Junqueras: "I went to jail for Catalonia, not because Colau is a deputy on an ERC list"
BarcelonaThe ERC deputy in Congress Francesc-Marc Álvaro presented the book, but it was another Republican in Madrid who took the party president's message. "I went to jail for Catalonia, not because Colau is a deputy on an Esquerra list." Oriol Junqueras has cut short the unitary list of the left that Gabriel Rufián has been promoting for weeks with the collaboration of his former colleague in the lower house, Joan Tardà. A few days ago, in fact, Tardà himself suggested in an interview with Público that Colau be number 2 on a list headed by Rufián and that David Fernández (CUP) also be in the third position.
On Calabria street, Tardà's and Rufián's moves are not liked, and they insist on saying every time they have the opportunity that ERC will run under its own name and will avoid experiments to save the Spanish left. In this case, Junqueras took advantage of a question from the director of ARA, Esther Vera —who was moderating the book presentation— to throw a dart at Rufián, who on April 9th will participate with Irene Montero, one of Podemos' leaders, in an event at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
The president of ERC, therefore, took one of the headlines of the night, although at this afternoon's event he was one of the supporting actors, along with the president of the Parliament, Josep Rull, both initially destined to accompany Francesc-Marc Álvaro. This was the case for a good part of the presentation, during which the journalist from Vilanova demonstrated that his time in politics had not diminished his analytical capacity, which made him one of the most incisive pens in recent Catalan journalism. In his book, El franquisme en temps de Trump (Pòrtic), he takes the opportunity to dissect what we could define as the theory of "xarneguismo" against Trump. Álvaro explains that his paternal grandfather came from Torrepacheco, a Murcian town sadly famous for racist incidents sponsored by Vox, and that in Catalonia he found a home where he could prosper and a nation with an inclusive concept of identity, which he opposes to Trumpism and its franchise in Catalonia, Aliança Catalana, and Sílvia Orriols. "We are all xarnegos," he exclaimed.
Because the book is about Vox, but the debate moderator asks the participants to engage in an act of political introspection to discern what lies behind the emergence of a distinctly Catalan far-right. The event is a small miracle (or should we say mirage?) of Catalan politics. Sitting side by side, Rull and Junqueras share a diagnosis and exchange pleasantries. So much so that at one point Junqueras exclaims: "I am a Rullista!", to general laughter. The miracle is also repeated among the audience. People from ERC such as Isaac Albert, Esther Capella, or Joan Ignasi Elena share space with former convergent councilors like Boi Ruiz, Lluís Recoder, or from Junts like Josep Maria Argimon. "Here we have an alliance of democrats and Catalanists," emphasizes Álvaro, who then recalls other examples of Catalanist ecumenism such as Catalan Solidarity at the beginning of the 20th century, anti-Francoism, the Benet-Pujol relationship, or the Procés. And as the presenter of the event, another example of a transversal Catalanist like Carles Campuzano, on behalf of Acció Catalana.
Battle for civilization
The fight against the far-right is, according to him, a "battle for Western civilization", and specifically its two most valuable fruits, democracy and the welfare state. That is why he calls for forging broad consensuses and major agreements. And with no one should it be easier to reach an agreement than with Josep Rull, who calls for an aggiornamento of how Catalan identity is understood in order to be as inclusive as possible. Rull appeals to the spirit of October 3, 2017, the moment when Catalanism was closest to heaven.
Things, however, did not go as well as expected. Junqueras and Rull shared prison and a police van. "The Spanish judiciary has Francoist tics," recalls Álvaro, who concludes with another phrase that makes the audience nod: "The best way to be anti-fascist is to be Catalanist".
