Page 8 - aruba-today-20171014

A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 14 OctOber 2017

Catalan leader faces mounting pressure from all sides

On Tuesday, Puigdemont dependence.
told regional lawmakers The National Catalan As-
in a speech that Catalo- sembly, or ANC, a civil so-
nia was proceeding with a ciety group that organized
declaration of indepen- massive protests in support
dence from a mandate of secession, also issued a
provided by a disputed ref- brief statement with a simi-
erendum held Oct. 1. lar message.
But he immediately sus- “It doesn’t make sense to
pended its implementation keep the suspension of the
for a few weeks to allow for independence declara-
the possibility of negotia- tion” given Madrid’s rejec-
tions with Spain. The move tion of any dialogue, ANC
disappointed some of the said in the statement.
hard-liners in the secession- Some politicians of the two
ist camp. parties in the ruling coali-
Spain considers the refer- tion have also expressed
endum to be illegal and similar views on social
unconstitutional, and says media, with only a few
its results are invalid. Prime of them calling for calm.
Minister Mariano Rajoy has The Catalan government
rejected any possibility of hasn’t given any signal of
dialogue unless Puigde- what it intends to do, but
Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont waits to speak at parliament in Barcelona, Spain, mont returns “to legality” Catalan media reported
Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. Puigdemont says he has a mandate to declare independence for the and takes independence that closed-door meetings
northeastern region, but proposes waiting “a few weeks” in order to facilitate a dialogue. off the table. Rajoy has were being held Friday.
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) also said that Spain doesn’t Years of growing separatist
By ARITZ PARRA sion could be in the cards. dence for the region and need international media- sentiment erupted on Oct.
Associated Press She also said that Spain’s to fall in line with Spain’s tors to get involved. 1 when Catalan leaders
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) government is considering laws by Oct. 19 if he wants If Puigdemont says he did held the banned referen-
— Catalonia’s leader lowering the growth fore- to avoid losing some or all declare independence, dum despite court rulings
faced mounting pressure cast for the Spanish econo- of the region’s autonomous then he will have three and fierce opposition from
Friday from all sides, with my in 2018 if the standoff in powers. more days to cancel any Spain.
hardliners in the separat- Catalonia continues. For Spain, Puigdemont sim- secession plans. If he re- About 2.3 million Catalans
ist movement demanding “It’s in Puigdemont’s ply has to say one of two fuses to, or doesn’t answer, — or 43 percent of the re-
he definitively declare in- hands” to avoid the ex- words in his response. Rajoy has threatened to gion’s electorate — vot-
dependence from Spain. traordinary measures that “It’s just a yes or a no,” trigger for the first time a ed amid police violence
Spain’s government and would allow central au- Saenz de Santamaria told constitutional article that to halt the referendum.
the European Union, on thorities a partial or full sus- reporters after a weekly could give central authori- Catalonia said 90 percent
the other hand, insisted he pension of the prosperous Cabinet meeting. ties power to intervene di- favored secession and it
must abandon the region’s region’s autonomy, Deputy In addition to pressure from rectly in Catalonia. declared the results valid.
secession plans. Prime Minister Soraya Saenz Spain, two key allies of The far-left separatist Cat- Opponents boycotted the
Spain’s deputy prime min- de Santamaria said. Puigdemont’s government alan party CUP said in a vote.
ister blamed Catalan presi- The central government called on him to ignore letter dated Friday that Starting from a week be-
dent Carles Puigdemont for has given Puigdemont a the Spanish government’s Puigdemont should ignore fore the vote, more than
sinking tourist numbers and Monday deadline to make threats and press ahead the Spanish government’s 500 companies, including
for creating such econom- clear whether he has al- with proclaiming a new re- warning, lift the suspension Catalan banks, multina-
ic uncertainty that a reces- ready declared indepen- public. and definitively proclaim in- tionals and mid-size busi-
nesses have moved their
EU leaders ask Trump to weigh implications of Iran move registered addresses out of
the troubled region, Saenz
de Santamaria said Friday.
LONDON (AP) — The lead- British Prime Minister Theresa ment after U.S. President deal, such as re-imposing The move is so far mainly
ers of Britain, France and May, German Chancellor Donald Trump said he sanctions on Iran. symbolic and has limited
Germany say they remain Angela Merkel and French wouldn’t re-certify the But Merkel, Macron and economic impact be-
committed to the Iran nu- President Emmanuel Ma- deal. They urged the Trump May say they share U.S. cause it doesn’t involve
clear deal and are “con- cron issued a joint state- administration and Con- concerns about Iran’s bal- relocating offices, jobs or
cerned by the possible im- ment Friday calling the nu- gress to consider the possi- listic missile program and assets.
plications” of Washington’s clear deal “the culmination ble security consequences “stand ready to take fur- But Spain’s deputy prime
decision to no longer back of 13 years of diplomacy.” “before taking any steps ther appropriate measures minister said investment in
it in its current form. The three issued the state- that might undermine” the to address these issues.”q Catalonia is falling. q