Although hours have now passed since the first arrests in this new wave of repression against the Catalan independence movement, it is difficult at the time of writing to get an idea of the link between the various police operations carried out this Wednesday. And when there is no minimally solid explanation, one can only reach a single conclusion: the goal, once again, is to intimidate the independence movement, to make it very clear that the repression is not over and that court cases will continue until there is a general surrender. It is not enough to prolong the current situation of blockade in which Catalan sovereignty, rather than moving forward, only tries to limit its retreat as much as possible. Nor is a question of exploring the path of dialogue as an alternative to confrontation. There has to be a complete capitulation.
Because, if we look at the most publicly recognized people arrested, what are they accused of? Look at the cases of former Catalan minister Xavier Vendrell, businessperson David Madí and publisher Oriol Soler. In a fourth case, Josep Lluís Alay, released before noon, they wanted to pull on the thread of the Forum Crans Montana in Switzerland, centred on 5,000 euros that were correctly billed, with the forum having been attended by president Carles Puigdemont. Of the others detained in the raids, some were charged and released and others were still testifying at the Civil Guard barracks in Barcelona's Travessera de Gràcia, well into the night. In total, 21 people connected via different Civil Guard narratives which, as we know from previous experience, must be taken with a heavy dose of salt. The lurid imagination applied in drawing up some previous reports has also reemerged in these latest installments. The most eccentric tale of all asserts that, in 2017 during the independence referendum period, Russia told Catalan president Puigdemont it would pay all of Catalonia's public debt and put 10,000 of the country's soldiers at his disposal.
From this police account, the judicial interlocutory infers the following: "If he had accepted, the events would probably have been tragic and would have triggered an armed conflict in Spain with an unknown number of fatalities." It is not surprising that the Russian embassy has ridiculed the statement, commenting with heavy irony that the number of soldiers quoted by the judge was incorrect - it was "missing two zeros", that is, a million soldiers were offered, and they were to have been transported in two small planes assembled in Catalonia during the Civil War and hidden until now in a safe place in the Catalan mountains! If this delirious story were true, I suppose that the Spanish ambassador would have been called in for consultations at some point, diplomatic relations between Spain and Russia would have been broken and the European Union would have stepped into the matter. It would also have totally shattered the argument that an independent Catalonia would have no international allies, which the Spanish government has so enthusiastically defended.
It's hard to believe that we might witnessing this nonsense, reminiscent of The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming!, a 1960s Norman Jewison comedy that might easily by re-run on TV3 any old day, which recounts the situation which ensues when a Russian submarine docks in the US by accident. The comic capers which upset the life of a small New England town could surely be updated for a sequel by injecting the triangulation of Catalonia, Russia and Spain.
These are not great days for the truth as judges and police tell it. The case of police chief Trapero has exposed so many elements and so much danger for a state under rule of law that it is logical that people want to try and bury them again as fast as possible. Perhaps this is why they wanted to mix Russian soldiers arriving in Catalonia to guarantee independence, with the funding for the Tsunami Democratic platform, and a case of alleged municipal planning corruption in the Maresme. Too many different ingredients.