To get around the obstacle of public opinion, the United States government has an extensive history of lying their way into war.
The post As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
To get around the obstacle of public opinion, the United States government has an extensive history of lying their way into war.
The post As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
(CN) — Ever since the U.S. government dangled $160 million last December to combat Russian propaganda and disinformation, obscure academics and eager think tanks have been lining up for a shot at the loot, an unseemly rush to profit that is spreading the Russia-gate hysteria beyond the United States to Europe.
Now, it seems that every development, which is unwelcomed by the Establishment – from Brexit to the Catalonia independence referendum – gets blamed on Russia! Russia! Russia!
The methodology of these “studies” is to find some Twitter accounts or Facebook pages somehow “linked” to Russia (although it’s never exactly clear how that is determined) and complain about the “Russian-linked” comments on political developments in the West. The assumption is that the gullible people of the United States, United Kingdom and Catalonia were either waiting for some secret Kremlin guidance to decide how to vote or were easily duped.
Oddly, however, most of this alleged “interference” seems to have come after the event in question. For instance, more than half (56 percent) of the famous $100,000 in Facebook ads in 2015-2017 supposedly to help elect Donald Trump came after last year’s U.S. election (and the total sum compares to Facebook’s annual revenue of $27 billion).
Similarly, a new British study at the University of Edinburgh blaming the Brexit vote on Russia discovered that more than 70 percent of the Brexit-related tweets from allegedly Russian-linked sites came after the referendum on whether the U.K. should leave the European Union. But, hey, don’t let facts and logic get in the way of a useful narrative to suggest that anyone who voted for Trump or favored Brexit or wants independence for Catalonia is Moscow’s “useful idiot”!
This week, British Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of seeking to “undermine free societies” and to “sow discord in the West.”
Yet, another core problem with these “studies” is that they don’t come with any “controls,” i.e., what is used in science to test a hypothesis against some base line to determine if you are finding something unusual or just some normal occurrence.
In this case, for instance, it would be useful to find some other country that, like Russia, has a significant number of English speakers but where English is not the native language – and that has a significant interest in foreign affairs – and then see whether people from that country weigh in on social media with their opinions and perspectives about political events in the U.S., U.K., etc.
Perhaps, the U.S. government could devote some of that $160 million to, say, a study of the Twitter/Facebook behavior of Israelis and whether they jump in on U.S./U.K. controversies that might directly or indirectly affect Israel. We could see how many Twitter/Facebook accounts are “linked” to Israel; we could study whether any Israeli “trolls” harass journalists and news sites that oppose neoconservative policies and politicians in the West; we could check on whether Israel does anything to undermine candidates who are viewed as hostile to Israeli interests; if so, we could calculate how much money these “Israeli-linked” activists and bloggers invest in Facebook ads; and we could track any Twitter bots that might be reinforcing the Israeli-favored message.
If we had this Israeli baseline, then perhaps we could judge how unusual it is for Russians to voice their opinions about controversies in the West. It’s true that Israel is a much smaller country with 8.5 million people compared to Russia’s 144 million, but you could adjust for those per capita numbers — and even if you didn’t, it wouldn’t be surprising to find that Israel’s interference in U.S. policy-making still exceeds Russian influence.
It’s also true that Israeli leaders have often advocated policies that have proved disastrous for the United States, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s encouragement of the Iraq War, which Russia opposed. Indeed, although Russia is now regularly called an American enemy, it’s hard to think of any policy that President Vladimir Putin has pushed on the U.S. that is even a fraction as harmful to U.S. interests as the Iraq War has been.
And, while we’re at it, maybe we could have an accounting of how much “U.S.-linked” entities have spent to influence politics and policies in Russia, Ukraine, Syria and other international hot spots.
But, of course, neither of those things will happen. If you even tried to gauge the role of “Israeli-linked” operations in influencing Western decision-making, you’d be accused of anti-Semitism. And if that didn’t stop you, there would be furious editorials in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the rest of the U.S. mainstream media denouncing you as a “conspiracy theorist.” Who could possibly think that Israel would do anything underhanded to shape Western attitudes?
And, if you sought the comparative figures for the West interfering in the affairs of other nations, you’d be faulted for engaging in “false moral equivalence.” After all, whatever the U.S. government and its allies do is good for the world; whereas Russia is the fount of evil.
So, let’s just get back to developing those algorithms to sniff out, isolate and eradicate “Russian propaganda” or other deviant points of view, all the better to make sure that Americans, Britons and Catalonians vote the right way.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).
By Robert Parry / Republished with permission / Consortium News / Report a typo
This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.
The media focused on anything but the unprecedented protest in Spain, in which around 1 million people called for the release of 8 political prisoners.
(ANTIMEDIA) Catalonia — On Friday, the Catalan parliament voted overwhelmingly to officially declare independence from Spain, a move reflecting the recent referendum in Catalonia that saw a reported 90% of Catalans vote in favor of breaking away.
The referendum, which the Spanish government declared illegal and violently attempted to suppress, was the result of a growing movement for independence in Catalonia, which Spain conquered and absorbed nearly 300 years ago.
Catalonia had its own language, culture, and institutions and only submitted to Spanish rule after a violent defeat in 1714.
The Spanish government has flatly rejected the Catalan regional government’s moves toward secession, declaring their actions unconstitutional and claiming that because of the ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘illegal’ nature of their moves for independence, the population’s vote is void.
Neither the Catalan or Spanish governments are backing down.
In response to Catalonia’s declaration of independence, the Spanish parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of imposing direct rule over the region while other branches of government also began taking punitive measures against the Catalan government.
The constitutional court has begun proceedings against Catalan’s declaration of independence while Spanish prosecutors are set to file rebellion charges against Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s president.
The Spanish government’s moves on Friday effectively suspended the Catalan government.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy waxed nationalistic in his defense of strong-arming Catalonia. “Spain is a serious country, it is a great nation and we are not prepared in any way to allow some people to liquidate our constitution.”
Nevertheless, it is curious that he believes defending the constitutions means subverting a democratic process. In Catalonia, supporters of independence celebrated their regional government’s official execution of the popular vote.
