Tag Archives: Protests

Spain takes step toward direct rule over Catalonia’s independence move

Spain´s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy attends a cabinet meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, October 11, 2017. Moncloa handout via REUTERS

By Blanca Rodríguez and Sonya Dowsett

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took the first step on Wednesday toward suspending Catalonia’s political autonomy and ruling the region directly to thwart a push for independence.

He demanded that the regional government clarify whether it now considered itself independent following a speech by Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday night.

This requirement is a necessary step before triggering Article 155 of the constitution, which would allow Madrid to suspend the region’s political autonomy.

Rajoy’s move could deepen the confrontation between Madrid and Catalonia but it also signals a way out of Spain’s biggest political crisis since a failed military coup in 1981.

The prime minister would be likely to call a snap regional election after activating the constitutional mechanism allowing him to do so.

Puigdemont made a symbolic declaration of independence from Spain on Tuesday night but then immediately suspended it and called for talks with the Madrid government.

“The cabinet has agreed this morning to formally request the Catalan government to confirm whether it has declared the independence of Catalonia, regardless of the deliberate confusion created over its implementation,” Rajoy said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting to consider the government’s response.

Without giving a specific deadline for the Catalan government to reply, Rajoy said: “The answer from the Catalan president will determine future events, in the next few days.”

It is not yet clear if and when the Catalan government would answer the requirement but it now faces a conundrum, political analysts say.

If Puigdemont says he did declare independence, the government would likely trigger Article 155. If he says he did not declare it, then far-left party CUP would likely withdraw its support to his minority government.

“Rajoy has two objectives: if Puigdemont remains ambiguous, the pro-independence movement will get more fragmented; if Puigdemont insists on defending independence then Rajoy will be able to apply Article 155,” said Antonio Barroso, deputy director of London-based research firm Teneo Intelligence.

“Either way Rajoy’s aim would be to first restore the rule of law in Catalonia and this could at some point lead to early elections in the region”.

DIALOGUE CALL DISMISSED

Puigdemont had been widely expected to unilaterally declare Catalonia’s independence on Tuesday after the Catalan government said 90 percent of Catalans had voted for a breakaway in an Oct. 1 referendum that Spain had declared illegal and which most opponents of independence boycotted.

Madrid responded angrily to Puigdemont’s speech, saying the Catalan government could not act on the results of the referendum.

“Neither Mr. Puigdemont nor anyone else can claim, without returning to legality and democracy, to impose mediation… Dialogue between democrats takes place within the law,” Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said.

Invoking Article 155 to ease Spain’s worst political crisis in four decades would make prospects of a negotiated solution to the Catalonia crisis even more remote.

A spokesman for the Catalan government said earlier on Wednesday that if Madrid went down this road, it would press ahead with independence.

“We have given up absolutely nothing…We have taken a time out…which doesn’t mean a step backwards, or a renunciation or anything like that,” Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull told Catalunya Radio.

Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez said he would back Rajoy if he had to activate Article 155 and said he had agreed with the prime minister to open a constitutional reform within six months to discuss how Catalonia could fit better in Spain.

It was not clear how the Catalan government would respond to the offer.

MARKET RELIEF

Puigdemont’s speech also disappointed supporters of independence, thousands of whom watched proceedings on giant screens outside parliament before sadly leaving for home.

Financial markets, however, were encouraged that an immediate declaration of independence had been avoided.

Following Puigdemont’s speech, Spain’s benchmark IBEX share index rose as much as 1.6 percent, outperforming the pan-European STOXX 600 index. The rally pushed the main world stocks index, the MSCI’s 47-country ‘All-World’ index, to a record high.

Spain’s 10-year government bond yield — which moves inversely to the price — dropped 5 basis points to 1.65 percent in early trade, according to Tradeweb data.

In Brussels, there was relief that the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy now had at least bought some time to deal with a crisis that was still far from over.

One EU official said Puigdemont “seems to have listened to advice not to do something irreversible”.

The Catalan crisis has deeply divided the northeastern region itself as well as the Spanish nation. Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of about 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence.

The stakes are high — losing Catalonia, which has its own language and culture, would deprive Spain of a fifth of its economic output and more than a quarter of exports.

Some of Catalonia’s largest companies have moved their head offices out of the region and others were set to follow if he had declared independence.

