The president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, today appealed to the famous phrase “Yes We Can” (Yes we can), made famous by President Barack Obama, speaking in New York independence process.
Under the title “Catalonia at the Crossroads” (Catalonia at the crossroads), the Catalan president told a conference at Columbia University in the current Spanish territorial debate also matter the known American values ”we” (us) and the “dream” (dream).
“Your president, Barack Obama, in his famous speech in Selma, said the most important word of democracy is ‘we’ (us). Your Constitution begins with ‘We the people’, and one of your hymns with ‘we must overcome obstacles’ “he said.
” ‘Yes We Can’ was like your president asked you to vote, and Catalonia also believe in the “we” he assured. Therefore, we will vote in September and we will decide our own political future as a nation. “
So, in key American, Mas presented to Catalonia in New York as a possible “good neighbor” and a “trusted partner” as a nation with a “strong commitment to a peaceful world” and actions against climate change, and as a “seat stability in terms of security in the western Mediterranean. “
” President Barack Obama said freedom and self-determination did not correspond to the states, but were universal values. Therefore, in the September elections will need a majority in favor of independence for a new constitution, “he said.
In an audience of two hundred people, mostly composed of people of Catalan origin or Spanish , But he went back to the origins of Catalonia to underline why his government and part of Catalan society are demanding secession process.
“We explained these things because we are seeing that when creating a new state, as did US parents to separate from England, required to disclose the reasons for wanting to be separated, “said the leader in his message, entirely in English.
Thus, Mas Antique reminded the nation and the Catalan institutions -informó, for example, that the Parliament was created “at the same time, if not earlier, than the British Parliament” – and noted all times when the Spanish State made attempts to “annul the culture” of the region.
“I would like to recall that Catalan, our own language, there just because the Catalans have tenaciously fought to keep him alive, contrary to the efforts of the Spanish institutions, “he said.
More talked about the fall of Barcelona in 1714 and the Franco dictatorship and dark periods in the history of Catalonia, and said that after an exemplary Spanish transition Catalans proposed two objectives, “modernize and Europeanize” Spain and get more autonomy, which “is far from being achieved”.
“Spain is still a young democracy and has pre-democratic vestiges,” he said.
The Catalan president was presented by economist and professor at Columbia University, Xavier Sala i Martin, who compared the Catalan independence process with the tale of David and Goliath to remember that the giant was “not as strong as previously thought” .
“And now David made the speech,” joked the president upon arrival, after Sala i Martin define it as “clever, brave, intelligent” and as a leader who “knows his weapons” as did the hero of the tale, which managed to kill the giant with a sling and a stone.
The Catalan president flew into the Big Apple where he is third official trip Mas United States after the first of June 2012, at Boston and New York, and the second, last June, to North Carolina, he had to return earlier than planned to go to Madrid to the proclamation of Philip VI .
© EFE 2015
© ZGS 2015
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