Many Catalans feel they carry more weight than they should for the Spanish government as the region accounts for substantial portions of the country’s wealth and trade, GDP, and exports. Though the population of Catalonia is 16% of Spain at large, the region accounts for 25.6% of Spain’s exports, 19% of GDP, and 20.7% of foreign investment, according to data from Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Eurostat, Bank of Spain, as reported by the BBC.
In light of the economic factors, it’s arguable that the Spanish government’s interest in keeping Catalonia under its control are based on more than a commitment to their constitution.
Nevertheless, some polls in Catalonia have shown a divided populace. One poll before the referendum actually indicated Catalans preferred to stay with Spain by a margin of 8 percent. The actual vote, however, sided heavily with independence amid brutal police actions that attempted to block Catalans from entering voting booths.
This raises a complex issue for advocates of secession and decentralization, as well as opponents of imperialism. Catalan’s ‘membership’ in greater Spain is a result of the imperial Spanish government’s crackdown on a previously autonomous region. However, only 43% of the Catalan population voted in favor of secession, and while 90% of voters sided with independence, 47% had no say at all.
Though the popular refrain, “If you don’t vote you can’t complain” may come to mind, the conundrum still raises questions about the efficacy of representative democracy when it comes to respecting individual rights.
Regardless, the U.S. government came out in favor of the Spanish government Friday, expressing its support for its NATO ally. “Catalonia is integral part of #Spain,” statement from State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The statement also said the U.S. supports “constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united.”
Regardless, the Spanish government’s moves on Friday include taking over Catalonia’s regional police and pushing for another vote in December.
Reuters reports that pro-independence factions in Catalonia intend to pushback with civil disobedience.
“The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, called on civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government and urged them to follow ‘peaceful resistance,” the outlet noted, citing Antonio Barroso of Teneo Intelligence, a global consulting firm.
“Tensions are likely to rise significantly over the coming days,” Barroso said. “Demonstrators might try to prevent the police from removing Catalan ministers from their offices if the central government decides to do so. This increases the risk of violent clashes with the police.”
(COMMONDREAMS) Thousands of Catalans were expected to protest Saturday afternoon after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced he would take control of Catalonia by invoking Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, weeks after the region’s independence referendum.
Defying the majority of Catalan voters who approved of a split from Spain in Catalonia’s independence referendum this month, Rajoy spoke at a press conference about his plans to transfer the power of the region’s president, Carles Puigdemont, to the central government, and hold early elections in the next six months.
Forty percent of Catalonia’s 5.5 eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum, despite a show of force by Spanish police that left nearly 900 people injured ahead of the October 1 vote.
Ninety percent of those who voted approved of independence, according to the regional government. Officials said that in addition to police violence, Spanish law enforcement raided polling stations, resulting in the loss of 770,000 ballots.
Following the vote, large crowds in Barcelona last weekend called for peaceful negotiations to determine the next step, but Rajoy has rejected dialogue on the grounds that the Spanish government sees Catalonia’s referendum as illegal.
Observers and supporters of Catalonia’s independence movement denounced Rajoy’s planned power grab on social media.
Rajoy is announcing direct rule in #Catalonia. Whole @catalangov to be chucked out of office. Forced elections within six months.
— Kate Shea Baird (@KateSB) October 21, 2017
The end of Spanish Democracy. Madrid govt. activates coup against Catalonia.
— Alfred Bosch (@AlfredBosch) October 21, 2017
Coup d"État against Catalonia. Rajoy move to suppress @catalangov and control Catalan police and TV. Goodbye Spain, time for independence.
— Aleix Sarri Camargo (@aleixsarri) October 21, 2017
By Julia Conley / Creative Commons / Common Dreams / Report a typo
This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.
This report was originally published by Brandon Smith at Alt-Market.com
I have written many times in the past about the singular conflict at the core of most human crises and disasters, a conflict that sabotages human endeavor and retards critical thought. This conflict not only stems from social interaction, it also exists within the psyche of the average individual. It is an inherent contradiction of the human experience that at times can fuel great accomplishment, but usually leads to great tragedy. I am of course talking about the conflict between our inborn need for self determination versus our inborn desire to hand over responsibility to a community through group effort — sovereignty versus collectivism.
In my view, the source of the problem is that most people wrongly assume that “collectivism” is somehow the same as community. This is entirely false, and those who make this claim are poorly educated on what collectivism actually means. It is important to make a distinction here; the grouping of people is not necessarily or automatically collectivism unless that group seeks to subjugate the individuality of its participants. Collectivism cannot exist where individual freedom is valued. People can still group together voluntarily for mutual benefit and retain respect for the independence of members (i.e. community, rather than collectivism).
This distinction matters because there is a contingent of political and financial elites that would like us to believe that there is no middle ground between the pursuits of society and the liberties of individuals. That is to say, we are supposed to assume that all our productive energies and our safety and security belong to society. Either that, or we are extremely selfish and self serving “individualists” that are incapable of “seeing the bigger picture.” The mainstream discussion almost always revolves around these two extremes. We never hear the concept that society exists to serve individual freedom and innovation and that a community of individuals is the strongest possible environment for the security and future of humanity as a whole.
Thus, the mainstream argument becomes a kabuki theater between the “ignorantly destructive” populists/nationalists/individualists versus the more “reasonable” and supposedly forward thinking socialists/globalists/multiculturalists. The truth is, sovereignty champions can be pro-individual liberty and also pro-community or pro-nation, as long as that community is voluntary.
Collectivists will have none of this, however, and despite their intellectual and “rational” facade, they will often turn to brutality in order to disrupt any movement to decentralize power.
The civil unrest in the Spanish region of Catalonia is an interesting example of the tyranny of the collectivist ideology. According to mainstream doctrine, Spain is supposed to be a “decentralized unitary state” made up of “autonomous communities,” all with their own statutes and self governing bodies “loosely” regulated by the Spanish constitution of 1978. Catalonia, along with a couple other regions and cities in Spain, has long fought for true autonomy from the central government in Madrid. This separatist culture was crushed under the heel of Francisco Franco’s dictatorial regime after the Spanish Civil War which started in 1936.