(Additional reporting by Julien Toyer, Paul Day, Jesus Aguado; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Julien Toyer and Angus MacSwan)

After bloodshed, Venezuelan government and foes battle for votes

After bloodshed, Venezuelan government and foes battle for votes

By Andrew Cawthorne and Francisco Aguilar

BARINAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Tirelessly traversing the lethargic plains of Venezuela, a brother of former leader Hugo Chavez and an ally of a famous opposition detainee vie for votes.

The governorship race in Barinas state – the Chavez family’s stronghold – is the most emblematic of state elections taking place nationwide on Sunday just weeks after opposition-led protests that shook Venezuela and claimed at least 125 lives.

“At every rally, Hugo Chavez is out front, showing us the way,” enthuses Argenis Chavez, 59, an electrical engineer and incumbent governor, jumping on a bike and evoking his late elder brother at every campaign stop.

“In Barinas, defeating the government means defeating the Chavez family who have wielded power at whim for 18 years,” counters opposition rival Freddy Superlano, 41, wearing a shirt with the image of his arrested party leader Leopoldo Lopez.

This year’s prolonged protests failed to bring down the government of President Nicolas Maduro, but they hardened global opinion against the ruling socialists and led to U.S. sanctions.

Now, opposition leaders want their demoralized supporters to turn out en masse at the gubernatorial polls to overturn Maduro’s majority in 20 of Venezuela’s 23 states.

The government, in turn, wants to minimize seemingly inevitable losses, and trumpet the election as proof against accusations of autocracy in Venezuela.

“Look at our ‘dictatorship’ then: an election where most candidates are from the opposition!” Chavez ironically told Reuters, as red-shirted supporters danced around him at a rally.

With voters angry over a crushing economic crisis, polls show the opposition coalition would win handily in normal circumstances. One recent survey gave the coalition, which aspires to win 18 governorships, 44.7 percent of voter intentions versus 21.1 percent for the government.

SKEWED PLAYING FIELD?

Circumstances are far from normal in Venezuela, however, and the government has threatened to ban any candidates linked to violence in protests.

Furthermore, as in past elections during the ruling “Chavismo” movement’s 18-year grip on Venezuela, state resources are being mobilized heavily for official candidates.

Distribution of subsidized food at government rallies is commonplace, state-run companies lend transport for the events, and state media give Maduro’s candidates unfettered air-time. One opposition candidate’s brother has been arrested for alleged car theft in what the coalition says is an attempt to intimidate its ranks.

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage for the opposition is the electronic ballot sheet itself.

Despite primaries to choose a single opposition candidate per state from the plethora of parties within the Democratic Unity coalition, the pro-Maduro election board is declining to modify the ballot list to narrow it down to one name.

All initial candidates from before the primaries are listed on the ballot instead, something that could confuse opposition supporters and dilute their vote, benefiting the ruling Socialist Party’s candidates.

Further stoking opposition supporters’ skepticism, the election board is using a new vote machine provider after long-term partner Smartmatic accused it of inflating numbers in July’s controversial election of a Constituent Assembly super-body.

“OPPOSITION WANTS WAR”

On a walkabout in an unpaved shantytown on the outskirts of Barinas city, Superlano told Reuters government candidates were using helicopters to campaign while he and other opposition aspirants spent hours on the road to reach remote communities.

The government was also exploiting Venezuelans’ hunger, during a period of unprecedented scarcity, by handing out food bags in return for promises of votes, he said.

“It’s a macabre plan,” said Superlano, a lawmaker from Lopez’s Popular Will party who won the opposition primary in Barinas. “Even with all that, they are losing!”

Having dealt a hugely symbolic blow to “Chavismo” by winning five of six congress seats for Barinas in 2015 elections, the opposition now wants to end 18 years of nearly unbroken control of the governorship by Chavez family members.

While there is widespread discontent over food shortages, idle land and rising malnutrition in a fertile region that should be Venezuela’s bread basket, the government is running a rigorous campaign and painting Superlano as “the candidate of the violence” in reference to this year’s protests.

Maduro supporters say the opposition, backed by Venezuela’s elite and the U.S. government, is intent on taking power by force to seize control of the nation’s oil riches.

“They want war for Venezuela. We want peace,” said 65-year-old retiree Ramon Alvarran, proudly wearing a red T-shirt depicting the eyes of Hugo Chavez at a rally for his brother.

Elsewhere though, resentment against Maduro is palpable.

