together for Yes), with the support of a radical left-wing party, the CUP, won 48% of the vote in 2015 elections.
There was a sense that support for independence may have been ebbing, but the hardline strategy of the Spanish authorities to stop the vote going ahead may equally have re-energised backing for the vote itself to take place.
Does Catalonia have a good claim to nationhood?
It is certainly long-lived. It has its own language, a recorded history of more than 1,000 years as a distinct region, and a population nearly as big as Switzerland's (7.5 million).
Media caption
Galdric Arus: "Catalonia can work alone and be a new part of Europe, a rich part of Europe - no problem"It also happens to be a vital part of the Spanish state, locked in since the 15th Century, and - according to supporters of independence - subjected periodically to repressive campaigns to make it "more Spanish".
Catalonia's grievances with Madrid
Barcelona has become one of the EU's best-loved cities, famed for its 1992 Summer Olympics, trade fairs, football and tourism.
But Spain's 2008 economic crisis hit Catalonia hard, leaving it with 19% unemployment (compared with 21% nationally).
It is one of Spain's wealthiest regions, making up 16% of the national population and accounting for almost 19% of Spanish GDP. But there is a widespread feeling that the central government takes much more than it gives back.
Does Madrid really rip the region off?
It does appear to take more than it gives - though the complexity of budget transfers makes it hard to judge exactly how much more Catalans contribute in taxes than they get back from investment in services such as schools and hospitals.
According to 2014 figures, Catalonia paid €9.89bn more into Spain's tax authorities than it received in spending - the equivalent of 5% of its GDP.
Media caption
Alonso Romero feels perfectly integrated in the Catalan town of Santa Coloma, but he remains loyal to Spain
Meanwhile, state investment in Catalonia has dropped: the 2015 draft national budget allocated 9.5% to Catalonia - compared with nearly 16% in 2003.
But some argue that is a natural state of affairs in a country with such regional economic disparities.
Is there room for compromise?
The government in Madrid has indicated it could open the door to possible constitutional reforms. They may be ready to offer more money and greater financial autonomy, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told the Financial Times.
But that may not be enough for Carles Puigdemont and a Catalan leadership that has spent months preparing a path for independence.
_____________________________________________
'But what about the EU? Here the Spanish government has made it clear that were Catalonia to become independent, it would resist it remaining a member of the EU. This would be most unpopular in Catalonia, which would want, among other things, to retain the euro'.
As someone never wanting European nations to become EURO ZONE for just these reasons----the problem now for 99% of European citizens as for 99% of Spanish citizens is not 'for better or worse' Euro Zone membership---the problem is after only several years since 2008 economic crash and the coming economic crash with movement of all Europe and UK wealth to the global 1% ----
WE THE PEOPLE MUST RESOLVE THESE MASSIVE MOVEMENTS OF SOVEREIGN CITIZEN WEALTH BEFORE WE ELIMINATE THE STATUS OF SOVEREIGN CITIZENS.
Here we see Catalonia citizens seeing themselves as remaining EU----where the goals of BARCELONA EXIT global 1% is the opposite. EURO ZONE BAILOUT sees this Catalonia exit more deeply then the UK because of these massive sovereign debt frauds in Spain.
Each time these global banking centers break away---as London and Barcelona---it becomes harder for the 99% of European citizens to recover citizens' wealth. The same will happen in US as Foreign Economic Zones here start pushing for EXIT.
Protesting police militant response to protest is different from being pro-Catalonia exit
.'Hundreds of thousands of people filled Barcelona's streets on Tuesday to protest Spanish police forces' militant response to the independence vote on Sunday'.
The Catalan independence referendum is a much bigger issue for the EU than Brexit
The region is an economic powerhouse, in effect subsidising the rest of the country. Its 7.5 million people, some 16 per cent of the population of Spain, generate nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP
No country, within or outside the European Union, has openly expressed support for the 1 October referendum that Spain’s conservative government sees as illegal
It is essentially a political story, but with an economic twist. On Sunday the Catalan people vote on independence from Spain, despite the referendum being ruled illegal by the Spanish courts and despite practical efforts by the authorities to block entry to the polling stations. We don’t know how the day will pan out but we do know that whatever happens there will be consequences not just for Spain but for the European Union.
For most of us, Catalonia is Barcelona, the glittering planned capital, host of the Olympics in 1992, the event that brought the city to the world stage, and home to the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s huge and still unfinished cathedral.
Actually it is much more. The region is an economic powerhouse, in effect subsidising the rest of the country. Its 7.5 million people, some 16 per cent of the population of Spain, generate nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP. Were it a country it would rank in economic size somewhere between Denmark and Finland. As for Barcelona itself, its port is the biggest in the Mediterranean, and the fourth largest cruise ship destination in the world. It also has two of the top business schools in the world, ESADE and IESE, and a tradition of business competence.
Catalonia attracts one third of inward investment into Spain, and produces one third of Spain’s exports.
Without Catalonia, Spain would continue to be the fourth largest economy in the eurozone, after Germany, France and Italy, but it would be much weakened. By contrast Scotland’s share of UK GDP is 7.5 per cent, so in economic terms this is a much bigger deal for Spain than Scottish independence would be for the UK. You can see why they oppose a referendum.