After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain began its “transition to democracy” (democracy being the tyranny of the majority rather than tyranny by military regime). Once again, Catalonia’s push for independence returned.
The reasons for a Catalan secession are multitude and are of course noble or nefarious depending on which side you talk to. From my research, it would seem the primary drive for Catalonia is economic. Spain is one of the more indebted member states in the European Union with a national debt near 100% of GDP. The “great recession” starting in 2008 struck Spain particularly hard, with around 21% of the general population officially in poverty and over 40% of all children officially in poverty. Unemployment according to government statistics hovers near 18%.
Catalonia is the most prosperous region in Spain’s economy, accounting for nearly 20% of total GDP. Catalans also assert that taxation in their region is a primary pillar for the Spanish government, which has not returned the favor with sufficient investment in infrastructure in the region. In essence, there is a “taxation without representation” feel to the conflict, and Americans in particular know very well how that kind of situation can end.
On the other side of the debate, it is clear that if Catalonia leaves the Spanish system on negative terms, then Spain’s already crumbling economy will be destroyed. The motivation for Spain to keep control of Catalonia is high just on the grounds of economic disaster.
Beyond the economic issue, another interesting side note on Spain is its intense social justice (cultural Marxism) programs. While Europeans often suggest Spain as being a “conservative” government, in policy and action this is simply not true. Spain is notorious for being one of the most militantly feminist governments in the EU aside from Sweden, and this is saying something given the socialist nature of the EU. Gender laws and divorce laws in the country offer some of the most draconian double standards against men I have ever witnessed. Perhaps this will give you a kind of litmus test for the sort of culture we are dealing with here, and maybe it accounts for some discontent in certain portions of the Spanish population.
Catalonia itself is often cited as being “more liberal” in its political orientation in comparison to the rest of Spain. Of course, the term “liberal” can mean many different things in Europe depending on the nation, and American definitions do not necessarily apply. Just as Europeans tend to have no understanding whatsoever of what “conservatism” means in the U.S., Americans have a hard time understanding all the intricacies of the various levels of “liberalism” in Europe.
That said, what side of the political spectrum Catalonia sits on is irrelevant to greater discussion.
What I actually enjoy pointing out here is the fact that whether you look at the Franco era of nationalist totalitarianism, or the “semi” socialist and hyper-cultural Marxist era of today, the Spanish government STILL acts the same in its despotism against Catalan separation or independence. It is not as if the socialists set out to right the wrongs of the Franco regime once it fell. Not at all. Instead, they merely perpetuated the same attitude of centralization while wearing a smiling face. Once again, we see that there is very little difference between fascism and communism/socialism when we get down to core behaviors and policies.
Collectivists, regardless of what other labels they use to identify themselves, have certain rules that they consistently follow in order to maintain power. One of those rules is that the collective is indivisible. They might pontificate endlessly about their superior democratic ideals, but when some people vote to leave en masse, either in polling booths or with their feet, the mask of benevolence always comes off and the true monster behind collectivism is revealed.
As we have seen in Catalonia, this monstrous behavior is undeniable. The Spanish government has set out to prevent not just separation, it has sought to prevent the very act of voting on separation using police and military force. In essence, martial law was been declared in Catalonia in order to stop the people from enacting the very democratic ideals the Spanish government claims it enshrines.
Despite the vicious measures of interference, reports suggest that the vote was still successful, with 90% of the citizenry in support of independence. What happens now is unclear, but I can tell you two things are relatively certain.
First, a 90% vote in favor will result in a militarized response from the Spanish government. If the vote was less overwhelming, the government might attempt to pit one side of the population against the other, causing internal strife and disrupting secession. This strategy is unrealistic given the mass movement for independence. So, the only other option for the government is full blown martial law.
Second, such a crackdown will result in a violent counter-response. This happened in the 1970s in Catalonia and I see no reason why it would not happen again. When you have almost an entire population in agreement on separation and you use force to stop them from attaining it, they will become violent. Civil war is inevitable if martial law is declared.
It is vital that we examine the root ideological catalyst in this scenario.
The most rational solution would be for the Spanish government to accept the Catalan vote (if they believe in “democracy” as they claim, then they have to accept it, otherwise they appear extraordinarily hypocritical). This could result in a more harmonious economic relationship and less drastic damage to Spain’s fiscal structure. However, this is not going to happen. Instead, Spain is going to use the age old collectivist tactics of intimidation and carnage to oppress the Catalan’s and subsume their economic production (as socialist governments always do). When civil war erupts, and it will, production in Catalonia will grind to a standstill and Spain STILL loses 20% of its GDP.
You see, this is a lose/lose scenario for Spain, all because the collectivist doctrine demands a jackbooted reaction to any movement for decentralization. Collectivist systems are parasitic in nature; they see the citizenry as food, as units of production for the state that cannot be allowed to leave, for the “greater good of the greater number.” Collectivists rationalize their behavior as essential to the well being of the society at large, but this is dishonest, for their behavior more often harms society by crushing individual innovation and instigating wars that might not have ever happened in the first place.
There is at the same time the matter of sovereignty movements across Europe. The only people who benefit from stopping these movements are globalists/collectivists. They may also benefit by sabotaging these movements after the fact, making an example of them and holding them up to the rest of the world as symbols of the “failures of populism.”
It is important to point out here that Catalonia is not necessarily seeking independence from the EU, only Spain. Some might argue that this makes the Catalan vote irrelevant. I disagree.
Some people might also argue that if secession happened in the U.S., the response would be the same. I would argue that just because it might happen the same way, this does not mean it is right. If leftist Californians, for example, followed through with their latest threats to secede from the U.S. and a massive shift of leftists and cultural Marxists move to the state, frankly I would be ecstatic. Let these people separate and congregate. Let them fail or succeed on the merits of their own ideas and ethics. If they are allowed to organize without interference and they fail, then this is simply more proof that their ideology was unsound and impractical. California’s large percentage of U.S. GDP would simply transfer to other states if in fact the productive people there are not leftists and they migrate away, leaving the separatists to wallow in their naive ideology.
