Txiki Benegas, PSOE Member (El País, 21-2-2013): “This right of decision that is proposed to divide a part of the Spanish territory is not a right; it can be a desire, an objective or a political claim, but not a right.”

Many were the reasons for the decolonization processes of the twentieth century, but they were two axes. On the one hand, the struggle of the colonized peoples and, on the other, the metropolises could not sustain situations of oppression and war without great economic loss. And in addition, the gigantic economic growth of the West brought with it a gradual transformation of colonialism.

In the twentieth century, thanks to the right of self-determination, dozens of peoples achieved independence. But this process did not lead to the question of the rights of peoples, both in the old and the new states. For the left/right of Paris or London, Algeria, Libya, Kenya, Iraq -- they had no right to sovereignty, to decide. Nor is it capable, in his view.

At the same time as the welfare state was being built in France or the United Kingdom, thousands of Africans were forced to work in their colonies, apartheid, torture and daily killings. In other words, it was possible to reconcile both democracy at home and the wildest oppression in the colonies.

21. In the European Union of the twenty-first century, is it possible to reconcile the democracy of the states with the right to decide of the stateless peoples? Is that after all? Scotland, Catalonia, Flanders, Basque Country... Do they have the right to sovereignty? The right to decide their future?

So far the EU has not given a clear answer, sometimes yes, sometimes not: If Germany supports Croatia yes, if the United States supports Kosovo, insofar as it serves to demonstrate the oppression of the USSR also to Lithuania… But Scotland and Catalonia are internal problems of the United Kingdom and Spain, the EU will not support any clear legal doctrine on how to channel the rights of those countries.

In this respect, we are living at a very interesting time in Europe. The United Kingdom recognizes the right to sovereignty of Scotland and Spain not of Catalonia. And one thing is clear, that a people without a state will never achieve their sovereignty if they do not have the political will to implement the right to decide. It will then come if that is to be done by agreement or by political confrontation, but the political attempt to implement the right to decide is inevitable. Each people has to decide on its chance, provided it is clear that it is not possible without the majority of the citizens.

For many reasons, it is a violent conflict that must be avoided by stateless peoples, who have little to gain in this field. Moreover, in today’s Europe it is difficult to imagine the Spanish tanks walking the streets of Barcelona. Bad, but not impossible.

That is why it is essential to protect these processes of freedom with the utmost democratic legitimacy. In Euskal Herria it will also be essential to promote this path of democratic confrontation, if one really wants the right to decide. See what the Catalan government is in, but Madrid will not recognize the right to decide of the Basques because the PNV will make a new proposal for self-government in 2015. The accumulation of forces for sovereignty is necessary and those who do not want to see that know that they will not achieve the right to decide. The rest is rhetoric.

The current crisis in Spain – and in Europe – is the right one for this and should not be allowed to pass the train. Moreover, although much faith is needed, it cannot be ruled out that it is in the peace process, but this seems to serve more to channel the consequences of the conflict and to improve coexistence, and not so much to solve the political problem of the right to decidir.En the case of the use of armed force, that is, of the States, there are proposals for
this. Txiki Benegas (El País, 21-2-2013): “To think that this [right to decide] can be a peaceful option, it’s even more stupid. Spain cannot be denied the right to defend territorial unity.”