But what about the EU? Here the Spanish government has made it clear that were Catalonia to become independent, it would resist it remaining a member of the EU. This would be most unpopular in Catalonia, which would want, among other things, to retain the euro.
Legally, Spain would be able to push an independent Catalonia out, but in the real world of European politics it would be hard for the rest of Europe to exclude a country that wanted to remain a member – or to be technically more correct, to rejoin. In economic terms Catalonia will be fully viable and there is no practical reason why it should not continue to use the euro, even if technically it were for a time outside the EU.
The obvious big question really is not so much the outcome of the referendum but whether Spain and Catalonia can rebuild their relationship. If they cannot do so, then Catalonia becomes a threat not just to Spain but to the EU as a whole, in some ways a greater threat than the departure of the UK. One of the lessons of the past couple of years is not just that politics have become unpredictable; it is also the economic consequences of a political event are unpredictable too. By rights the decision or non-decision of 7.5 million people ought not to unsettle Europe. But a week from now it may look very different.
What we see today in Barcelona as we saw in Egypt is that massive protest bringing economic disruption demanding changes in political power. These people have every intent and desire to be peaceful---they feel they are legally exercising their rights ---which they are----once elections become rigged and fraudulent the 99% cannot elect ourselves out of cronyism and corruption---the global banking players no matter how populist the PRETEND to be will be MORE OF THE SAME.
SPAIN'S POLITICAL HISTORY NEVER STRAYED FAR FROM OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE FAR-RIGHT EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY MILITARISTIC AUTHORITARIANISM.....WHETHER CHURCH AS STATE OR FAR-RIGHT FASCIST LEADERS AS STATE.
We notice a difference in national protest movements over these several years of Spain's economic collapse from massive global banking frauds-----the greater Spanish 99% have been protesting en mass against the banking frauds and the fleecing of their personal wealth and assets -----while Barcelona's protest has to do with exiting to escape that EURO-BANKING AUSTERITY ------
SPAIN'S POLITICAL HISTORY NEVER STRAYED FAR FROM OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE FAR-RIGHT EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY MILITARISTIC AUTHORITARIANISM.....WHETHER CHURCH AS STATE OR FAR-RIGHT FASCIST LEADERS AS STATE.
When the 99% educates broadly on global political movements it opens understanding of the same in our national politics.
Published on
Tuesday, October 03, 2017
by
Common Dreams
Hundreds of Thousands in Streets as General Strike Engulfs Catalonia After Violent Crackdown
People took to the streets in Barcelona and across the Catalan region to condemn a militant crackdown by Spain's police forces during last weekend's referendum for independence
by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Hundreds of thousands of people filled Barcelona's streets on Tuesday to protest Spanish police forces' militant response to the independence vote on Sunday. (Photo: @CatalansforYes/Twitter)
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Catalonia on Tuesday to join a general strike and protest violence that left nearly 900 people injured this weekend, when Spain's national police forces tried to prevent Catalan residents from voting for secession.
Barcelona | Thousands on the street ahead of #NationalStrike; responding to repression!
Theirs violence.
Our dignity.
We have no fear.
pic.twitter.com/fnpw2Zp5x6
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017#Catalonia #VagaGeneral3O pic.twitter.com/5hhOnK9d50
— Our Revolución (@Latinos4Bernie) October 3, 2017
Ahead of Sunday's independence vote, which Madrid claims is unconstitutional, the government shipped additional forces to Catalonia. Spanish police not only seized ballot materials and closed polling stations but many also physically behaved violently toward the region's residents, which was captured in photos and videos that were widely shared online.
Despite Madrid's efforts to stymie the referendum, preliminary polling has shown voters overwhelmingly supported Catalan independence. Following the vote, Spain's national government is under mounting global pressure, including from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, to resolve the regional independence dispute and investigate allegations of abuse by police.
Those concerns were echoed in Barcelona, the Catalan capitol, on Tuesday, where hundreds of thousands of people—"many draped in the blue, yellow, and red Estelada flag used by Catalan separatists"—stopped traffic and marched through the streets chanting "independence" and "the streets will always be ours," the Guardian reports.
Theirs violence.
Our dignity.
We have no fear.pic.twitter.com/fnpw2Zp5x6
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
Protesters denounced Spanish police as "an occupying force," and urged them to leave Catalonia. "The protest came as several small labor unions and grassroots pro-independence groups urged workers throughout Catalonia to go on partial or full-day strikes," the Guardian reports. More than 40 unions and organizations called for the general strike.
Schools and universities as well as most small businesses shut down, responding to union calls to "vigorously condemn" police action. Barcelona metro stations "that are usually busy were deserted as services were cut back sharply," as was the city's Boqueria market.
Videos of Tuesday's protest spread rapidly on social media:
All Barcelona streets full of people demanding the Spanish police and military police (guardia civil) to leave #Catalonia pic.twitter.com/MuczK4L4QB
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
Catalan people marching peacefully against Spanish violence of @marianorajoy pic.twitter.com/AcvJO0z1Tx
— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) October 3, 2017
_____________________________________________
Spain's 1% just as our US 1% went from being millionaires to billionaires during these few decades of global banking frauds moving all of Spain's wealth to these top families who do their banking in BARCELONA. This same thing occurred in US with our global banking center being NYC/Wall Street. These several years after economic crash Barcelona has emptied of its 99% of citizens pushed into greater Spain while global 1% and their 2% filled Barcelona ----as happened to London-----Berlin----US-----Canada.
