Fascism is knocking at our door... again

Spain celebrated its National Day on 12 October in commemoration the anniversary of Cristopher Columbus' arrival to America and the begining of great-scale imperialism all around the world. However, the date was fixed as a national holiday in 1935, when it was named as "Día de la Raza" (Breed's Day). Since then, and especially during and after Francisco Franco's dictatorship, it has been a day of great celebration and an attempt to show Spaniards' pride for their country amidst great celebrations across the country and the strenght of Spanish army as well.
Thus, a huge military parade was held in Madrid, which was presided over by Spanish prince Felipe in representation of the royal family. Several army cadres took part in it, including members of the Legion, an army body which was founded jointly by Franco and Millán Astray, a general who aided the dictator during the coup d'Etat. However, it counted on less soldiers and resources due to the economic crisis, although the main symbol of the Legión was present at every moment. It should be remarked that this body was led by the participants of the coup which led to the Civil War and caused a huge number of casualties during the conflict. In fact, it was one of the bloodiest regiments of Franco's troops.
Nevertheless, neither the parade nor the institutional meeting witnessed the presence of Spanish king Juan Carlos, who is getting relief from a surgery on his hip.
The National Day has also been an occasion to spread a sense of patriotism among its citizens, which was caracterized by Spanish language and culture. Therefore, the government prepared an advertisement to encourage citizens' participation in the event. It can be seen below (in Spanish).

As everybody can see, the Spanish authorities aimed to mobilize the population in order to get them involved in praising the unity and power of the country in a critical moment marked by a harsh economic crisis, a huge unemployment rate and a ruling party involved in allegations of corruption. Therefore, it is usual for the government to take profit of any event which could divert the attention from the delicated situations. Anyone can remember the stand-off between Spain, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom due to tensions at the boundary between the rock and the Iberian peninsula which took place this summer and has remained unsolved since then (see here). 

Even though it was supposed to be a festive holiday, there were fears around the presence of far right activists across the country, especially in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, several members of right wing parties like Democracia Nacional and Falange had attacked the delegation of the Catalan government in Madrid and boycotted the events commemorating the Catalan National Day on 11 September. Thus far had raised concerns among Catalan citizens on the celebration of anti-separatist rallies in the capital city of Catalonia, which were to be held to protest against the rise of separatism among many people in the region. In fact, nearly 10 different rallies were to be held in Barcelona during the holiday, and some of the participants had reached the city from different parts of Spain.
A huge demonstration was held at Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya on 12 October noon, which had been convoked by an association called Som Catalunya. Somos España and backed by unionist parties like Ciutadans, the People's Party and Plataforma per Catalunya among others. About 18,000 people took part in the concentration whilst another led by far-right parties like Falange, Democracia Nacional or Alianza Nacional (including some of the people who had participated in the attack against the Catalan delegation in Madrid) took place in Plaça Espanya. As usual, most of the participants at the latter demonstration displayed a high amount of Fascist symbols like Franco-era's flags and chanted slogans against Catalan separatism or immigration. The video below shows the rally protagonized by right wing activists.

Even though those actions should be strongly condemned by both Spanish and European authorities (Catalan government has repeatedly censored such acts), the fact is that they are not illegal according to the Spanish constitution and laws. There is no law which punishes the display of fascist symbols and this kind of demonstrations can be held without any difficulties while the Spanish government turns a blind eye on them. In fact, it is trying to boycott any attempts to praise the memory of those who were murdered by Franco's regime while the supporters of those who killed them still remain unpunished. Moreover, the whole European continent is witnessing a dreadful rise of far-right wing groups due to the economic situation: the most remarkable are Marine Le Pen's Front National in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. So it seems that fascism is knocking at our door... again.

"A més de per aturar els judicis, el compromís és necessari per assolir una solució integral"

Aquesta és la traducció al català d'una entrevista a 3 dels 40 joves el judici contra els quals va començar ahir dilluns a l'Audiència Nacional. Se'ls acusa de pertànyer a Segi, acusació sustentada gairebé en exclusiva en les declaracions que els acusats van fer durant la incomunicació, període en el qual molts d'ells van ser torturats. Va ser publicada al diari Berria el passat 13 d'octubre.