“My kids don’t have a crumb in their stomachs yet today,” said Daris Gonzalez, 36, whose three children had not eaten by lunchtime. Like many in her poor and once staunchly “Chavista” neighborhood, Gonzalez is now leaning toward the opposition.

“There has to be change. We cannot go on like this.”

Offsetting such sentiment, many young grassroots opposition supporters feel their leaders have sold out – and betrayed the memory of slain protesters – by entering an election on an unfair playing field. Abstentions could hurt their numbers.

Should the opposition triumph on Sunday, the government can limit the impact by restricting funding and taking authority away from the governors’ offices, as it has done in the past when offices have fallen to opponents.

Any overt dirty tricks, however, risk bringing more international sanctions or torpedoing an already fragile, foreign-led mediation with the opposition that Maduro needs to improve his international image.

Following the gubernatorial election, the opposition wants to shift attention to demanding a date, and guarantee of free conditions, for the 2018 presidential election to advance their ultimate goal of ending socialist rule.

“People are very angry and their anger has a face: Maduro,” said Carlos Ocariz, an opposition candidate trying to hold Miranda state for the opposition against a rising star on the government side, Hector Rodriguez.

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Francisco Aguilar; Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Tom Brown)

Striking French workers disrupt flights, schools

French students attend a demonstration with public sector workers as part of a nationwide strike against French government reforms in Marseille, France, October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

By Ingrid Melander

PARIS (Reuters) – French public sector workers went on strike on Tuesday against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to cull jobs and toughen pay conditions, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and disrupting school activities.

Civil servants, teachers and nurses marched through cities across France, from Toulouse in the south to Strasbourg in the east, before the day’s biggest rally in Paris.

It is the first time in a decade that all unions representing more than 5 million public workers have rallied behind a protest call.

But as the Paris rally got underway, the number of protesters appeared low. Turnout will be an important indicator of public appetite for protest against Macron’s social and economic reforms, which the former investment banker says are needed to unlock economic growth and put public finances on a more sustainable footing.

Protests last month against labor law reform that were led by private sector unions failed to persuade Macron to change policy course, but the French labor movement has traditionally been more muscular in the public sector.

“We want to make our voices heard after months and months of attacks against the public sector and its workers,” said Mylene Jacquot, head of the civil servants’ federation at the moderate CFDT, France’s biggest trade union.

“In particular, we want to force the government to make good on its promise regarding our spending power.”

Strike notices were lodged in schools, hospitals, airports and government ministries over plans to ax 120,000 jobs, freeze pay and reduce sick leave compensation.

The civil aviation authority said 30 percent of flights at airports nationwide had been canceled but there was no disruption on the rail network. The Ministry of Education said fewer than one in five teachers were on strike.

“BLOODY MESS”

Macron, 39, has come under fire in recent days from political opponents and the unions for treating workers with contempt after he was recorded describing a group of workers at a struggling factory as “kicking up a bloody mess”.

That misstep came weeks after he called those who resisted reform “slackers”.

As crowds gathered near Paris’s Place de la Republique, protesters held aloft a placard with portraits of Macron, his prime minister and finance minister reading: “The ones kicking up the bloody mess.”

Unions have been divided over Macron’s reforms so far, with only the Communist Party-rooted CGT spearheading street demonstrations against the loosening of employment laws.

In Lyon, Force Ouvriere union boss Jean-Claude Mailly said he would not support the CGT’s call for the labor law decrees to be scrapped after weeks of negotiations between government and unions. But he said there would be other battles to fight with a united front.

“There are other issues ahead: unemployment insurance, pension reform, the matter of public services,” Mailly said.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Pailliez; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Spaniards take to streets as Catalonia independence tensions rise

People take part in a pro-union demonstration in Madrid, Spain, October 7, 2017. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

By Raquel Castillo and Sam Edwards

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people gathered in Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday as Catalonia prepared to declare independence, many dressed in white and calling for talks to defuse Spain’s worst political crisis for decades.

The wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia, with its own language and culture, has long claimed to be distinct from the rest of the country and on Sunday held a referendum on leaving Spain, a vote the constitutional court had banned.

The Catalan authorities say that a majority of those who voted supported a split from Spain, something Madrid says is illegal under the country’s 1978 constitution.

The political stand-off has divided the country, pushed banks and companies to move their headquarters outside Catalonia and shaken market confidence in the Spanish economy, prompting calls from the European Commission for Catalan and Spanish leaders to find a political solution.