The Basque region of Catalonia has always been the scene of SEPARATISTS so they have that ready-made population bound to Barcelona and that extreme wealth. They also have the same history of ELECTION RIGGING as we have today in US.
So, our Basque population no doubt has no sympathy with greater 99% of Spain---and it no doubt feels separate from those pesky Spanish global 1%.
The 99% of Spanish citizens were not loafers living off of left socialist largess----they were hard workers who saved and had those medical and retirement savings just as US WE THE PEOPLE. The Barcelona 1% like to paint these left social capitalists as they do Greek left social capitalists---lazy and no deserving of their earned income.
We can be sure these 10 families are OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% from a thousand years ago.
Spain’s 10 Wealthiest Billionaires of 2013
Julie Mahfood 01.09.14 National Money
Living in the Sierra Nevadas, the hills of Southern Spain, or in fabulous Barcelona in the north, what would you do with $64 billion dollars? Or even $1 billion? Would you buy a luxurious condo in fashionable Madrid? Build a replica of the Alhambra in the Alpujarras? It would be fun to be a fly on the wall of Spain’s top ten wealthiest, to note whether it’s all work and no play, or whether money does, indeed, buy time – and extra-long siestas.
Spain is a country with a fascinating history: there’s the Moorish influence in the South and the Basque culture of the North, land ties to Portugal and France, and only the narrow Strait of Gibraltar to be crossed to reach Northern Africa. The top ten wealthiest of Spain comprise people in a variety of circumstances, from old, inherited money (and a title) to pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps wealth. The wealthiest person in Spain is actually of the latter variety, and recently made it onto Forbes top three wealthiest in the world for the first time. His company – today worth more than all nine others on our list put togethe – began in his living room. Inspiring stuff.
With the Spanish language one of the most widely-spoken in the world, the ten business magnates on our list have truly gone international to convert their millions into billions. How hard does a person work to get so far so fast? To amass tens of billions of dollars in just a half a century? Does it cost them their marriage or the love of their children? The children not only inherit, but often end up working alongside their industrious parents. Is this type of work ethic born or taught? And how can you get a piece? Just ask the following ten magnates from Spain: “¿Cómo lo hiciste?” In other words, “How did you do it?” We’ve collected information on the 10 richest people in Spain, from all walks of life. Read on to find out who is, according to the latest figures released in October 2013, the richest individual in Spain – and how he did it.
10. Herráiz Mahou and Gervás Families: $2.9 Billion
9. Juan and Carlos March & family: $3 Billion
8. Cayetana Fitz James Stuart: Duquesa de Alba: $4.1 Billion
7. Juan-Miguel Villar Mir: $5 Billion
6. Isak Andic & family: $5.2 Billion
5. Manuel Jove: $5.3 Billion
4. Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo – $7.2 billion
3. Sandra Ortega Mera: $7.3 Billion
2. Juan Roig: $7.9 Billion
1. Amancio Ortega: $64 Billion
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Below we see that same OLD WORLD MECHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% ORTEGA controlling what they have always seen as THEIR COLONIES----Latin America in this case NICARAGUA-----they of course call themselves a POPULIST LEFT PARTY-----'SOCIALISTS' as in Spain but the families tied to Ortega are OLD WORLD RICH. So, today's Ortega family in Barcelona, Spain are tens of billionaires because of the wealth they fleeced from not only Spanish citizens but from these Central American nations. Both Guatemala and Nicaragua have decades of violence tied to US/UK global 1% sending in military to undermine those Spanish family global rich.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front
(Spanish: Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is now a democratic socialist[5][6] political party in Nicaragua.
Its members are called Sandinistas [sandiˈnistas] in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.[7]
There was less a fear of SOCIALISM then a fear of a Spanish OLD WORLD RICH gaining too much power and this is what has made life in Latin America extremely violent and unjust.
When we look today at Spain's global 1% billionaires----it is these same OLD WORLD FAMILIES who fought to colonize North and South America now cashing in our former COLONIES.
HERE IS NO REAL LEFT SOCIALISM HAPPENING WHEN THESE GLOBAL RICH ARE TIED TO THE POLITICAL MACHINES----THEY SIMPLY USE MARXISM TO CREATE EXTREME WEALTH EXTREME POVERTY
'1. Amancio Ortega: $64 Billion
Ortega's victory was no surprise - Katy Watson, BBC News, Central America'
Nicaragua leader Daniel Ortega wins third consecutive term
- 7 November 2016
- From the section Latin America & Caribbean
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has won a third consecutive term in office.
With two-thirds of the votes counted, the left-wing leader had secured an irreversible lead with 72%, election officials said.
His closest rival, centre-right candidate Maximino Rodriguez, only had 14.2% of the vote.
Mr Ortega had been widely expected to win both due to the popularity of his social programmes and because he faced no obvious political challenger.
A former left-wing rebel, Mr Ortega has led Nicaragua through a period of economic stability which has made him popular with Nicaragua's business sector and foreign investors.