13-10-2013

JUDICI CONTRA QUARANTA JOVES. GARAZI RODRÍGUEZ, MIKEL ESKIROZ I AITZIBER ARRIETA. JOVES IMPUTATS EN EL SUMARI 26/11.

“A més de per aturar els judicis, el compromís és necessari per assolir una solució integral”.

Van ser detinguts, incomunicats i empresonats l’any 2009. Amb tot el que van passar, els joves han destacat que continuen treballant per assolir un altre model, fent un gest a Pamplona: “Nosaltres també hi serem”.

HODEI IRURETAGOIENA, SANT SEBASTIÀ

Garazi Rodríguez Rubio (1987), Aitziber Arrieta Fagoaga (1985) i Mikel Eskiroz Pérez (1988) han rebut BERRIA a l’”Aske Gunea” de Sant Sebastià. Manifesten clarament: “som militants polítics i socials”.

Us acusen de ser membres de Segi. Quin és el vostre delicte?

GARAZI RODRÍGUEZ: Creiem que no n’hi ha cap delicte. Aquí hi ha un conflicte polític, i estàs sota l’amenaça de ser detingut en funció de l’activitat política que duus a terme. Ens van detenir perquè la nostra activitat era contrària als interessos de l’Estat espanyol.

MIKEL ESKIROZ: No detenen militants de Segi sinó joves compromesos. És igual a quina organització pertanys.

Era el novembre del 2009. Quin n’era el context? Què volien aconseguir?

G. R.: Després de la detenció de la cúpula de Haika i Segi els anys 2001 i 2002, i més enllà de les il·legalitzacions, començaren el procés d’anomenar terroristes a tants col·lectius de l’esquerra abertzale com van voler. Després de nomenar terrorista Segi el 2007, van començar a fer batudes poble per poble, fins que el 2009 hi van dur a terme una a nivell de tot Hego Euskal Herria. Durant aquells tres anys van detenir més de dos-cents joves, molts dels quals van ser torturats i empresonats.

AITZIBER ARRIETA: No només van anar en contra de la gent favorable a un canvi de model polític, tenien hom interessat en una transformació social en el punt de mira, ja fos membre de Segi o no.

G. R.: El jovent sol ser el motor de les lluites a tot el món, i el moviment juvenil d’Euskal Herria va dir que, més enllà de respondre, emprendria el camí vers la transformació social. Això és el que volien destruir, el moviment juvenil.

Com vau viure aquell temps?

G. R.: Molts no estàvem tranquils fins i tot mesos abans de les detencions. Hi havia dues batudes al mes, força amples, i la majoria dels detinguts denunciava tortures. Et fiquen la por dins del cos. Em van detenir a mitjanit. T’agafen per sorpresa, mig adormida. Ens van torturar a tots, i també en vaig viure les conseqüències mentre era a la presó. La Garazi d’abans de la detenció i la de després no són la mateixa persona. Moltes coses no les he viscut de la mateixa manera i he necessitat ajut professional per fer-les.

A. A.: També hi són les vivències de les famílies, tant en el moment de la detenció com durant la incomunicació. Potser fa de mal dir, però arriba un moment en què els tranquil·litza que tu estiguis a la presó.

M. E.: Entra a la presó suposa que trenquis amb tota la teva vida. Quan hi surts i ho superes, arriba el judici. Amb tots els costos que suposa: viatges, l’impacte que té a la feina...

Els joves i ciutadans hi van respondre al carrer. Com us ho vau prendre?

A. A.: Sobretot, el ressò o la conseqüència d’aquesta batuda va ser, de cara a la resposta, de dir “ja n’hi ha prou”. Mentre érem a la presó vam veure la mobilització que s’havia dut a terme a Bilbao.

G. R.: Encara tens tots els moments durs que vas viure a flor de pell, però t’emociona que tanta gent surti al carrer i veus que la gent té ganes de continuar endavant.

A. A.: No han complert els seus objectius. El jovent, i també nosaltres mateixos, hem sortit enfortits i, per sort, els joves continuen treballant per assolir un nou model social i polític. No han pogut amb nosaltres.