In protests called across 50 Spanish cities, thousands gathered dressed in white and carrying banners calling for peace and dialogue between leaders.

Meanwhile in Barcelona, protesters chanted “let’s talk” in Catalan, while many carried signs criticizing political leaders for not finding a diplomatic solution to the impasse.

“This is producing a social rupture in Catalonia and this has to be resolved through dialogue, never via unilateralism,” Jose Manuel Garcia, 61, an economist who attended the protest dressed in white said.

“I’m very worried. This will end badly and everyone will lose (without dialogue).”

While Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said he is open to mediation, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists he gives up the independence campaign, which grew in strength during a near-six year economic crisis, before he will discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, parallel to the “Let’s talk” march, thousands gathered beneath the enormous Spanish flag in Colon Plaza waving their own flags, singing and chanting “Viva España” and “Viva Cataonia”.

“I’ve come because I feel very Spanish and makes me very sad what’s happened,” Rosa Borras, 47, an unemployed secretary who had joined a noisy gathering in central Madrid, said.

Borras, wearing a “Catalonia, we love you” sticker and surrounded by thousands waving Spanish flags, added: “I wanted to be here for unity, because I also feel very Catalan. My family lives in Catalonia.”

EU CONCERN

Rajoy’s government mobilized thousands of national police to stop Sunday’s vote, leading to clashes with would-be voters as they tried to close polling stations in schools and remove ballot boxes.

The police violence drew widespread condemnation and forced the government to issue an apology on Friday, although tensions continued to rise after reports that plans for a unilateral declaration of independence will be handed to the Catalan parliament on Tuesday.

The crisis has also caused disquiet among Spain’s European Union partners and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has discussed it with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, an EU official told Reuters. [L8N1MI08F]

Concern is growing in EU capitals about the impact of the crisis on the Spanish economy, the fourth largest in the euro zone, and on possible spillovers to other economies.

European finance ministers, gathering in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday for a regular meeting, could discuss the issue, although it is not formally on the agenda, EU officials said.

The support given in public statements by EU leaders to Rajoy is combined with concern expressed in private about how the Spanish government’s use of police to prevent Catalans from voting last week in an independence referendum could backfire.

Some EU states are worried that talk of Catalan independence could fuel secessionist feelings in other parts of Europe.

(Reporting by Raquel Castillo; Writing by Paul Day; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Spain apologizes, tone softens in Catalonia independence crisis

Tiles with the Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) are displayed on a table covered with a Catalan flag at an arts and craft market four days after the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

By Sam Edwards and Raquel Castillo

BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain apologized on Friday for a violent police crackdown on Catalonia’s independence referendum, in a conciliatory gesture as both sides looked for a way out of the nation’s worst political crisis since it became a democracy four decades ago.

Spain’s representative in northeast Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the national economy, made the apology just as Catalonia’s secessionist leader appeared to inch away from a plan to declare independence as early as Monday.

“When I see these images, and more so when I know people have been hit, pushed and even one person who was hospitalized, I can’t help but regret it and apologize on behalf of the officers that intervened,” Enric Millo said in a television interview.

Spanish police used batons and rubber bullets to stop people voting in Sunday’s referendum, which Madrid had banned as unconstitutional. The scenes brought worldwide condemnation and fanned separatist feeling but failed to prevent what the Catalan government described as an overwhelming yes vote.

Moments earlier, a Catalan parliament spokeswoman said the regional government’s leader, Carles Puigdemont, had asked to address lawmakers on Tuesday, in timing that appeared at odds with earlier plans to move an independence motion on Monday.

Puigdemont wanted to speak on the “political situation”.

The softer tone contrasted with remarks earlier on Friday from Catalonia’s head of foreign affairs who told BBC radio it would go ahead with an independence debate in the regional parliament.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered all-party political talks to find a solution, opening the door to a deal giving Catalonia more autonomy. But he has ruled out independence and rejected a Catalan proposal for international mediation.

The stakes are high for the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy. Catalonia is the source of a huge chunk of its tax revenue and hosts multinationals from carmaker Volkswagen to drugs firm AstraZeneca <AZN.L>.

Secession could also fuel separatist-nationalist divisions across the rest of Spain, which only this year saw ETA guerrillas in the northern Basque region lay down their arms after a campaign lasting almost half a century.