Who is Daniel Ortega?
- Born in 1946, the son of a shoemaker
- Joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) as a teenager
- 1984: Elected president
- 2006: Wins his second presidential election
- 2011: Wins a third term
- 2016: Wins a fourth presidential election, securing his third consecutive term in office
Supporters of Mr Ortega took to the streets to celebrate his victory.
But even before the first results were announced, members of the opposition coalition Broad Front for Democracy (FAD) called the elections a "farce",
he FAD, which had urged voters to boycott the election, alleged that more than 70% had abstained from voting.
They were contradicted by the electoral authorities which put voter participation at 65.8%.
International observers were not allowed to monitor the vote.
Mr Ortega's running mate was his wife, Rosario Murillo, who now looks set to become vice-president.
Analysts say that Ms Murillo already shares decision-making with Mr Ortega and could become president if her 70-year-old husband were to bow out.
Ortega's victory was no surprise - Katy Watson, BBC News, Central America
The vote was seen as the most one-sided election in Nicaragua since the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979 - a process that Mr Ortega himself was involved in.
But Nicaragua is sharply divided over the 70-year-old former guerrilla.
Many feel that the elections were a farce, that with this, his third consecutive term, there is growing autocracy in the country and the role of his wife as running-mate is too much of a family affair.
The fact remains, though, that he was the most popular candidate by far.
Overseeing Nicaragua's stable economic growth and the lack of violence compared to the problems of its neighbours El Salvador and Honduras in recent years have cemented him as the best option for many Nicaraguans.
Nicaragua's economy has grown at double the Latin American average, but the country still needs to attract more foreign investment.
A $50bn (£40bn) plan to build an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua with Chinese investment gained international attention, but there are serious doubts over whether it will ever be built.
The country has been able to avoid the sky-high murder rates of some of its Central American neighbours but it also faces the ever pervasive threat of drug-trafficking.
________________________________________
Flash forward from REAGAN and the Contras fighting those Ortega Sandanistas-----and we see that OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% ORTEGA family expanding their wealth into Mexico and since Clinton and NAFTA expanding to FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE development bringing global corporate factories into Central America and Mexico in exchange for expanding their wealth and power inside US.
Latin American 99% spent these few decades being killed in civil wars and shipped out as global labor pool---while Ortega family super-sized their wealth.
So, CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA saw MOVING FORWARD ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE in colonial Latin America AND in Spain expanding globally to Foreign Economic Zones. Meanwhile, Central America and Mexico have the worst of civil unrest for 99% of citizens struggling with extreme poverty.
WHAT WAS BEING CALLED 'POPULIST' WAS SIMPLY SPANISH GLOBAL 1% FIGHTING AGAINST REAGAN/CLINTON UK GLOBAL 1% FOR CONTROL OF LATIN AMERICA.
As in Spain today--the 99% were losers no matter the sides in civil unrest
'A former left-wing rebel, Mr Ortega has led Nicaragua through a period of economic stability which has made him popular with Nicaragua's business sector and foreign investors'.
This is what we call ALT RIGHT AL LEFT OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1%
01 Dec
iTexico Founder Guillermo Ortega Sees More U.S. Firms Coming to Guadalajara
- Written by Jared Wade
- Categorised Innovators
Software developer iTexico is one of the many companies that has found nearshore success in Guadalajara. Based in Austin, Texas, with another office in Silicon Valley, it maintains not just an IT delivery center but a true, collaborative partner in the Mexican tech hub as it specializes in the mobile app world and increasingly moves into work based in the cloud.
In just a few years since opening up shop in 2010, the company has become a major player in the industry and maintains partnerships with the likes of IBM, Microsoft, and Appcelerator. Guillermo Ortega, COO and co-founder of iTexico, recently sat down to talk to Mexico IT about his company’s success, their future plans, and what makes Mexico and Guadalajara different from other nearshore locations.
“It’s not a coincidence that we are in Guadalajara,” says Guillermo Ortega, COO and co-founder of iTexico
Mexico IT: You have made quite a name for yourself in just a few years. What has been the key to your quick success?
Guillermo Ortega: We started with a lot of energy, and part of the formula that has been very successful is to work tightly with the teams in Mexico and the United States. This is not a U.S. company sub-contracting a Mexican delivery center. We are the same company. Besides that, we have been very flexible with our customers and very agile in the way that we deliver the service. We don’t have a unique formula to do this, but we like to hear what our customers have to say, and that is something the U.S. market appreciates a lot. And of course, we just put in a lot of work. We took this company from zero to 120 people in less than five years. That can only be done with a lot of passion and hard work.
What is special about the IT world in Guadalajara. Is the city something you that has helped you succeed so quickly?
Absolutely. It’s not a coincidence that we are in Guadalajara and have our deliver center here. The local IT world is very well developed and has been growing since the late ’60s when Kodak, IBM, Motorola, and the first guys came here to start developing the ecosystem. So Guadalajara is a very unique region in Mexico. It’s an educational hub, so the talent is available.