Aquells dies se celebraven les trobades del moviment juvenil a Zestoa, i es va dur a terme malgrat tot.

G. R.: Penso que van fer la batuda aquella setmana precisament per condicionar la trobada. S’havia dit públicament: les trobades eren per unificar el moviment juvenil i posar en marxa uns objectius comuns, per construir junts un poble dels joves, perquè era palesa la necessitat d’impulsar aquesta cooperació.

M. E.: La decisió va ser important perquè la resposta no es va basar només en la denuncia. Es va seguir amb aquell model d’organització política tot i que hi havia 40 joves incomunicats i en risc de ser empresonats.

Demà començarà el judici. Com el col·loqueu en el context polític?

G. R.: La situació ha canviat molt des que ens van detenir. L’actitud i l’estratègia de l’esquerra abertzale ha canviat, també les d’altres agents polítics, socials i sindicals. ETA va dir que deixava la lluita armada. Això ha obert noves oportunitats, i ni l’Estat ni alguns agents importants s’hi han implicat. Nosaltres ens hem compromès a fer passos ves la resolució. Tots els judicis tenen el conflicte polític com a base. Ens hem de cenyir a això i fer via cap a la resolució mitjançant el diàleg. No es pot deixar en mans dels estats, ETA o els partits polítics, es necessita el compromís del poble. És lloable el que s’està fent als Fòrums Socials, per exemple. Durant anys hem sentit alguns parlant sobre el patiment, però també hi ha hagut patiment en moltes altres ocasions. Estenem la mà a tots els ciutadans, sigui quina sigui la seva ideologia. Perquè no és el moment d’estar en favor de la resolució, sinó de participar-hi. Tots plegats hem de construir un mur popular en contra de tots els atacs provinents de Madrid i París.

A. A.: També fem una crida al Govern Basc i al PNB perquè s’hi sumin al camí. Ja n’hi ha prou de fer servir les forces policials en contra d’Euskal Herria.

G. R.: Es fa front a l’estratègia de il·legalitzacions i avui ja hi ha organitzacions legals, per molt que la batuda contra Herrira ens hagi tornat a portar antigues receptes. També aconseguirem aturar els judicis, els empresonaments i les detencions si tots ens hi comprometem.

Tot plegat està basat en testimonis extrets durant la incomunicació. Quina serà la vostra actitud en el pla jurídic?

A. A.: El judici és un frau, no s’aguanta per enlloc. Tenint Segi com a excusa, només s’han de veure les proves que han presentat contra cadascú de nosaltres: mocadors de les festes, qualsevol llibre, que haguéssim participat a qualsevol concentració, qualsevol fullet... Segons això, tots hauríem d’estar a la presó.

M. E.: Segurament, aquells 100.000 joves que participaven al Topagune haurien d’estar davant l’Audiència Nacional. Aquestes detencions son molt arbitràries. El nostre poble ens ha absolt; no li reconeixem cap legitimitat a un tribunal d’Espanya.

G. R.: La Fiscalia ha presentat les declaracions davant la policia com a proves, gairebé totes fetes sota tortura. Les “proves” demostren que dúiem a terme activitats polítiques. Això no vol dir que serveixi per demostrar que érem o no militants de Segi. Això direm: tenim tot el dret de ser militants polítics i socials.

Quins objectius teniu amb Libre?

M. E.: Fins ara han treballat en favor dels drets polítics i socials. No volem renunciar-hi, però ho volem integrar a les solucions tot demanant-li compromís a la gent; no només per aturar els judicis, sinó també per aconseguir una solució integral per a tot el poble. És temps de buidar les presons, no d’omplir-les. La gent té ganes d’avançar en la resolució i viure en pau, i per tenir dret a decidir el que volem ser.

Pamplona serà la propera parada del mur popular en el camí de la desobediència.

G. R.: També fem nostre el mur popular que han construït a Iruñerria. Aquest és el camí i hem de seguir-lo. No sabem com aniran les coses. És una mala notícia que un jove més acabi a la presó. Ànims a tots els que hi sereu. Nosaltres també hi serem.