If Catalonia separates without interference and succeeds economically and socially, then perhaps it is not for Spain to try to subvert or destroy the region, but to emulate their model and learn from them. If people wish to walk away from a community, they should be allowed to do so. This is very simple. Self determination is not dependent on political expediency or mutual benefit. It is an inherent human right. Communities and borders should be based on principles that the population stands by and every system should remain voluntary. If they do not stand by said principles and they work to thwart voluntarism, then those communities are worthless and should not exist at all.
When a collective acts to stop people from leaving, all they are doing is exposing the fact that their reasons for existing are inadequate and unconvincing. This goes for Spain, it goes for the EU and it goes for the rest of the world. Globalists and collectivists should take note — decentralization is the true model for the future. In the long run, forcing people into participation in the system is a losing battle.
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You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com
Unsuspecting Americans to be Hit Hard by this U.S. Scheme to Confiscate Your Savings:Alan Greenspan, 20-year head of the US Fed, reveals Washington’s nasty trick to confiscate the savings of unsuspecting Americans. Here’s How Some Americans Are Preparing
Spanish national police have stormed ministries and buildings belonging to Catalonia’s regional government to put a stop to the region’s independence referendum. In the early morning hours, armed officers arrived at various Catalan ministries, including the economics department, foreign affairs department, and social affairs department, and made arrests in an effort to stop Catalan independence.
The Guardia Civil, which acts with the authority of Madrid’s interior ministry, is searching for evidence regarding the planned October 1st referendum on Catalan independence, which Spain’s Constitutional Court has declared illegal. The Catalan president has accused the Spanish government of effectively suspending the region’s autonomy and declaring a de facto state of emergency.
Police officers raided Catalan government offices on Wednesday and arrested 12 senior officials in a bid to stop an independence referendum being held in less than two weeks’ time. Pro-independence crowds have since formed outside the regional ministries in support of the provincial government and in protest against the raids and searches and attempts to stop the independence referendum.
Repression on Terrassa city: this is what demonstrators providing support to #1Oct referendum have got from Spanish police pic.twitter.com/QTyhvDTQFD
— Repression@Catalonia (@RepressionAtCAT) September 19, 2017
According to The Guardian, Carles Puigdemont, the president of Catalonia described the raids as a “co-ordinated police assault” that showed that Madrid “has de facto suspended self-government and applied a de facto state of emergency” in Catalonia.
Tensions between Madrid and Barcelona have also escalated in recent days as the government of the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, strives to ensure that the controversial independence vote does not take place on October 1st, while the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, appears to back those hoping to vote for their independence. The mayor tweeted: “Searching public bodies and arresting officials is a democratic scandal. We defend Catalan institutions.”
Es un escàndol democràtic que s"escorcolli institucions i es detinguin càrrecs públics per motius polítics. Defensem institucions catalanes
— Ada Colau (@AdaColau) September 20, 2017
Yet, the Spanish government is using whatever force necessary at this point to prevent the independence referendum.
On Wednesday morning, Spain’s interior ministry announced it was cancelling leave for all the guardia civil and national police officers tasked with preventing the referendum. In a statement, it said the affected officers would have to be available between 20 September and 5 October, but added the period could be extended if necessary.
The raids come a day after the guardia civil confiscated referendum documents from the offices of a private delivery firm in the Catalan city of Terrassa. More than 1.5 million [sic] referendum leaflets and posters have also been seized. –The Guardian
The protesting crowd has grown since word of these arrests broke. Breaking into the Catalan national anthem and waving placards reading “We are voting to be free”, the protestors began by chanting “No tinc por” (I’m not afraid) – the slogan used in response to last month’s terrorist attacks in the city. But the chant was soon replaced by a new cry: “Occupation forces out!”
As people around the world march for more freedom from the oppression of government, many Americans appear to be doing the opposite. With heads glued to social media, many march for more government control over their lives dragging others down into the tyrannical oppression with them.
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Author: Mac Slavo
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Date: September 20th, 2017
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There is no good government and bad government. There is GOVERNMENT.
Government is not an entity by The People and for The People. It never was and it will never be, because people in government do not serve those who elected them.
One characteristic that all governments share is that they hold the monopoly of force.
Government is a creature that relies on obedience, voluntary or not, and when obedience doesn’t exist, force is always the tool of choice to coerce citizens and to force them to obey.
Compliance with government rules, regulations and policies, no matter how illegal and immoral they are, is of great importance, if the ruling class is to continue squatting on The People. Not one soul should be able to dissent, because the snow ball effect may be catastrophic for the rulers.
The ruling class is so open in the attempt to eviscerate the most basic principles of Western democracy, that it dares to challenge the most sacred right that The People have: Voting.
That is the case of Catalonia.
Whether voting means anything or not, citizens should be able, under all circumstances, to choose among real options what is best for them.
In the case of Catalonia, it is either independence or political, economic and financial subjugation to Spain.
The Catalan people have been under Spanish dominance for centuries, and in their case, it has been too long. Yet, Spain is not just going to let Catalonians exercise their right to vote, for or against independence.
Spain’s oppression against Catalonia extends to the use of force against the Govern, the rightful, constitutionally responsible party that is entitled with the decision to provide its citizens with the possibility to remain as part of Spain, or to choose complete autonomy.
Despite the fact that voting is the most sacred right that citizen possesses, the Catalan Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the mayor of the Mossos de Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero, as well as the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps in Catalonia to avoid the “commission of the crime” and to “confiscate ballot boxes” and all material aimed at preparing and holding the referendum on 1 October.
Following a meeting on Monday afternoon, the Office of the Public Prosecutor issued a statement in which all judicial police units must persecute anyone who is involved in preparing and holding the “referendum on illegal self-determination.”
At the meeting, the Superior Prosecutor of Catalonia, José María Romero de Tejada, handed over to the three police commanders the instruction dated 8 September, in which the three are ordered to seize all material linked to the referendum on self-determination of 1 of October.
