[Marxism] Catalonian CP leader: Changes in Latin America bring Hope

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

GRANMA
January 20, 2007

(English not yet posted to Granma website)

Changes in Latin America bring Hope

General Secretary of the Catalonian Communist Party speaks with
Granma.

Elson Concepcien Perez

"The political processes taking place in Latin America are
extraordinary and they are bringing a lot of hope in the future,"
Maria Pere, General Secretary of the Catalonian Communist Party, told
Granma on Friday.

"The changes are bringing to the forefront the role of the State in
social matters. New policies are being drafted and ownership of big
strategic sectors is being recovered," said Pere who concludes his
visit to the island on Saturday.

The Catalan political leader added that these actions are paving the
way for investments in healthcare, education and social security.
"Collective property, which neoliberalism had suppressed and almost
done away with, is being rebuilt," he also noted.

Pere said that as a consequence of these processes and the agreements
being signed, a change is taking place in the international scenario
and the policies of the Bush administration are becoming isolated.

The Catalonian communist leader highlighted that unilateralism is now
being countered by a growing multilateralism, as was demonstrated by
the reinforcement of the Non Aligned Movement at its September, 2006
summit in Havana.

Maria Pele also made reference to his Party's insertion into the
current Spanish political arena.

In this regard he said that the Catalonian Communist Party worked
very hard and succeeded in bringing changes in the rightwing
government of Catalonia, and most recently, belongs to the coalition
of leftwing organizations in power.

"This means that we are witnessing a moment where Catalonia will be
able to develop social policies, build new productive structures, and
especially, be able to show more solidarity.".

Pere said his party is also cooperating with the president of the
Spanish government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, on the pursuing of
common issues. He voiced his support for the creation in Spain of a
Democratic Front to provide a space for cooperation between the
current government and other political forces.

In order to achieve that, he stressed that the Catalonian Communist
Party believes the country should maintain an independent policy, a
tradition broken by former President Jose Maria Aznar, which Zapatero
is recovering, as evidenced by the withdrawal of Spanish troops from
Iraq.

"Other elements of joint work should be the reform of the State,
turning it into a more federative entity and linked to the interests
of the people," said Pere. He also cited the quest for peace in the
Basque Country, well aware that it will be a long process, with
tensions, but where dialogue must prevail.

Referring to the so-called European Union's "common position" on
Cuba, he recalled that it was a proposal made by Aznar when he headed
the Spanish government that it had to do with his agreements with the
United States. Pere noted that those are interests contained in the
Bush Plan to annex the island, which somehow places Europe in a
different position from the one it had in terms of its dependence on
the US.

"In this regard, the European Commission has taken a different
approach, showing the respect and the affection that Europe has shown
for Latin America, and especially Cuba," said Pere.



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