Impunity and shame

Imagine a democratic state where a transition from a dictatorship took place nearly forty years ago. The dictator took up the power after a coup d'État against a democratic government and almost three years of bloody civil war.
Then, imagine that the would-be dictator was Francisco Franco and had the aid of a clique formed by other right-wing and monarchist generals, alongside far-right politicians who sought the support of the clergy and the states of the Rome-Berlin Axis. He also counted on an Army Corps formed by African soldiers who served at the Spanish colonies in Northern Morocco. They were known because of their extreme brutality and lack of respect for their victims.
Furthermore, imagine that rebels' coalition brutally murdered thousands of innocent people through bombings against civilians as well as summary executions all along the territory they were conquering. For instance, Franco ordered the German Condor Legion to destroy the Basque city of Gernika through a terrible bombing, the same thing that Italian troops tried to do in Barcelona. Regarding African troops, they committed lots of violations and a huge slaughter of innocent people, including women, children and elderly people. They did not even hesitate to murder people when they were fleeing from the war.
Imagine that, once the dictatorship was institutionalized, the summary executions and the councils of war went on during the postwar. Everyone who had formed part of a trade union or a political party during the Republic was purged, sometimes according only to lawsuits filled because of disputes between neighbours of a village or town. However, authorities did not verify whether the accusations were true or false, so dozens of innocent people were disappeared, jailed and even killed. And the terror continued until the death of the dictator, nearly forty years later.
Finally, imagine that neither the author nor the accomplices of such attrocities were never put before a court to pay for their crimes. Instead, an amnesty law was approved in order to avoid any criminal case against them. Furthermore, praising the dictatorship is legal in Spain, to the extent that some politicians from the ruling People's Party and its youth organization have been photographed showing Francoist flags or making the fascist salutation. And this situation of impunity keeps on... 

China according to Spanish media, a distorted image

It has become common some news about China appear on Spanish media, especially on the TV. Information about natural disasters like damages caused by typhoons or floods is often shown among other curious images of the country. For instance, a person who often watches the news on Spanish television TVE can be aware of the discrimination some Chinese graduates are being supposed to endure on their job interviews because of their zodiac. No, this is not a joke at all. A public television like Televisión Española, the Spanish offiicial TV, broadcast such information on 24th July 2013, only a day before the information about the imminent trial against Bo Xilai became official. However, the same television silenced the report that Bo's lawyer has not been allowed to legally represent him on the upcoming trial, as appeared last week in foreign newspapers like The Guardian. But no word about this issue was said neither in Spanish nor in Catalan or Basque media though the trial will be determinant for the political stability of China and the CCP. In addition, the denial of legal representation to Bo Xilai proofs that his trial is determined in advance so he is very likely to be convicted. 

The last case which drew the attention of every Spanish media was the order to demolish a luxury mansion which had been built by a Chinese millionaire on the top of a skyscrapper in Beijing. Such information was brought to the televisions and newspapers for several days, where as the latests reports on the lawsuit against Bo Xilai, the conviction of Liu Hui (the brother-in-law of jailed Chinese Nobel Prize Liu Xiaobo) amid a political trial or on the current tensions in Tibet have been silenced. Thus a Spaniard with no knowledge in English language or a person who is not used to read foreign media is unlikely to be aware of such important events. Instead, they would know a lot of features and figures about China's economic growth and the existence of several millionaires with an extreme love for luxury. Nevertheless, such anecdotes are seldom accompanied by other serious informations on the country like the accusations of bribery against GSK or some natural disasters which might take place there, as well as the case of Tang Hui, a woman who won a trial against the re-education through labor camp in which she was jailed for denouncing the rapist of her daughter.