“Police officers, in order to avoid consummation or exhaustion of crimes, shall proceed directly to take the necessary measures to intervene the effects or instruments intended to prepare or hold the illegal referendum, requisition of ballot boxes, electoral envelopes, polling stations, electoral forms, electoral propaganda, computer equipment, as well as any other material for the dissemination, promotion or execution of the illegal referendum,” says one of the paragraphs of the statement.
In its brief, the prosecution itself recalls that it has the capacity to carry out this investigation outside the scope of any further judicial action and it asks the three commanders for speed and urgency in drafting police reports. That is, it orders them to investigate and locate the material intended to be used by the Generalitat for the celebration of the consultation.
So far, only the Civil Guard has taken steps to locate ballots, and in fact has requested the registration of a printing press in Constantí, which is suspected of having electoral material.
The National Police, on the other hand, assures those responsible that they will work in the same direction and the Mossos d’Esquadra are the only ones who in the last hours have refused to make any statement about this instruction, if they will go to a specific unit of a specific police station to investigate the whereabouts of that material.
In its instruction, the prosecution expressly reminds the Mossos d’Esquadra that “they are obliged to follow the instructions” of the prosecutor, and it also reminds them that “due obedience” to their political leaders “cannot protect orders involving the execution of acts contrary to the Constitution.”
In other words, the Public Ministry reminds Major Trapero that he should not obey orders or instructions from his political superiors if they are contrary to the law.
In this regard, the prosecution’s instruction urges the Mossos to urgently prepare a statement with all the necessary information on the existence or knowledge of any facts related to the preparations for the referendum.
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(ANTIMEDIA) — In the latest development in the global secession trend, as many as one million Catalans marched in Barcelona this week, many asserting their right to break away from Spain. Their demands come amid pushback from the Spanish government, which is attempting to block the vote as the Catalan government refuses to back down.
The Guardian reported Monday:
“For the sixth successive year, Catalonia’s national day — La Diada de Catalunya — was used as a political rally by the pro-independence movement. Organisers said 450,000 people had registered for the event, and Barcelona police later tweeted that 1 million turned up.”
As Spain’s version of The Local explained, La Diada is a holiday commemorating a famous Catalan defeat on September 11, 1714:
“The surrender marked the dissolution of autonomous Catalan institutions, the removal of Catalan as an official language and the imposition of new laws from the newly centralised Spain.”
Still, Newsweek notes, Catalonia retains its own parliament, government, and “some devolved powers.” Catalan is still a prominent language in the region.
This history helps explain why this year, the marches focused particularly on the upcoming referendum, which was planned by the Catalan government for October 1. The Spanish government has condemned the legislation authorizing the referendum.
This resistance mirrors a similar 2014 vote, as Newsweek explained:
“As in 2014, the Spanish government does not recognise Catalonia’s right to hold a referendum. It accused the region’s parliament of committing a ‘constitutional and democratic atrocity’ on Wednesday when it passed the bill calling for the referendum.”
Even Catalonia’s judicial system deemed the vote unconstitutional, with prosecutors ordering police to seize ballot boxes ahead of the vote. Supporters of the referendum have claimed the decision was political.
Though some speculate the vote won’t happen at all, Raul Romeva, Catalonia’s foreign affairs minister, says it’s already underway. “You need to remember that people are already voting,” he urged. “The Catalan community abroad is already voting. Those people who say there’ll be no referendum forget that the referendum is already under way.”
The region’s president, Carles Puigdemont, is facing a slew of charges for his hard push for the referendum and says he is prepared to go to jail over his convictions.
Though the pro-secession Catalonia leadership is steadfast in its resolve to hold the vote and break away from Spain, not all Catalans favor the move. The Guardian notes that according to a survey conducted in July, “49.4% of Catalans were against independence and 41.1% supported it.”
The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, said in a speech on Monday that while he was disappointed with the Spanish government’s response to the referendum, the Catalan government’s “unilateral” push for the vote “left out half the people of Catalonia.”
Nevertheless, some Catalonians simply want their voices to be heard. “It’s not about voting yes or voting no, it’s just about being able to vote democratically,” said one La Diada attendee. “That said, I will be [a] bit sad if the no camp wins.”
The Catalan effort to break away from larger Spain is part of a larger global trend. From Brexit and Scotland’s failed independence referendum in 2014 to Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Tibet’s fight to break away from China and various secession movements across the United States — including a push by native Hawaiians for sovereignty from the federal government — the trend toward decentralization and localization appears to be on the rise, and the movements are rooted in longstanding history.
Governments continue to vehemently oppose such efforts, and even some citizens of the regions attempting to break away are against them. However, this opposition is evidently doing little to curb drive of some individuals and groups to break free of centralized control.
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Numerous earlier incidents in America and Europe reported as terrorism turned out to be false flags.
Was Catalonia violence in Barcelona and Cambrils more of the same? It’s too soon to know, wise to be suspicious.
On Thursday, a white van, traveling at high speed, struck pedestrians and cyclists in Barcelona’s Las Ramlas district, killing a dozen or more, injuring scores of others.
Conflicting reports left unclear if the driver was dead or alive, one report saying he fled on foot, another saying he was killed, regional police chief Josep Lluis Tapero unable to confirm if he was shot dead.
Witnesses described panic and chaos. Hours later in Cambrils, a seaside resort town around 70 miles from Barcelona, a black Audi sedan rammed more pedestrians, one person killed, others injured.
Reports said five attackers were lethally shot by police. The Barcelona attack was the deadliest in Spain since explosions on four Madrid commuter trains left 192 dead, around 1,800 injured, a false flag incident reported as terrorism.
An ISIS statement claiming responsibility for the Barcelona incident remains unverified. Yet it made headlines, likely getting most people to believe it. Anyone can call themselves ISIS and claim responsibility. The statement is meaningless.
Incidents like Barcelona, Cambrils and numerous similar earlier ones are used to stoke fear, erode civil liberties, and justify unjustifiable aggression on targeted nations.
They’re usually strategically timed for an intended purpose, designed to capture world headlines, conceal responsibility of the perpetrator, and point fingers at convenient patsies.