Getting the right talent is a key factor in this business because it’s all about talent. We are facing some challenges because there are a lot of new players in the ecosystem — it’s getting a little bit crowded — so we are in a constant fight for the best talent available. But even with that reality Guadalajara is still a very nice spot in the country to start an IT delivery center. It’s really a very nice city, and you can get talent from all over the country — and in our case, from all over the world. We have people from India, Croatia, the United States, Cuba, a lot of countries. It’s easy to attract people to the city because it’s just a great area of Mexico.
So, yes, more companies are coming, but more talent is coming, too. It’s the joint work between the industry, local and federal governments, and academia. There are many engineering programs here and the universities are doing a good job in recruiting new engineers and increasing the attendance. These three things — that combination — is a very good thing for the region.
You call outsourcing to Mexico “Nearshore Plus.” What does that mean?
Everyone puts nearshore locations in the same basket, and it shouldn’t be that way. Because it is not that way. The way we can interact with our customers by being in Mexico is much easier and smoother than going anywhere else in Central or South America.
What is going to happen if someone in Houston wants to go to Buenos Aires? It would take a long time. And with all due respect, going to Santiago, Chile, is like going to Madrid or London. You are on the other side of the world. The only difference is you are talking north-south instead of east-west. Whereas here, right now it is 3 o’clock in the afternoon in Guadalajara, and I can be in California tonight. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight, and that makes all the difference.
“We are going to grow more. Next year is very important because we’re getting more customers, the sales team is doing a great job in the U.S., and people are starting to understand all the benefits of working with Mexico.” – Guillermo Ortega
That’s the reason we’re calling it “Collaboration Plus.” It’s very easy for the teams here to go and work directly with the customers in the U.S. — if needed. Of course, most of the time the people are here, but this is technology. Sometimes you need to shake the hands of the developer.
Also there are the visas. With a TM visas, if you want to have a developer for a long period of time in your office in the U.S., that’s also very easy unlike some other areas in Central America or South America. Mexico is unique.
How do you see iTexico expanding in the next five years?
We are growing like crazy, so we will need to find a way to keep rolling and keep things under control. We are investing efforts into processes and at the same time keeping an agile approach to our customers and projects. It’s a very interesting challenge. But we are not just hiring any people. We really need to hire the right people who will be build the base of the company we want to be in the near future. So every single hire is very, very important. It’s strategic, I would say. For instance, I’m interviewing every single person that we are making an offer to because I’m interested in only bringing the best people to iTexico.
We are going to grow more. Next year is very important because we’re getting more customers, the sales team is doing a great job in the U.S., and people are starting to understand all the benefits of working with Mexico. To be honest, in the past, “Mexico” and “software” in the same sentence was not very common. But now things have changed. The U.S. companies are more familiar with the concept of high-technology software and Mexico. It makes a lot of sense. If you see the map, the itineraries for flights, the talent we have, how the city is, and how well people live here, you start to understand why Mexico, why Guadalajara, and why us.
Are there any innovative or particularly notable projects you’ve been working on lately?
I wouldn’t pick only one type of application. I don’t have a favorite. Every single project seems to be more exciting than the previous one. That’s one of the nice things about this job.
We have worked with the clothing industry and retail to build apps for wardrobe administration. And we have been working to make it easier for companies that provide supplies to new buildings — things like mattresses, curtains, rugs and everything they need. For healthcare, we are helping companies to build administrative systems for hospitals and maintain the clinical record for patients.
We are also working now in the Internet of Things field. We have a client based in Boulder, Colorado, that is working on a device that measures the level of gas tanks. We are building the whole platform — not only the mobile side but also the backend and the web. Here in Mexico, in the residential areas, we use stationary tanks, and we never know when we are running out of gas unless we see the tank meter. This whole platform is to avoid running out of gas for the user, and from the company’s point of view, it will improve the logistics for the distribution of the gas. You have all the power in your smartphone, and this company has investors in Colorado and Mexico, so it is a bi-national startup.
We are starting to see that combination more and more: U.S. companies partnering with Mexican entrepreneurs. That’s sort of new. I’ve been in this business for 20 years, and I’m just starting to see that.
__________________________________________
As in Egypt, those at the top of these 'populist' movements are always that global 2% working to create that NEW ORDER in those nations. MAS below is that person---he positioned himself as leader of the SEPARATIST MOVEMENT for Catalonia when 99% of Catalonia citizens do not see him as such and his goals for separation will harm those 99% of Catalonia citizens. MAS is no doubt a global banking 2% sent in to capture this separatist movement and tie it to EUROBANK BAILOUT debt escape for Spain's global 1%.
THE GLOBAL 1% IN SPAIN ARE USING A CENTURY'S OLD CATALONIA EXIT MOVEMENT TO CREATE THAT GLOBAL CITY STATE AS BARCELONA FOR THOSE GLOBAL 1% AND THEIR 2%.
'- Branded a 'swindler' -
Left-wing critics despise Mas for passing tough spending cuts in the region during Spain's recession'.
Meanwhile, national and international media sell this Spanish/Barcelona separatist movement as 'POPULIST' by 99% of Catalonia citizens.
99% of Catalonia citizens KNOW they will be losers with these global banking players as movement leaders just as will the 99% of Greater Spain----fleeced just as occurred in Latin America....heading for that same Latin American civil strife.