Such situation provokes severe misunderstanding of the Chinese reality by the Spanish public opinion. For example, only a few Spaniards are aware of the ethnic and cultural diversity in China or the diplomatic and military conflicts which involve the country. Furthermore, many people do not know that Han ethnic group is only the main of the 55 nationalities which populate Chinese territory or that dozens of languages are spoken there. Instead, they think that the Empire of the Centre (the literal translation for 中国, China in Chinese) is only populated by Han Chinese, all of them speaking the same language and having the same culture. Thus, many clichés abound about them whereas the media contribute to promote them by publishing anecdotal informations such as those mentioned above.
Therefore, lots of Spaniards actually ignore that current policies by Chinese Communist Party officials are conducting to a spate of political detentions and trials which reminds the worst years of Maoist rule. This is even more evident in territories like Tibet (not only the TAR but also parts of other provinces which have been historically Tibetan: Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan), Inner Mongolia (an Autonomous Regions which shares its boundaries with the Republic of Mongolia and where the majority of Mongolians live) and East Turkestan (the Muslim-populated Xinjiang Uyghur Automous Region), where the government encourages a flooding of Han migrant workers to exploit the richness in natural resources of those regions. In addition, migrations bring blatant discrimination to the local population and inflicts huge damages to their environment, language, culture and traditional ways of life. Moreover, both the police and the People's Liberation army severely crack down on anyone who dares to protest against injustices they endure on their daily life, even beating and torturing people to death. The situation is even worse in Tibet, where authorities have even issued a death penalty against relatives of self-immolations, acusing them of encouraging those extreme acts of protest. The latest to be given such a harsh penalty has been Dolma Kyab, a man who was sentenced for allegedly murdering his wife Kunchok Wangmo and then burning her corpse to show that she had self-immolated requesting freedom for Tibet.
In addition, very few information is avalaible in Spain about territorial conflicts led by China. The standoff at the border between China and India in the region of Ladakh, including two incursions by the PLA into Indian territory, only appeared briefly at some newspapers like the right-wing La Razón. Moreover, the little news on this issue are never treated giving their historical or political background, but only treated superficially as is they were isolated facts. Thus, the viewer has not the ability to relate some standoffs like this and the rise of military budget in China with the aggressive foreign policy led by the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
Given all the circumstances mentioned above, it is clear that Spanish media offer a very biased information on China, trying not to show any information which could go against the ruling Communist Party or question the territorial integrity of the country. Because of that, the general public from Spain may not be aware of the deep implications that China's policies might have even in their own country.

Creating conflicts

An episode of tension has erupted between Spain and the United Kingdom because of Gibraltar, a city under British sovereignty which is situated south from the Iberian Peninsula and near the Spanish province of Andalusia. In fact, Spanish police has recently implemented new and stricter controls across the border between Gibraltar and La Línea de la Concepción, one of the Spanish cities which share its boundaries with the rock. Spanish authorities claim that the purpose of those security checks is to prevent snuff smuggling whereas hundreds of Spaniards who daily cross the border to their jobs are forced to wait for hours and so being late to their commitments.

However, snuff smuggling is not the origin of those checks and their consequences. Everything started when Gibraltar government started building an artificial reef which in practice prevented Spanish fishing boats from fishing in the area. It was located near the Spanish Playa de Poniente (Western Beach), in the city of La Línea de la Concepción and 500 meters away from British territorial waters. Thus the Spanish government raised concerns on the effects that this mesure could have for the economy of the area and send the Civil Guard to stop the collocation of the blocks which formed the reef. Moreover, Spanish authorities reacted aggressively implementing harder controls along the border and threatening Gibraltar with cutting the Spanish airspace to the aircraft from or to the rock as well as with cutting out the concessions on telecommunications. Furthermore, Spain is working on a tax which would charge people who want to cross the border either to reach their commitments or to enter Gibraltar as a tourist. If it is approved, each vehicle which wants to cross the frontier will be forced to pay 50€, a measure which goes clearly against the freedom of movement of both residents and tourists. Nevertheless, the rock is not within Schengen space thus no rules regarding freedom of circulation are to be applied there.