Passports or other IDs are usually found, automatically raising red flag suspicions of something not as reported.
Following an earlier false flag attack, a cartoon on independent media showed an individual dressed in black, a suicide jacket strapped to his chest, his finger on the triggering mechanism, saying “s..t, I forgot my passport” – mocking the absurdity of a criminal leaving identifying documents at the scene of the crime, making capture all the easier.
The 9/11 mother of all false flags revealed a treasure trove of information, showing what happened was other than the official narrative.
Most obvious was how could a handful of terrorists outwit America’s 16 intelligence agencies, including sophisticated NSA eavesdropping on anyone or anything suspicious.
Discussing the Catalonia incidents, Michel Chossudovsky said “(r)eports concerning the Barcelona attack, reveal exactly the same feature of passports and IDs left behind which occurred in Manchester, Paris, Nice, London, New York, and now Barcelona…”
Suspects are usually lethally shot, not arrested. Dead men tell no tales. The official narrative alone is reported, time and again proven false.
The alleged terrorist, a 17 year-old man, and apparently of Arab descent. The perfect patsy.Imagine an action film where a terrorist hides in a Turkish restaurant after running over innocent people with his van. The terrorist escapes, in spite of a strong police operation that extends for many blocks.
It is a self-inflicted attack, but only minutes later, the media reports the attack as terrorism.
This is the plot of the attack in Barcelona. It is a false-flag type of attack conducted against the people and the government of Catalonia.
A true terrorist who wants to kill people and / or commit suicide does not carry his passport and conveniently leaves it at the scene of the crime.
This technique was used on 11/09/2001 in New York and in other recent terrorist attacks perpetrated by intelligence agencies and rogue agents in various governments.
Barcelona has no history of terrorism, it is not an oppressive state. Quite the contrary and unlike many European cities, Catalonia welcomes hundreds of thousands of immigrants and members of minority groups from all over the world, especially the Middle East and North Africa.
It is not difficult to understand that what happened yesterday was a false flag attack carried out by the Spanish government or at the behest of the Spanish State to tighten the nuts of its dictatorship on Catalonia, and to stop the sovereign movement that seeks independence.
Mariano Rajoy took the opportunity to call for unity between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, something he has been talking about every time he is questioned about Catalonian independence, a change that he opposes vehemently.
Someone must tell Mr. Rajoy that his government has to be more sophisticated to deceive people, that people are not in a twentieth century state of mind anymore.
What a coincidence that this attack happens shortly before the Catalan referendum of October 1st!
States that are losing power and control over The People always follow the same recipe. They always do the same, they lock the people in their houses and commercial establishments so that they do not see anything, they get the supposed terrorist cornered but mysteriously he escapes from them.
Any Hollywood film would raise millions only with this opening scene. Remember Enemy of the State?
People holding a Catalan flag gather for a minute of silence in memory of the terrorist attacks victims in Las Ramblas, Barcelona. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)They perform an act of distraction, carry out operations to find and kill, never capture alive, the alleged terrorist and his accomplices, so they do not testify in court to reveal they were recruited by intelligence agencies to carry out the attacks, or that they were provided with the tools to do so.
In recent attacks, in North America, state terrorists recruited actors to appear dead or injured in the streets to make the alleged attack more dramatic and for the absent-minded believers to accept any state imposition. The actors appear in photographs in various terror attacks as “victims”.
It is PROBLEM, REACTION SOLUTION, the Hegelian dialect. A problem is created, to obtain an already calculated reaction and an alleged solution is given to the problem that was created synthetically.
And the alleged terrorists? They are “patsies”, mentally ill or young people who are deceived into participating in the war against “infidels” or “intolerant” westerners.
This theory, which many be called a conspiracy theory, will be proven right over the course of days, but do not expect the mass media to correct all the lies they have said so far and all the speculations and distractions that come from official sources.
Hopefully, the Catalan government and the Catalan people will not allow themselves to be intimidated by this act of violence against their right to vote on October 1st. Hopefully, Catalonia will continue its struggle to vote for what they believe is best for them.
Families at a popular Spanish beach were shocked yesterday when an inflatable raft carrying dozens of migrants from Northern Africa suddenly washed ashore. As can be seen in the following onlooker"s video, the migrants fled the boat before it reached dry land and ran inland in an effort to evade authorities.
According to the Daily Mail, the migrants arrived in Cadiz in Southern Spain and managed to disperse before being captured by police.
Footage shows the migrants leaping out of a black inflatable dinghy and dashing across the sand on beaches at Cadiz in southern Spain, after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.
Carlos Sanz, who shot the video while on vacation in Cadiz, said the group quickly vanished and police only arrived some time later.
Local newspaper Diario De Cadiz reported that many of those on board quickly changed their clothing to evade the police, who carried out searches to apprehend the suspected illegal migrants. Many of the group were collected in vehicles after landing, according to the paper which could mean that those driving the vehicles could potentially face human trafficking charges if caught.
The incident comes as the International Organization for Migration warned on Thursday that Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, using boats and even jet-skis.
According to the IOM"s latest figures, until August 6, close to 8,200 migrants had arrived in Spain so far this year.
That is more than triple the number who reached Spain at the same time last year, according to Joel Millman, a senior IOM spokesman, and already more than the total arrivals in 2016.
While the figure pales in comparison with arrivals in Italy - where more than 96,400 have landed so far this year - Spain is catching up with Greece where 11,713 have arrived by sea in the same timeframe.
"It"s possible that Spain will outperform Greece this year," Millman told AFP.
"If so, that"s a big change."
The southern shores of Spain are roughly 20 miles from the north African coast.
The Executive office, that is, the central government in Madrid, is now regulating the amount of money that flows to the Generalitat, the regional government office in Catalonia, as a way to force the cancellation of the referendum scheduled for October 1, 2017.
The Government has approved to impose a system of control of expenses to the Generalitat of Catalonia whereby, weekly, the inspectors and economic officials from each department must certify that they have not initiated any investment in the preparations for the referendum announced for October 1.