Spanish ruling-party lawmakers say Rajoy is considering invoking the constitution to dissolve the regional parliament and force fresh Catalan elections if the region’s government goes ahead with an independence declaration.

The spokeswoman for Catalan parliament said Puigdemont would speak in the assembly next Tuesday, with parliamentary leaders to meet on Friday at 1330 GMT to decide on the exact timing.

STOCKS, BONDS SINK

The Catalan government’s head of foreign affairs, Raul Romeva, told the BBC that the crisis could only be resolved with politics, not via judicial means.

“Every threat, every menace, using the police, using … the Constitutional Court has been useless in trying to (get) people from step back away from their legitimate rights,” he said.

His remarks hit Spanish stocks and bonds, including shares in the region’s two largest banks, Caixabank <CABK.MC> and Sabadell <SABE.MC>. Sabadell decided on Thursday to move its legal base to Alicante. Caixabank <CABK.MC>, Spain’s third-largest lender, will consider on Friday whether to also transfer its legal base away from Catalonia, a source said.

The court’s suspension order further aggravated one of the biggest crises to hit Spain since the establishment of democracy on the 1975 death of General Francisco Franco.

Secessionist Catalan politicians have pledged to unilaterally declare independence at Monday’s session after staging an independence referendum last Sunday. Madrid had banned the vote and sought to thwart it by sending in riot police.

In a separate development that could raise tensions, Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero appeared in Spain’s High Court on Friday to answer accusations he committed sedition by failing to enforce a court ban on holding the referendum.

Unlike national police, Catalonia’s force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, did not use force to prevent people voting. Trapero has emerged as a hero for the pro-independence movement.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Reuters in an interview on Thursday the turmoil was damaging Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse which accounts for a fifth of the national economy.

In addition, the central government on Friday passed a law to make it easier for companies to move their operations around the country just as some businesses consider leaving Catalonia, potentially dealing a blow to the region’s finances.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggest a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia back independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

Catalan officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away.

But turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.

(Reporting by Elisabeth O’Leary, Paul Day, Andres Gonzalez and Rodrigo de Miguel; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Hugh Lawson)

Spanish court suspends Catalan parliament session, throwing independence call in doubt

A woman reacts as National Police officers leave their hotel in Reus, south of Barcelona, Spain October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent West

By Angus Berwick and Carlos Ruano

BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the suspension of Monday’s session of the regional Catalan parliament, throwing its plans to declare unilateral independence from Spain into doubt.

There was no immediate reaction from Catalan leaders who held an independence referendum on Sunday that was banned by Madrid and marked by violent scenes at electoral stations where Spanish police sought to hinder voting.

The suspension order further aggravated one of the biggest political crises to hit Spain since the establishment of democracy following the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. But it helped Spanish markets hit in recent days by the uncertainty.

The court said it had agreed to consider a legal challenge filed by the anti-secessionist Catalan Socialist Party.

Spanish shares and bonds, which have been hit by the political turmoil in Catalonia, strengthened after the news of the Constitutional Court’s decision.

The main IBEX stock index rose 2.3 percent, on track for its biggest daily gain in a month, and Spain’s 10-year bond yield was set for its biggest daily fall since April.

Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Reuters in an interview the turmoil was damaging Catalonia.

“This is generating uncertainty that is paralyzing all investment projects in Catalonia. I’m convinced that, right now, not one international or national investor will take part in a new investment project until this is cleared up,” he said.

Spain’s fifth-largest bank, Sabadell, will consider on Thursday whether to shift its headquarters away from Catalonia in the first major sign that the wealthy region’s push for independence from Spain could scare away big business.

Caixabank, Spain’s third largest lender by market capitalization, is also considering moving its legal base outside Catalonia, a source with knowledge of the situation said. A spokesman for the bank said no decision had been taken on a move.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

“GREATER EVILS”

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called on Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Thursday to abandon plans to unilaterally declare independence from Spain or risk “greater evils”.

In an interview with Spanish news agency EFE, Rajoy said the solution to the Catalan crisis was a prompt return to legality and “a statement as soon as possible that there will not be a unilateral declaration of independence, because that will also avoid greater evils,” Rajoy said.

He did not elaborate but ruling party lawmakers say that Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line on Catalan independence, is considering the unprecedented step of dissolving the Catalan parliament and triggering regional elections.

