Police Repression in Catalonia: Capitalism, Dictatorship and the Fight for Socialism

Police Repression in Catalonia:
Capitalism, Dictatorship
and the Fight for Socialism

Mass protests engulfed Catalonia Sunday as large parts of the region’s population mobilized against a brutal and indiscriminate crackdown by Spanish national police, who were dispatched to block the Catalan government’s referendum on secession from Spain. Millions worldwide reacted with horror to television news reports showing Civil Guard riot police assaulting peaceful protesters—injuring at least 844, including teenagers and elderly people—who were defending polling stations or lined up to vote.

Madrid’s barbaric crackdown was not a legal action, but an act of terror against innocent people aimed at whipping an entire region of Spain into line. The country has seen nothing like it since the Spanish Civil War and the end in 1978 of the 40-year regime of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco.

The crackdown, coming after weeks of threats and police operations launched by Madrid in Catalonia, is a political indictment not only of the ruling Partido Popular, but of the entire Spanish ruling elite and all of Spain’s main NATO allies. Further, it has exposed the bankruptcy of the two
main opposition parties in the Spanish parliament, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and Podemos.

Join the IYSSE for a critical analysis of the events in Spain, the question of separatism, the global crisis of capitalism, and the way forward for the international working class. Prior to the meeting, please read the following articles from the WSWS:

Millions defy brutal crackdown by Spanish police to vote in Catalan referendum

Oppose the state crackdown on the Catalan independence referendum! For working class unity! No to separatism in Spain!

Catalan secession crisis: Alongside Rajoy, Trump calls for a united Spain

Spain’s crackdown on the Catalan secessionist referendum: Podemos looks for its “Syriza moment”