Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

A9
WORLD NEWS Tuesday 5 december 2017
4 Catalan separatists kept in jail as campaigning begins

place the ones the central Monday after the 100,000-
government removed from euro ($118,000) bail a Su-
office in late October. preme Court judge set for
Hours before pro-secession them earlier in the day was
parties held evening rallies posted.
to launching their bids for Meanwhile, former region-
seats in the Catalan par- al leader Puigdemont and
liament, a Supreme Court four of his separatist allies
judge in Madrid ruled that learned Monday that a de-
four prominent members cision on Spain’s request for
of the region’s indepen- their extraditions from Bel-
dence movement must re- gium will be made Dec. 14.
main jailed without bail. That’s one week before the
They include former region- regional election in which
al Vice President Oriol Jun- Puigdemont is leading his
queras, who is heading up pro-independence party’s
the slate of the left-repub- ticket as its presidential
lican ERC party in the up- candidate.
coming election. Junquer- However, a final decision
as was unseated along may not come until well af-
with ex-president Carles ter the election because of
Puigdemont and the rest appeals.
of Puigdemont’s Cabinet The five Catalan officials
after regional lawmakers fled to Belgium and are re-
Lawyers defending ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont arrive at the court in Brussels,
Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his closest Catalan allies passed a declaration of in- fusing to return to Spain to
face a Belgian judge pondering their potential extradition to Spain, where they face up to 30-years dependence that Spanish face possible rebellion, se-
in jail. authorities deemed illegal. dition and embezzlement
(AP Photo/Olivier Matthys) Six other Catalan politi- charges over the push for
By ARITZ PARRA pendence movement and maining in Spain. cians who had been jailed independence.
RAF CASERT featuring candidates who Voters are choosing re- with Junqueras since early The charges carry maxi-
Associated Press are either in jail or living gional lawmakers and top November were released mum penalties of decades
MADRID (AP) — Political abroad to avoid detention. government officials to re- from jails near Madrid late in prison.q
parties in Catalonia started The highly polarized par-
campaigning Monday for liamentary election set for
the early regional elec- Dec. 21 is shaping up as a
tion called by the Spanish plebiscite between Cata-
government in hopes of lans who support secession
quashing the region’s inde- and those who favor re-

In a shift away from austerity,

EU countries pick new leader

By PAN PYLAS very difficult for Europe.”
RAF CASERT Other priorities include bol-
Associated Press stering the resilience of the
BRUSSELS (AP) — Portu- eurozone, he said.
guese Finance Minister Ma- “We have a very unique
rio Centeno has won the time window to further pre-
race to be the next voice pare our economies and
of the 19-country euro- our societies better,” Cen-
zone, a victory that marks teno said after seeing off
a move away from the the challenge from Luxem-
austerity mantra that has bourg’s Pierre Gramegna,
marked the recent crisis- Slovakia’s Peter Kazimir and
ridden years in the single Latvia’s Dana Reizniece-
currency bloc. Ozola.
Centeno, the overwhelm- Centeno will take the helm
ing favorite, came out on at an opportune time.
top after two rounds of Whereas Dijsselbloem’s
voting among his peers five years in the post were
and will officially succeed marked by crises largely
Dutchman Jeroen Dijssel- centered on cash-strapped
bloem on Jan. 13. His term Greece, Centeno’s tenure
as eurogroup president starts off in relatively be-
will last for two and a half nign conditions. The euro-
years. zone economy is growing
Following his victory, Cen- strongly, while worries over
teno said he hoped to pro- Greece’s future in the bloc
mote “inclusive” growth have subsided with the
policies that will help “put country poised to exit its
an end to a period that was bailout era next summer.q