Artur Mas: Catalonia's unlikely independence champion
Roland Lloyd Parry
,
AFP•September 27, 2015
1 / 3
Observers wonder how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist like Catalonia's regional government president and leader of the Catalan Democratic Convergence party Artur Mas, came to court the wrath of Spain
Observers wonder how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist like Catalonia's regional government president and leader of the Catalan Democratic Convergence party Artur Mas, came to court the wrath of Spain (AFP Photo/Josep Lago)Madrid (AFP) - Catalonia's leader Artur Mas admits that he was not always a nationalist. But now he is pledging his political life to the cause of making his region independent from Spain.
Observers wonder at how a moderate conservative, upper middle-class economist came to court the wrath of Spain by trying to break its richest region away from it.
A hero to some Catalan nationalists and a shyster to their opponents, Mas was described by centre-right Spanish newspaper El Mundo as "the technocrat who turned into the Catalan Odysseus."
With his spectacles and neatly brushed quiff, the 59-year-old father of three started out as a businessman and then served in the regional government before being elected its president in 2010.
He has said that as a youth he was not linked to Catalan nationalism.
But at rallies ahead of Sunday's crucial regional election, he addressed crowds in a booming voice about the "dream" of Catalan independence.
"To some he is an example of loyalty to his homeland and to others he is someone who will lead it to disaster," said Jordi Amat, a writer specialising in Catalan nationalism.
"How did a man seen as a technocrat turn into a patriotic leader?"
- Technocrat turns leader -
Amat said the "turning point" for Mas was in 2006 when he negotiated political deals including a new statute recognising Catalonia as a "nation".
But the agreements with Spanish leaders ultimately fell through and the feeling of betrayal hardened Mas's nationalism.
"That was when the technocrat really became a nationalist leader," Amat said.
Carefully measuring his words in fluent Catalan, Spanish, French and English, Mas trod a cautious line at first as president, trying to negotiate more fiscal autonomy for the northeastern region.
But in September 2012, at the height of Spain's economic crisis, more than a million Catalans filled the streets of Barcelona demanding the right to self-determination.
"I understood that the people were on the march demanding for the first time loud and clear that the right to decide and to be a new state within Europe be made a reality," he was quoted as saying in an interview by the author Teresa Pous.
For months he nevertheless avoided using the word "independence." It was not until 2013, after Madrid had rejected his fiscal demands, that he first publicly said he would vote for secession.
He initially wanted a referendum on independence but shifted tack in the face of legal challenges from Madrid.
Now he has framed Sunday's vote for the regional parliament as an indirect independence ballot. He is running in an alliance with left-wing nationalists and other pro-independence groups.
- Branded a 'swindler' -
Left-wing critics despise Mas for passing tough spending cuts in the region during Spain's recession.
Opponents also point to recent corruption investigations against his CDC party.
They brand him a liar and a populist.
"Mas is swindling the Catalan people," said the leader of Spain's main opposition Socialist Party, Pedro Sanchez.
"The world is connected and Artur Mas wants to disconnect us," said Albert Rivera, the Catalan leader of the centre-right party Ciudadanos.
Whatever his motives, Mas has pinned his political fortunes to the independence bid in Sunday's vote. If he wins, he vows Catalonia will declare independence by 2017 -- a move Madrid warns is illegal.
"Once this political process is over, I have no great desire to continue my political career," Mas told AFP in an interview this week.
"It is not my ambition to be the first president of the Catalan state. I want to be the last president of the Catalan region."
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MAS is seen here in a global hedge fund IVY LEAGUE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY----that is NYC's IVY LEAGUE----as having moved to this leadership role of a SEPARATIST CATALONIA MOVEMENT in 2010-----that of course was right after the 2008 global economic crash and massive sovereign state frauds against SPAIN.
So, MAS is NOT A POPULIST leader---he works for that global 1% in creating a INDEPENDENT GLOBAL CITY STATE of Barcelona leaving greater Spain in extreme poverty holding all the debt from banking fraud.
This is why we shouted-----real 99% of Catalonia citizens do not see this as their movement----they know it will not end well for them ---and we can be sure elections in Spain are as rigged today as in Europe, US, et al.
Catalonia at the Crossroads
ANC NYC
Published on Apr 9, 2015
A talk with Artur Mas i Gavarró, the President of the Government of Catalonia, who will discuss Catalonia’s next steps in the wake of the 2014 vote on independence. Introduction: Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University
'Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication before the referendum came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence'.
These protests in Barcelona are much like our US Bernie Sanders Democratic primary elections. Bernie captured what is our LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE CAPITALIST DEMOCRATIC PARTY gaining the support of over 80 % of labor and justice Democratic voters but he also had those far-right Clinton neo-liberals morphing into ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE LIBERTARIAN MARXISTS---which is who Bernie Sanders really is----what looks to be a populist mass movement are 80% of Democratic voters wanting to keep our last century's social progressive capitalism.
That is what we see in Barcelona -----the REAL separatists wanting Catalonia come out to protest but they know the leaders of this movement, like Bernie Sanders or Jill Stein, do not represent them.
It is interesting this Barcelona separatist referendum came in with final voting numbers much like UK's Brexit. The majority of UK citizens were polled and it is felt strongly did not want BREXIT----the UK global 1% wanted BREXIT.
