By Daniel María Ripa / Translated by Robert Dyas.
José Ángel Fernández Villa, the leader of the Mining Workers Union of Asturias since 1979 (Sindicato de los Obreros Mineros de Asturias [SOMA-FITAG-UGT]), having helped set light to barricades over the past few days, comments: “If they want a battle, we’ll give them a battle. I’ve been 60 years on the front line of this industry and I won’t stand for repression whether it be under a dictator or a democracy.”
By Daniel Gómez-Olivé i Casas (Observatory of Debt in Globalisation) / Translated by Robert Dyas.
Some would say that a debt must always be paid. Indeed, the payment of debt is also referred to as “honouring” of a debt. It is treated as more it seems than a simple return: it is treated above all as the keeping of ones word. However, in reality, the repayment of a debt (especially when dealing with a sovereign debt) should depend on the origin of that debt, to whom it was lent, under what terms and the potential benefit. It would be unjust to demand repayment from the people when they are burdened with a debt that they certainly did not borrow and/or where they would have no interest in the repayment of that debt. Unjust and maybe illegitimate.
By F. Fatale / Translated by Susana Macías Pascua and Esther Ortiz
The Greek activist Yorgos Mitralias, member of a committee against sovereign debt, on tour around Spain, states the need for a European movement against debt and austerity policies.
"Soon the struggle will be synchronized", thought aloud Yorgos Mitralias, the anti-debt Greek activist at ten sharp on Saturday June 9 while casseroles were clanging opposite the Madrid’s Puerta del Sol as a result of the Spanish bailout perpetrated by the Eurogroup acting in collusion with the IMF. With just a few days before the second Greek general election, Mitralias has begun a journey travelling across several European cities -especially those located in the Iberian Peninsula- as part of a Citizens’ Debt Audit Platform action.
By Marta G. Franco (DIAGONAL editorial) / Translated by Robert Dyas
The 15th May 2011 was the start of the increase in activity within social movements that we have witnessed in recent months. The governing parties have yet to pick up on the atmosphere in the street. Contempt for them grows as initiatives of self-organisation abound.
A year on from the protests of 15th May 2011, it might appear as though none of the demands have been met. However, a closer look reveals real changes that the 15M movement has achieved in several areas.
Housing: Repossessions and Occupations
By Madrilonia
Madrilonia is one of the most politically active blogs that gained recognition during last year’s protests of the 15M movement. This article discusses the possibility of a Government fall in the following weeks.
On May 15th of last year we said: “Nobody expected the Spanish Revolution.” It’s been 12 months of debates and actions, of getting to know each other, and testing what we could do together. We see that bipartisanship has not listened to a single one of our demands. How then can we defeat the dictatorship of the market? How can we win a new regime of rights for all? How, in short, can we conquer a real democracy?
A government without a parachute
By 15MpaRato
Spanish citizens launch a campaign called #15MpaRato in order to identify and prosecute politicians and bankers responsible for fraud.
The process begins pointing at Rodrigo Rato (second vice president of Spanish government and Minister of Economy between 1996 and 2004, and just-resigned Bankia chairman) and plans uncover the bad management of politicians and bankers responsible for the crisis, proposing to end with the impunity of their acts and behaviour.
By Amador Fernández-Savater, a Spanish author, editor of Acuarela books and freelance researcher.
"More wood, this is war!" The train in the Marx Brothers’ film is the most accurate picture of present-day capitalism. Running away, fleeing forward, dismantling itself to further fuel the machine: destroying rights, guarantees, life, wealth, resources, care, bonds, the entire building of modern social civilization. The mad rush of capitalism threatens to bring everything down with it. There is neither an overall plan nor a long-term prospect: just take all the wood necessary to keep the machine running. Capitalism has gone completely punk: "no future".
Editor’s note: Government announcement of a partial nationalisation of Bankia, the country’s fourth largest bank, gained international attention due to the threat of a possible Spanish default.
Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos first announced on monday, may 21 that the bank would need an estimated €7’5bn to fix its troubled real state assets. Public spending cuts to meet european budget reduction demands will reach €27bn this year only. Update: On Friday, May 25 Spanish government recognized that Bankia will eventually receive a total €23’5 bn.
Social movements as 15M and debt audit groups continue to reject Government funding of troubled banks as Bankia.
Notes on Bankia: a bailout called nationalisation
We launch this blog to facilitate communication of what is happening in Spain related to the governance of what is called “the debt crisis” and the rise of european and global movements in response. We understand that austerity politics are not a territorial exception, but a transnational and European issue that requires an effort to overcome language frontiers, so we will translate articles from DIAGONAL and from every other relevant source suitable for reproduction.
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