An isolated fact has led to a diplomatic conflict between the United Kingdom and Spain so far, damaging the inhabitants from both sides of the boundary. But have the latest events be the true cause for such an episode of tension? Why has this conflict exploded preciselly now? Has it something to do with corruption scandals and bad economic results in Spain?
Though Spain delivered Gibraltar to the United Kingdom as a payment to obtain the recognition of Phillip V as the new Spanish king according to the Utretch Treaty, signed in 1713, the reality is that Spanish nationalism has repeatedly used this issue when the situation within the borders of Spain was critical. Several reasons have been exposed by Spanish authorities to raise their concerns on the sovereignty of the rock, as for example the fact that "Utretcht Treaty did not include any clauses regarding the airspace of Gibraltar (sic.)". Other matters of controversy are the territory beyond the 1713 borders which has allegedly annexed by the British government and the sovereignty of the waters surrounding the territory. After several years of sieges and fights during the 19th Century, the worst dispustes took place during Francisco Franco's ruling in Spain, who even forced the closing up of the fence which marked the border between the country and Gibraltar in 1966 and left thousands of Spaniards jobless, after three years of non-stop tensions between both countries which even led Franco to put this issue at the hands of the United Nations that issued two resolutions regarding the status of Gibraltar and its sovereignty while respecting the interests of its inhabitants.
However, the reclamations regarding the rock are always issued when the different governments, like Franco's dictatorship, have something to hide within their borders. In this case, the conflict erupted when Spanish justice is investigating a case of supposed corruption by the ruling party in the country, the People's Party, which is among one of the greatest scandals the country has ever seen. This is the main reason Britons claim to be behind the current reivindications, as well as the territorial disputes within Spain. Moreover, Catalonia and the Basque Country, which are seeking their independence from Spain, have shown their support to Gibraltar and its British sovereignty, as accepted by Gibraltarians on a referendum which rejected the shared ruling of the area in 2002. Hence, claims of "Gibraltar Español" (Spanish Gibraltar) obey only to the purpose of deviating the attention off the critical problems of this country by reliving the ghost of a conflict which has never existed since the same king Philip V admitted that Gibraltar would be forever English. Spain cannot continue giving the back to the history.

Illusion and delusion: China's current policies towards Tibet

Chinese Communist Party has implemented more hard-line policies on Tibet during the last weeks ahead of the birthday of the Dalai Lama. This has happened despite rumours which suggested that the cult to the figure of Tibetan spiritual leader had been allowed in some areas and the invitation by a Chinese religious group to visit Hong Kong in September, as well as the latest statement by Chinese scholar Jin Wei, who suggested that talks with Dalai Lama's representatives should be resumed after more than two years of stallement and even claimed that China should invite him to visit Hong Kong or Macau and eventually allow him to come back to Tibet only on the role of Buddhist leader with no voice on political affairs.

After tightening the surveillance on Tibetans and the plans to vanish the ancient heritage of Lhasa by creating  a comertial area across the Barkhor area (a road that circumvalates Jokhang temple, one of the holiest in the city), the last move by Chinese authorities in Tibet has been the re-launchment of calls for "absolute fight" against the Dalai Lama, as Yu Zhengsheng stated during a meeting with local officials and religious leaders in Gansu province. At the same time, Chinese police shot several people who were celebrating the birthday of Tenzin Gyatso in Tawu county, Kham (Ch.: Daofu County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). According to some reports emerging from exile, at least two monks (Tashi Sonam and Ugyen Tashi) were shot in the head whilst several others were injured due to the shooting and the use of teargas. In addition, a report by Human Rights Watch has highlighted recently that nearly a third of Tibetans (approximately 2 million people) have been moved away from their homes and grasslands and transferred to the so-called New Socialist Villages, being barred from continuing with their traditional way of life. Therefore, many nomads have been forcibly sedentarized and condemned to alcoholism and margination. The video below gives the background and key features for this issue.