Much of these passions are driven by Spain's young adults trying to find pathways after that great depression from economic crash of 2008----they want change but they understand what extreme wealth extreme poverty will look like under the MAS/ORTEGA ---global 1% Spain in Barcelona. These same population dynamics will occur when US heads into deep depression from this coming economic collapse from the same global banking frauds.
Catalonia referendum: Does the region want to leave Spain?
- 6 October 2017
Image caption A Catalan protester offering flowers to Spanish police as they search for materials related to the banned referendum
Catalonia's separatist government has staged a referendum on leaving Spain - against the wishes of the national authorities. With a population of 7.5 million, its capital is the proud city of Barcelona.
Organisers say 90% backed independence - 2,044,038 of the 2,286,217 people who took part - and that turnout was 43%. There have been several claims of irregularities.
The Spanish leadership has rejected the vote as illegal. But the Spanish government's representative in Catalonia has also apologised to hundreds of Catalans who were injured during police efforts to stop the vote taking place.
Catalans have taken to the streets in protest. So what has stirred this hunger for independence - and could it happen?
How did we get here?Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest and most productive regions and has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years. Before the Spanish Civil War it enjoyed broad autonomy but that was suppressed under decades of Gen Francisco Franco's dictatorship from 1939-75.
When Franco died, Catalan nationalism was revived and eventually the north-eastern region was granted autonomy again, under the 1978 constitution.
Four voices: Why some Catalans want independence
A 2006 statute granted even greater powers, boosting Catalonia's financial clout and describing it as a "nation", but Spain's Constitutional Court reversed much of this in 2010, to the anger of the regional authorities.
Angered by having their autonomy watered down as well as by years of recession and cuts in public spending, Catalans held an unofficial vote on independence in November 2014. More than two million of the region's 5.4 million eligible voters took part and officials declared that 80% had backed secession.
Separatists won Catalonia's election in 2015 and set to work on holding a binding referendum, defying Spain's constitution, which states that Spain is indivisible.
What was the question?The Catalan parliament enacted its own law in a vote on 6 September. There was just one question on the ballot paper:
"Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?"
And there were two boxes: Yes or No.
Under the controversial law, the result is binding and independence must be declared by parliament within two days of the Catalan electoral commission proclaiming the results.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont insisted that "no other court or political body" could suspend his government from power.
How did that go down in Madrid?
Badly. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy condemned the vote as illegal and has since warned Catalonia's regional government against declaring independence.
Before the referendum, the Constitutional Court suspended the law passed by the Catalans at Mr Rajoy's request. The Spanish government also moved to take control of the region's finances and policing.
Catalan officials involved in organising the vote were arrested, some 10m ballot papers impounded, and websites informing Catalans about the election were shut down.
Catalonia's own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, was ordered to accept the command of Spain's paramilitary Civil Guard to stop the vote taking place.
"Spain has de facto suspended the self-government of Catalonia and has applied a de facto state of emergency," President Carles Puigdemont has complained.
The Constitutional Court then suspended a session of the Catalan parliament in a bid to prevent a declaration of independence - this time in response to a petition from the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, which opposes secession from Spain.
What happened on the day?Voting took place in some areas, but nearly 900 people were injured when police used force to try to stop the referendum.
A Catalan spokesman said more than 750,000 votes could not be counted because polling stations were closed and urns were confiscated.
The national authorities had brought in 4,000 police from outside Catalonia to help thousands of local Mossos police and national officers to keep security and stop the vote.
Media caption
Students have declared a pro-independence "strike"Parties loyal to Spain who won about 40% in the 2015 Catalan election boycotted it, so the No vote was likely to be tiny and hugely unrepresentative.
Under the Catalan government's referendum law, a declaration of independence has to take place within 48 hours of a Yes vote.
But Carles Puigdemont has said Catalonia does not want a "traumatic break... We want a new understanding with the Spanish state".
Do Catalans really want independence?
Pro-independence supporters have certainly produced large-scale demonstrations in favour of secession. A million people turned out in Barcelona for the national day on 11 September.
Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication before the referendum came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence.
We know that 2.2 million voters backed independence in the previous vote in November 2014, and that coalition of separatist parties called Junts pel Si (Together for Yes), with the support of a radical left-wing party, the CUP, won 48% of the vote in 2015 elections.
There was a sense that support for independence may have been ebbing, but the hardline strategy of the Spanish authorities to stop the vote going ahead may equally have re-energised backing for the vote itself to take place.
Does Catalonia have a good claim to nationhood?
It is certainly long-lived. It has its own language, a recorded history of more than 1,000 years as a distinct region, and a population nearly as big as Switzerland's (7.5 million).
Media caption
Galdric Arus: "Catalonia can work alone and be a new part of Europe, a rich part of Europe - no problem"It also happens to be a vital part of the Spanish state, locked in since the 15th Century, and - according to supporters of independence - subjected periodically to repressive campaigns to make it "more Spanish".
Catalonia's grievances with Madrid
Barcelona has become one of the EU's best-loved cities, famed for its 1992 Summer Olympics, trade fairs, football and tourism.
But Spain's 2008 economic crisis hit Catalonia hard, leaving it with 19% unemployment (compared with 21% nationally).