In the event that the Generalitat does not comply with this obligation dictated by the Government, the Executive of Mariano Rajoy will suspend the transfer of money through the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (ALF), of which Catalonia has received 58 billion euros since 2012.
The agreement has been approved by the Council of Ministers and responds, according to the spokesman of the Government, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, to an initiative to make Catalonia comply with the so-called Constitutional ruling in which the items of the Catalan budget for the independence referendum were canceled.
In the event of initiation of expense filings for the preparation of the Catalonian consultation, the Government will take other measures “before the competent authorities”.
The Government has adopted this agreement, as explained, given the “risk” situation generated by the Generalitat’s intention to organize the referendum, and due to the “uncertainty” for companies and citizens to ensure that “not a single public euro” will be used to fund the referendum.
“The referendum cannot be paid with public money. Rest assured that all Catalans will not have a single euro taken for anything that is illegal,” said Méndez de Vigo.
In Spain, the Government believes that self-determination is illegal and that publicly and openly voting for independence is not a right of the Catalonian people, or anyone else for that matter. They also believe that it is mandatory for the Catalonians to pay taxes to the central government without requesting any accountability from the Executive led by Mariano Rajoy. Only the Government, it seems, determines the present and future of all citizens, as supposed to being the citizens themselves who determine their present and future.
For this purpose, a series of senior officials must submit, individually and weekly, certificates that ensure that records of expenses and payments that may be directed directly or indirectly to activities linked to the referendum, have not been initiated or processed.
Those responsible for sending this information to the Government are the auditors of the ministries, with the certified support of the top managers of the managing bodies, the economic and financial leaders of entities in which there are no delegated interventions, the general director of budgets and the director general of financial policy, insurance and treasury.
With this information, if the Ministry of Finance concludes that funds are being used to fund the referendum, “it will transfer to the competent authorities for the demand of responsibility,” as detailed the Executive spokesman.
“In case they do not comply with the obligation to send that weekly information, the Government will implement the provisions of the ALF agreements, conditioned to the fulfillment of its objective of public services. “It could withdraw the ALF monies, as that is a line to the progress and well-being of the Catalans”, recognized Méndez de Vigo.
The minister spokesman said that “it would be very serious” that this weekly communication did not occur and does not even contemplate it. But he explained that if the payment of the ALF were to be withdrawn, the President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, would be the one who would have to explain to the Catalans why this situation has been reached.
This is a clear example of what Governments do when their power goes unchecked. They appear to be governing for the people, but when the people challenge that power and seek self-determination, the Government’s immediate reaction is to demand compliance by force.
The entry into force of this agreement is “immediate.” “If a government wants to use the money for other things that are illegal, they will have to be the ones who will pay for it, because they will not pay it with the money of all the Catalans,” he said.
Méndez de Vigo then justified, there is a “right” to “know that nobody uses that money at all for something that is only the pretension of a few.” It is a “preventive” measure in favor of the “security and welfare” of the Catalans “to ensure that money goes where the Catalans want it to go, which is to provide essential public services and not an illegal referendum.”
He forgets to say that at least half the Catalan people do desire to be independent from Spain and that, therefore, the money would be indeed going to a purpose that half of Catalonians approve. He also forgets to mention that the money that is paid in the form of taxes belongs to the people, not to the Spanish Government, so it is the people who dictate what is done with it, not him, Mr, Rajoy or anyone else.
What Spain is doing and has been doing with Catalonia is a clear example that Government is, indeed like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
Authored by Giulio Meotti via The Gatestone Institute,
Muslim supremacists seem to have fantasies -- as well as a long history -- of converting Christian sites to Islamic ones. Take, for example, Saint-Denis, the Gothic cathedral named for the first Christian bishop of Paris who was buried there in 250, and the burial place of Charles Martel, whose victory stopped the Muslim invasion of France in 732. Now, according to the scholar Gilles Kepel, this burial place of most of France"s kings and queens is "the Mecca in Islam of France". The French Islamists are dreaming of taking it over and replacing the church bells with the call of the muezzin.
In Turkey"s greatest cathedral, Hagia Sophia, a muezzin"s call recently reverberated inside the sixth-century church for the first time in 85 years.
In France, Muslim leaders called for converting abandoned churches into mosques. thereby echoing The late writer Emile Cioran once predicted of Europe: "The French will not wake up until Notre Dame becomes a mosque".
Now it is the turn of Spain"s greatest Catholic site, the Cathedral of Córdoba. Spanish "leftists" and secularists would now, it seems, like to convert to Islam the cathedral of Córdoba, the symbol of a time when "Islam was on the verge of turning the Mediterranean into a Muslim lake". Now that Islam is again conquering large swaths of the Middle East and Africa, is it not a coincidence that this campaign is gaining ground?
In 550 the Cathedral of Córdoba was a Christian basilica, dedicated to a saint; then, in 714, it was occupied by the Muslims, who destroyed it and converted it into the Great Mosque of Córdoba during the reign of Caliph Abd al Rahman I. The site was returned to Catholic worship by King Ferdinand III in 1523 and became the current great Cathedral of Córdoba, one of the most important sites of Western Christianity. Now an alliance of secularists and Islamists are trying to turn the church back to Islamic worship.
The Wall Street Journal called it deconquista, playing with the word reconquista, the time when Spain was returned from Islam to Catholicism. "The Great Mosque of Córdoba" is what UNESCO -- also torturing, upending and turning history on its head to rewrite the past of Jerusalem and Hebron -- calls it. In the last six centuries, however, only Catholic mass and confessions have been officiated there. The WSJ charges "left-wing Spanish intellectuals" with trying to "de-Christianize" the site.
 The main altar of the Cathedral of Córdoba. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons/© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / CC BY-SA 3.0) |
A recent Islamic State map of domination includes not only the Middle East, but also Spain. ISIS calls it "Al-Andalus". Gatestone"s Soeren Kern, among others, has detailed ISIS"s call to retake Spain. Osama bin Laden, who targeted Spain in a terror attack in 2004, frequently referred to Al-Andalus in his videos and speeches. Daniel Pipes has further explained, "even centuries after the reconquista of 1492, Muslims continued to long to recreate Muslim Andalusia". Bin Laden"s heir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also weighed in: "The return of Andalus to Muslim hands is a duty for the umma [Muslim community]". Syrian Jihadists call Spain "the land of our ancestors". In Islamic symbolism, Córdoba is the lost Caliphate.