Catalan officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away. But turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot and many polling stations were closed.

Puigdemont said he was not afraid of being arrested for organizing Sunday’s banned referendum.

“Personally, I am not afraid of that,” Puigdemont said in an interview in the German daily Bild, published on Thursday, when asked about his possible arrest.

“And I’m not surprised any more about what the Spanish government is doing. My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”

Neither the Spanish government nor the judiciary has threatened to arrest Puigdemont, though Madrid accuses him of breaking the law by ignoring a Constitutional Court ruling forbidding the referendum from going ahead.

On Wednesday, in a televised address, Puigdemont renewed his call for international mediation but said the results of the referendum would have to be applied.

Puigdemont has not explained the scope of his proposal for international mediation, whether it would envisage a compromise short of independence or deal only with divorce arrangements.

Rajoy has ruled out international mediation as a format for resolving the future of Catalonia, offering instead all-party Spanish political talks to find a solution, on the condition independence is taken off the table.

Sunday’s crackdown by Spanish police, Rajoy’s hardline stance and an uncharacteristically strong intervention this week by Spain’s King Felipe VI seems to have deepened Catalonia’s resolve to continue with the project.

“We will go as far as people want it. But without the use of force. We were always a peaceful movement. And I am sure that Spain will not be able to ignore the will of so many people,” Puigdemont told Bild.

(Additional reporting by Paul Day, Andres Gonzalez, Rodrigo de Miguel; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Julien Toyer and Ralph Boulton)

Catalan leader says not afraid of arrest over independence: report

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is seen on a TV screen at a bar during a televised statement in Barcelona, Spain, October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

MADRID (Reuters) – The leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said he was not afraid of being arrested for organizing a banned referendum on the region’s independence from Spain, which went ahead on Sunday despite Madrid using force to try to stop people voting.

Spanish riot police used truncheons and rubber bullets on voters, drawing worldwide criticism and tipping Spain into its biggest constitutional crisis in decades.

Puigdemont’s government is to ask the regional parliament on Monday to declare independence, after his officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away.

Turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.

“Personally, I am not afraid of that,” Puigdemont said in an interview in the German daily Bild, published on Thursday, when asked about his possible arrest.

“And I’m not surprised anymore about what the Spanish government is doing. My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”

Neither the Spanish government nor the judiciary has threatened to arrest Puigdemont, though Madrid accuses him of breaking the law by ignoring a Constitutional Court ruling forbidding the referendum from going ahead.

Puigdemont has said the referendum proved the will of the people was to leave Spain and has vowed to continue with secession, despite Madrid’s insistence it won’t happen.

On Wednesday, in a televised address, Puigdemont renewed his call for international mediation but said the results of the referendum would have to be applied. [nL8N1MF20E]

The confrontation has raised fears among investors of unrest in Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the Spanish economy. A former principality, the region has its own language and culture and has long complained that it pays more to Madrid in taxes than it receives each year from central funding.

The crisis in the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy has hurt Spanish bond and stock markets. The nation’s borrowing costs hit a seven-month high on Thursday ahead of a government bond auction that will test investor confidence. [nL8N1MG0IB]

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered to open multi-party talks that could cut a better tax and constitutional deal for Catalonia in return for the region giving up on independence.

But his government has said the region must “return to the path of law” before negotiations can go ahead. [nL4N1MF2K8]

Sunday’s crackdown by Spanish police, Rajoy’s hardline stance and an uncharacteristically strong intervention this week by Spain’s King Felipe VI seems to have deepened Catalonia’s resolve to continue with the project.

“We will go as far as people want it. But without the use of force. We were always a peaceful movement. And I am sure that Spain will not be able to ignore the will of so many people,” Puigdemont told Bild.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

(Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Catalonia to move to declare independence from Spain on Monday

People stand during a demonstration two days after the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain, October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

By Sonya Dowsett

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalonia will move on Monday to declare independence from Spain, a regional government source said, as the European Union nation nears a rupture that threatens the foundations of its young democracy and has unnerved financial markets.

Pro-independence parties which control the regional parliament have asked for a debate and vote on Monday on declaring independence, the source said. A declaration should follow this vote, although it is unclear when.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont earlier told the BBC that his government would ask the region’s parliament to declare independence after tallying votes from last weekend’s referendum, which Madrid says was illegal.