It is one of Spain's wealthiest regions, making up 16% of the national population and accounting for almost 19% of Spanish GDP. But there is a widespread feeling that the central government takes much more than it gives back.
Does Madrid really rip the region off?
It does appear to take more than it gives - though the complexity of budget transfers makes it hard to judge exactly how much more Catalans contribute in taxes than they get back from investment in services such as schools and hospitals.
According to 2014 figures, Catalonia paid €9.89bn more into Spain's tax authorities than it received in spending - the equivalent of 5% of its GDP.
Media caption
Alonso Romero feels perfectly integrated in the Catalan town of Santa Coloma, but he remains loyal to Spain
Meanwhile, state investment in Catalonia has dropped: the 2015 draft national budget allocated 9.5% to Catalonia - compared with nearly 16% in 2003.
But some argue that is a natural state of affairs in a country with such regional economic disparities.
Is there room for compromise?
The government in Madrid has indicated it could open the door to possible constitutional reforms. They may be ready to offer more money and greater financial autonomy, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told the Financial Times.
But that may not be enough for Carles Puigdemont and a Catalan leadership that has spent months preparing a path for independence.
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'But what about the EU? Here the Spanish government has made it clear that were Catalonia to become independent, it would resist it remaining a member of the EU. This would be most unpopular in Catalonia, which would want, among other things, to retain the euro'.
As someone never wanting European nations to become EURO ZONE for just these reasons----the problem now for 99% of European citizens as for 99% of Spanish citizens is not 'for better or worse' Euro Zone membership---the problem is after only several years since 2008 economic crash and the coming economic crash with movement of all Europe and UK wealth to the global 1% ----
WE THE PEOPLE MUST RESOLVE THESE MASSIVE MOVEMENTS OF SOVEREIGN CITIZEN WEALTH BEFORE WE ELIMINATE THE STATUS OF SOVEREIGN CITIZENS.
Here we see Catalonia citizens seeing themselves as remaining EU----where the goals of BARCELONA EXIT global 1% is the opposite. EURO ZONE BAILOUT sees this Catalonia exit more deeply then the UK because of these massive sovereign debt frauds in Spain.
Each time these global banking centers break away---as London and Barcelona---it becomes harder for the 99% of European citizens to recover citizens' wealth. The same will happen in US as Foreign Economic Zones here start pushing for EXIT.
Protesting police militant response to protest is different from being pro-Catalonia exit
.'Hundreds of thousands of people filled Barcelona's streets on Tuesday to protest Spanish police forces' militant response to the independence vote on Sunday'.
The Catalan independence referendum is a much bigger issue for the EU than Brexit
The region is an economic powerhouse, in effect subsidising the rest of the country. Its 7.5 million people, some 16 per cent of the population of Spain, generate nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP
- Hamish McRae
- @TheIndyBusiness
- 7 days ago
No country, within or outside the European Union, has openly expressed support for the 1 October referendum that Spain’s conservative government sees as illegal
It is essentially a political story, but with an economic twist. On Sunday the Catalan people vote on independence from Spain, despite the referendum being ruled illegal by the Spanish courts and despite practical efforts by the authorities to block entry to the polling stations. We don’t know how the day will pan out but we do know that whatever happens there will be consequences not just for Spain but for the European Union.
For most of us, Catalonia is Barcelona, the glittering planned capital, host of the Olympics in 1992, the event that brought the city to the world stage, and home to the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s huge and still unfinished cathedral.
Actually it is much more. The region is an economic powerhouse, in effect subsidising the rest of the country. Its 7.5 million people, some 16 per cent of the population of Spain, generate nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP. Were it a country it would rank in economic size somewhere between Denmark and Finland. As for Barcelona itself, its port is the biggest in the Mediterranean, and the fourth largest cruise ship destination in the world. It also has two of the top business schools in the world, ESADE and IESE, and a tradition of business competence.
Catalonia attracts one third of inward investment into Spain, and produces one third of Spain’s exports.
Without Catalonia, Spain would continue to be the fourth largest economy in the eurozone, after Germany, France and Italy, but it would be much weakened. By contrast Scotland’s share of UK GDP is 7.5 per cent, so in economic terms this is a much bigger deal for Spain than Scottish independence would be for the UK. You can see why they oppose a referendum.
But what about the EU? Here the Spanish government has made it clear that were Catalonia to become independent, it would resist it remaining a member of the EU. This would be most unpopular in Catalonia, which would want, among other things, to retain the euro.
Legally, Spain would be able to push an independent Catalonia out, but in the real world of European politics it would be hard for the rest of Europe to exclude a country that wanted to remain a member – or to be technically more correct, to rejoin. In economic terms Catalonia will be fully viable and there is no practical reason why it should not continue to use the euro, even if technically it were for a time outside the EU.
The obvious big question really is not so much the outcome of the referendum but whether Spain and Catalonia can rebuild their relationship. If they cannot do so, then Catalonia becomes a threat not just to Spain but to the EU as a whole, in some ways a greater threat than the departure of the UK. One of the lessons of the past couple of years is not just that politics have become unpredictable; it is also the economic consequences of a political event are unpredictable too. By rights the decision or non-decision of 7.5 million people ought not to unsettle Europe. But a week from now it may look very different.
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