The amnesty is a partial victory that should be celebrated, but does not resolve the conflict between Catalonia and Spain. It is time to resume the path towards independence.
Assemblea welcomes the application of amnesty for Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Dolors Bassa and Raül Romeva, as well as the lifting of the arrest warrants against Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig, although the proceedings against them have yet to be formally closed.
While the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) celebrate the amnesty today in an act of political cynicism at its most extreme, it is worth remembering that both party leaders, Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa, had once been opposed to it.
Assemblea has always warned that the amnesty is a trap designed to whitewash Spain, normalise the situation in Catalonia and demobilise the pro-independence movement.
Yet the conflict has not ended, and we, the pro-independence movement, are still here. We have always been here. This is not the end. The amnesty does not bring the independence process to an end; rather, it allows us to continue it with greater determination.
The reasons for Catalonia’s independence remain as strong as ever. Public transportation conditions are unacceptable; the healthcare and education systems are oversaturated; the farming sector faces serious difficulties; and the use of Catalan is declining. This alarming reality exposes the need for Catalonia to decide its own future.
It is now the time to pick up where we left off, without excuses or diversions. It is now the time to refocus all our efforts towards the goal that remains to be achieved. It is now the time to commit to independence.
Assemblea is here.