“This will probably finish once we get all the votes in from abroad at the end of the week and therefore we shall probably act over the weekend or early next week,” he said in remarks published on Wednesday.

The constitutional crisis in Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy, has shaken the common currency and hit Spanish stocks and bonds, sharply raising Madrid’s borrowing costs.

On Wednesday, the Ibex stock index <.IBEX>, fell below 10,000 points for the first time since March 2015 as bank stocks tumbled. In a sign of the nervous public mood, Catalonia’s biggest bank, Caixabank <CABK.MC>, and Spain’s economy minister had earlier sought to assure bank customers that their deposits were safe.

EVENING STATEMENT

Puigdemont’s comments appeared after Spain’s King Felipe VI accused secessionist leaders on Tuesday of shattering democratic principles and dividing Catalan society, as tens of thousands protested against a violent police crackdown on Sunday’s vote.

The Catalan leader is due to make a statement at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, after an all-party committee of the region’s parliament meets to agree a date — likely to be Monday — for a plenary session on independence.

Spain has been rocked by the Catalan vote and the Spanish police response to it, which saw batons and rubber bullets used to prevent people voting. Hundreds were injured, in scenes that brought international condemnation.

Catalans came out onto the streets on Tuesday to condemn the police action, shutting down road traffic, public transport and businesses, and ratcheting up fears of intensifying unrest in a region that makes up one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

Road closures related to the protests briefly halted production at Volkswagen’s <VOWG_p.DE> Catalonia plant.

As shares in Spain’s big lenders fell on Wednesday, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos tried to reassure investors and customers. “Catalan banks are Spanish banks and European banks are solid and their clients have nothing to fear,” he said on the sidelines of a conference in Madrid.

Caixabank <CABK.MC>, Catalonia’s largest lender, said in a memo to employees late on Tuesday that its only objective was to “protect clients’, shareholders’ and employees’ interests”.

“IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR”

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line on the issue, faces a huge challenge to see off Catalan independence without further unrest.

European Council President Donald Tusk has backed his constitutional argument but some fellow members of the bloc have criticized his tactics. Tusk has appealed to Rajoy to seek ways to avoid escalation in Catalonia and the use of force.

Brussels has in the past given little or no encouragement to separatist movements inside the European Union, whether those of the Catalans, Scots, Flemings or others.

Pro-independence parties who control the regional government staged the referendum in defiance of a Constitutional Court ruling that the vote violated Spain’s 1978 constitution, which states the country is indivisible.

Catalonia has its own language and culture and a political movement for secession that has strengthened in recent years.

Participants in Sunday’s ballot — only about 43 percent of eligible voters — opted overwhelmingly for independence, a result that was expected since residents who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the referendum.

Outside Catalonia, Spaniards mostly hold strong views against its independence drive. In his televised address, the king said the “irresponsible behavior” of the Catalan leaders had undermined social harmony in the region.

“Today Catalan society is fractured and in conflict,” he said. “They (the Catalan leaders) have infringed the system of legally approved rules with their decisions, showing an unacceptable disloyalty toward the powers of the state.”

The king said the crown was strongly committed to the Spanish constitution and to democracy, and underlined his commitment to the unity and permanence of Spain. He had earlier met Rajoy to discuss the situation in Catalonia.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in the region backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft and Julien Toyer in Madrid; Writing by Mark Bendeich and Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Venezuela opposition won’t attend scheduled talks with government

Luis Florido (C), lawmaker of the Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties (MUD) attends a news conference at the National Assembly building in Caracas, Venezuela, September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

By Diego Oré and Andreina Aponte

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition said on Tuesday it will not join scheduled talks with President Nicolas Maduro’s government, undercutting a dialogue effort that has been viewed with suspicion by many adversaries of the ruling Socialist Party.

The government has eagerly promoted the talks amid global criticism that Maduro is turning the country into a dictatorship, while the opposition has always insisted the talks should not distract from the country’s economic crisis.

The two sides held separate exploratory conversations with the president of the Dominican Republic earlier this month. But the opposition said the government has not made enough progress on issues such as human rights to warrant full bilateral talks.

“Negotiation is not to go and waste time, to look at someone’s face, but rather so that Venezuelans can have immediate solutions,” opposition leader Henrique Capriles told reporters.

“We cannot have a repeat of last year’s failure,” he said, referring to Vatican-brokered talks in 2016 that fell apart after the opposition said the government was simply using them as a stalling tactic.