It is self-destructive and surreal that Spanish secularists -- those who claim to care about separation of church and state -- are now supporting Muslim supremacists in their "reconquista of the Mosque of Córdoba".
The recent wave of immigration has brought many Muslims to Spain; the Islamic Spanish population has almost doubled from about a million in 2007 to 1.9 million today. 350,000 people signed a petition promoted by the Spanish "left", calling for the expropriation of the Christian building. Political authorities in Córdoba dealt a blow to the Catholic Church"s claim of ownership of cathedral by declaring that "religious consecration is not the way to acquire property". But this is how history works, especially in the lands where Christianity and Islam fought hard for dominion. Why are secularists not pressing Turkey"s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give Christians back the Hagia Sophia? No one has raised an eyebrow that "Christendom"s greatest cathedral has become a mosque".
The Spanish "left", governing the region, would like to convert the church into "a place for the meeting of faiths". Nice ecumenical words, but a death trap for the Islamic domination over other faiths. In 2010, a group of Muslim activists tried to pray inside the building. To raise support from American Catholics, the Bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernández González, recently explained that the law of Andalusia would allow the expropriation of the cathedral if a court ruled that the Catholic Church failed to preserve the building. "It has become fashionable on the left to romanticize the Islamic past of Spain", noted the Wall Street Journal.
"The Catholics of the Reconquista are thought of as crude fanatics, whereas the caliphate is presented as a haven of tolerance and learning where Jews and Christians—never mind their second-class status—lived side-by-side with Muslims in happy convivencia. Barack Obama even cited Andalusia as an example of Islam"s "proud tradition of tolerance" during his 2009 speech in Cairo".
Our secular establishment in the newspapers, universities and popular culture damns the Crusades as a proof of Western guilt towards the Islamic world. The Western attempt to free Jerusalem in the Middle Ages has been condemned as Christian imperialism, while the Muslim campaigns to colonize and Islamize the Byzantine Empire, North Africa, the Balkans, Egypt, the Middle East and most of Spain, to name but a few, are celebrated as a season of enlightenment. Nobody, however, seems to have any concern about Islamic muezzins rising from the roofs of many cities in the West. While the West whips itself for slavery, it never raises any questions about slavery in the Islamic world, currently in full force (although officially "abolished") in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and West Africa, among other places.
The question about Córdoba"s cathedral now on everyone"s lips is: Who will fund the campaign to bring Islam back to the great Christian site? The answer is Qatar. The emirate is supporting the campaign of Islamic organizations to convert the church to Islam. The Middle East is full of churches transformed into mosques, such as the Omayyad of Damascus, Ibn Tulun of Cairo, and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul. Islamists are now eager to do the same in Córdoba. The Catholic Church has taken a position. As the Bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernandez, said, "sharing the space with Muslims would be like a man sharing his wife with another man".
An analyst at the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Emilio Sánchez de Rojas, recently gave a lecture in which he explained that Córdoba is "a reference for Islam". He charged Qatar and Saudi Arabia with "campaigns of influence in the West", and as "a source of funding for the campaign for the re-Islamization of the Cathedral in Córdoba".
If these Islamists, supported by the militant secularists, will be able to bring Allah back inside the Cathedral of Córdoba, a tsunami of Islamic supremacism will submerge Europe"s decaying Christianity. There are thousands of empty churches just waiting to be filled by the voices of muezzins.
[image: wallstreetitalia.com](The Real Agenda News) The liquidation of “too big to fail” banks ensures that large investors will get paid while average Joes will be stiffed with the bill.
Taxpayers, will again have to the bailout insolvent banks. Otherwise, central bankers say, the risk of a systemic collapse would be very real.
What they do not say is that what is at stake is their credibility, reputation and that of the rules they created to impose schemes that resulted precisely in today’s financial instability.
The European Commission defended the liquidation of Veneto Banca and Popolare of Vicenza.
The two Italian banks closed with public money in spite of the existence of the so-called European Banking Union, the Community Directives, which should respond for cases like those cited above.
Just as it happened in Spain and Greece, central bankers have loaded the losses on shareholders, bondholders and taxpayers.
“The rules applied in this case are completely in line with the legal framework that was put in place after the crisis,” said a spokeswoman for the Commission, who referred to the “general interest” as the main argument.
Italy will inject € 17 billion of taxpayers money, to rescue “higher-quality debt” from these banks. Please understand that “high quality debt” is nothing else that monies invested irresponsibly.
Brussels approved the rescue over the weekend, arguing that such State aid does not distort competition as these two banks disappear.
But it is Intesa, one of the large Italian bank, that will receive the greatest injection in its balance sheets.
With the new European resolution authorities decreed that these two banks can be liquidated because they are not systemic, that is, their bankruptcy does not affect the whole European banking systems as their assets total € 55 billion.
According to the agreement, the liquidation must be done under Italian law: they apply the rules of the State to save the bondholders from burning arguing that these two entities are systemic, but only for the Veneto region.
The European Commission’s Competition Commissioner, Magrethe Vestager swallowed that explanation, accepted State aid and prayed for peace and glory.
Meanwhile, analysts and the European Parliament opposed the rescue yesterday.
In summary, experts and MPs come to say that the banking union is a scam: the taxpayer continues to save banks.
There are no transnational operations and that causes many more closures of branches and dismissals: Intesa will end up with the closing of 60% of the offices and the dismissal of 40% of the staff of the two Veneto region entities.
“Anything will be done to avoid the losses to the debt, and that generates a system of perverse incentives: you have to have national champions like Santander or Intesa to swallow the problem, conveniently aided, when necessary “, explained financial sources.
Against those arguments, Brussels has been justifying for two days that Italy complies with the rules. “Completely,” they stress.
