Força Catalunya and I

The title is not an act of personalism. Simply, it is to explain my relationship with what it will be, surely, a new political actor in this country. Or, in other words, the reasons why I link my political action with a project I am one of the promoters. I know that the critics and the predictions of catastrophe about our initiative will be present; but it is strong, a lot stronger, the urge and the need of being able to offer Catalans a political alternative for independence, where the influence of Spain and its Catalan satellites will be inexistent. Now it is the moment, and I am sure that will succeed.

It is habitual to hear that, in front of the possibility of creating a new political party, its possibilities to succeed are remotes, or near to impossible. To affirm this is to recognize the great power of the actual parties, and is understandable. Really, when somebody sees the acquisitive presence of the Parliamentary parties in the media, it is normal to think that beginning from scratch and compete with them is very difficult. We reduce it all to the minutes that we might appear on the screen. It seems like the dictatorship of the mass media is invincible. Talent and audacity without great informative coverage are sterile, we believe. I shall not be so ingenuous to negate the importance of a certain continuous presence in the media to have possibilities in an electoral contest. However, reading where the collective state of mind of the electorate is little consistent. Do we know what people want? How can we know it?

From a few years ago, the study of what people want is the centre of the strategy of the political parties within the Parliament. They have definitevely renounced to convince about an idea -any idea-, to make a simple discourse adapted to the most generalized opinion. Everybody plays the score of the surveys because nobody is able to change the collective state of mind. What is important is not what is best for the people but what is closest to what the surveys say. When everything reduces to tactics of percentages, discourses empoverish and people drive away of their leaders even though they believe they know what we think. They believe they know the thoughts of their voters, and abstention is majority. Either the surveys are wrong or politicians do not know how to say what the people want.

I may affirm that Força Catalunya will not be moved by surveys. Does Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió -important company that produces surveys- say that we are not enough supporters of independence? Ramon Llull affirmed "Qui no persevera, no va" -who does not persevere, does not go-. We will apply the recipe of the Majorcan wise man and we shall not lose our spirit until winning the great majority of Catalans. Our effort will be to make see the sons of Catalonia that not being the rulers of our own destiny, we cannot expect anything profitable. Do we have to openly denounce those who develop politics influenced by Spain and that will become a nuissance? We only know too well that by wanting to please people, no Nation has become free. As we do not ignore that occupied countries continue to be occupied because its native inhabitants are accomplices of the politics that make it possible. Will we have to face, openly and hardly, the Spanish and French power? We shall do so with the weapons of dialectics, courage and intelligence. Moreover, our discourse and attitude will denote the firmness needed to win respect from the enemies of Catalonia.

The message from Força Catalunya will be not complicated to be understood and will speak clearly, among other things, because we have had no contact with the official politics after francoism. We have neither set foot in any official office nor we have participated in any government.

Will we be told that only with a message for independence nobody can convince Catalans? There is not better political program than that who aspirates to freedom. In fact, in Catalonia, all politics that is not openly for independence is reactionary. This is why we have the obligation to constitute Força Catalunya. The tool of those Catalans who are not willing to lenghthen the beginning of the process that has to finish with the constitution of the Catalan State. The success will depend on all those who are willing to do take it. Those who alredy are in it and who will come.

Santiago Espot
CEO Catalunya Acció and promoter Força Catalunya
Published at El Punt (May 13th, 2010)