The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The opposition wants a date for the next presidential election, due by the end of 2018, with guarantees it will be free and fair. It is also calling for freedom for hundreds of jailed activists, a foreign humanitarian aid corridor and respect for the opposition-led congress.

With Spain pushing for the European Union to adopt restrictive measures against members of the Venezuelan government, Maduro may be hoping to dodge further sanctions.

The United States has issued several rounds of sanctions against Venezuela, primarily in response to the creation of an all-powerful super body called the Constituent Assembly that was elected in a July vote the opposition labeled fraudulent.

Many countries have refused to recognize the assembly, which Maduro insists has brought peace to the country of 30 million. He says opposition leaders are coup-plotters seeking to sabotage socialism in oil-rich Venezuela under the guise of peaceful protests.

Amid a fourth straight year of recession, millions of Venezuelans are suffering food shortages and rampant inflation, which the government blames on an “economic war” led by the opposition and fueled by recent sanctions.

(Reporting by Diego Ore and Andreina Aponte, Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; editing by Diane Craft and Dan Grebler)

Kenyan police disperse protests against election commission

A supporter of the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition runs after riot policemen dispersed protesters during a demonstration calling for the removal of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials in Nairobi, Kenya September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

By George Obulutsa and Humphrey Malalo

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan police used tear gas and batons on Tuesday to disperse protesters who say election officials should be sacked before the re-run of a presidential vote because they favor President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Several volleys of tear gas were fired near the election commission headquarters in central Nairobi, a Reuters witness said. When protestors regrouped, officers fired more tear gas and beat some with batons. By mid-afternoon calm had returned.

Raila Odinga, who lost his presidential bid on Aug. 8, will get another chance after the Supreme Court annulled the election citing irregularities and ordered a fresh vote within 60 days.

However, Odinga has accused the election commission, known as the IEBC, of being a puppet of Kenyatta’s ruling Jubilee party and said he will not participate in the Oct. 26 re-run if election officials are not sacked and prosecuted.

The court did not find any individual responsible but said institutional failings had led to irregularities and illegalities in the transmission of election results.

The election commission has asked the opposition to call off protests until the IEBC has explained the various measures being taken to “enhance the credibility and integrity” of the vote.

“IEBC cannot begin the process of an honest election as long as those responsible for the irregularities and illegalities are still lurking in its corridors,” Odinga told reporters.

“IEBC has refused to dismiss or suspend them. That is why we are today beginning these peaceful campaigns to force them out by public pressure so the process of a fair election can at last begin,” he added.

Last week Kenya’s chief prosecutor ordered investigations into 11 election board officials including its chief executive, Ezra Chiloba, as well as a lawyer and campaigner who worked for Odinga.

Speaking as protestors gathered outside his office, Chiloba said he would not resign. “I have (a) responsibility before me and I have to discharge that responsibility,” he told Kenya’s KTN television network.

Some Kenyatta supporters also took to the streets in Nairobi but there were no clashes between the two sides.

In the port city of Mombasa, a crowd gathered at local election office, chanting: “No reforms no elections. Chiloba must go!”

The Kenyan government in a statement accused “mobs of hooligans” of taking advantage of the protests to destroy property and said “a number of criminals” had been arrested and would be taken to court.

CHARGE OF SUBVERSION

Underscoring the rising tensions, a newly elected opposition lawmaker was charged with subversion at a court hearing in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Paul Ongili Owino was arrested after a video clip of him speaking while campaigning for Odinga emerged on social media in which he called Kenyatta a son of a dog.

The prosecution said those words were “calculated to excite disaffection against the presidency”.

Ahead of Tuesday’s demonstrations by the opposition National Super Alliance coalition, Kenyatta had said violence would not be tolerated.

“People are free to demonstrate but they must ensure that they do not destroy other people’s property,” he said.

“Let them not think that they will break into other people’s shops and interfere with the daily routine of other Kenyans. That, we shall not allow,” he said.

In the western city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold where some 3,000 protestors gathered, one protestor, vegetable market vendor Hellen Aketch said: “I will support anything that assures me of the validity and the safety of my vote in the upcoming elections.”

“I have closed (my) business today and I am ready to do it again so long as some sanity is realized among those who hold public office.”

(Additional reporting by Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa, Kenya; Writing by David Lewis and George Obulutsa; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)