The situation has worsened since Xi Jinping became president of the country and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, with a spike on surveillance on non-Han people, including Tibetans and Uyghurs (a Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang).  Several measures of control have been implemented on minorities, such as monitoring of phone and internet communications, house-to-house searchings and arbitrary detentions or a tightening control on religious activities among others. Moreover, the increased control on minorities and "separatism" is not an isolated fact but an attempt to reassure its current boundaries by controlling some strategic points. In the case of Tibet, the plateau is the source of some of major rivers in East and Southeast Asia like Mekong, Yangtze, Brahmaputra or Salween. In addition, both Tibet and Inner Mongolia are rich in mineral resources crucial to the development of China whilst Xinjiang is rich in petrol, agricultural resources and livestock. So that, the Communist Party of China is not interested in loosing its control on them. Furthermore, both Tibet and Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are territories which share its borders with several countries, thus a heavy military presence is deployed there.
On the other hand, current policies towards Tibet or other "separatist" regions coincide with an increasing assertiveness towards some territories which are considered by China as its own. China's claims include not only the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, an archipielago situated in the East China Sea (they are a disputed territory by both China and Japan) but also other islands and continental territories like Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state which shares its boundaries with Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar and claimed by China as a territory called Southern Tibet. But the region which has suffered more attacks to its sovereignty is the territory of Ladakh, a valley situated in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which shares borders with the Tibetan region of Ngari and Aksai Chin, currently part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In fact, the last one has been repeatedly invaded by patrols of the People's Liberation Army during the last year, with some incursions into the area like the ones which took place in April or May this year and have not resulted in violent clashes between both armies, the last of them taking place only four or five days ago. However, India's reaction has been lukewarm since it has not broken any diplomatic conflict between the two countries. For instance, there have been some high-level meetings between important politicians from both countries, including Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to India in which both countries scheduled diplomatic meetings to discuss the ways to end the rows.
Unlike some scholars who seem surprised by the continuity of hard-line policies on Tibet at a scale that reminds the years of the Cultural Revolution and the impunity that China is enjoying, the last change on the leadership in the country and the CCP has made a variation on policies towards the region unlikely. Instead, some Western countries turn a blind-eye on the precarious situation of human rights in the country by intensifying their economic ties with China or making some political agreements with the Communist Party, like the Memorandum of Understanding between the CCP and the People's Party, the ruling party in Spain. Moreover, the concerns that different governments like the United States have raised over Tibet have not prompted any response by Chinese authorities, which repeatedly claim that Tibetans enjoy more freedom than ever. Thus China enjoys great freedom to address the situation in Tibet at its convenience, despite the damages that the repression on Tibetans could cause to this ethnic group and even to the whole country. 

Hero or genocide?

A museum in Toledo still praises Spanish dictator Francisco Franco as a hero. Basque MP Jon Iñarritu, from Amaiur (a separatist party from the Basque Country) posted a picture to Twitter in which some sculptures of the dictator can be seen within the category "Spanish heros". This qualification could be "acceptable" as a personal opinion (although praising a dictator as a hero can be very criticized), but the institution which has labelled Franco in this way belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Defence. Thus the Army Museum of Toledo is fundraised with public funds. As quoted on its website, the "Spanish Army Museum is a state-owned museum dependent on the Ministry of Defence. Its main objective is to promote knowledge on Spain’s military history". It seems to be situated in the city centre, close to General Moscardó Street (Moscardó was a general of the Francoist army who became famous due to his strenght at the Alcazar or Palace of Toledo, which was besieged for days by the Republican troops at the beginning of the Civil War. The "liberation" of this symbolic space would pave the way for Franco to establish his personal leadership within the rebels against the government of the Spanish Republic). So the museum is not the only remaining of the dictatorship it that city, capital of the region of Castilla-La Mancha.
Nevertheless, it is not the first time that an individual or institution is officially praised by the Spanish government. I quoted other examples on a previous blogspot, all of them related to official statements or homages in support of the former dictatorship. Moreover, the government continues to fund a private foundation which aims to preserve and protect the memory of Franco and his dictatorship. This is the case of the Fundación Francisco Franco, a private entity which praises the figure of the former dictator and tries to preserve his legacy. In 2001, it was given €24,043.08 in order to hire personnel for the digitalization of its archive, including security copies of the documents exhibited there. Among other activities, the entity also organises several symposiums on the fight against communism and some historical features of the regime. The English version of its website is not avalaible, but anyone wanting more information can visit the Spanish one, in which the activity and aims of the foundation are explained.

However, the same government which gives financial aid to the heirs of the former dictatorship is unable to investigate and clear the dozens of extrajudiciary executions which took place since the early months of the war, neither the unlawful councils of war which would take place once the dictatorship was institutionalised. Meanwhile, thousands of people are still missing whereas the corpses of many others are languishing in mass graves all around Spain and others were illegally transferred to the mausoleum of Franco.

Should a dictator whose regime provoked dozens of deaths be praised as a hero even after his own death?