The Catalan National Assembly opens two new branches abroad, one in Cuba and one in the Baltic States, an expansion of the already successful Latvian branch
Assemblea Cuba presented its platform last Thursday March 5 at the Centre Català de l’Havana, an eminent institution founded in 1882, with a historical pro-independence stance. The president of the FC Barcelona supporters’ Peña Barcelonista de La Habana, Pep Gaya, was chosen to present the platform and to moderate the introductory debate on Catalan self-determination.
As a symbolic gesture, Mr Gaya gifted the book “The Catalan Crisis” by Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to the president and vice president of the Centre Català de l’Havana, Maria Dolores Rosich and Luis Eduardo Cura.
Meanwhile, the Baltic States platform will be presented next Friday, 13th of March, at the Riga Latvian Society House. The presentation will take place during the International conference “Walls of the past and the future: Challenges for freedom and sovereignty within Europe”, co-organized by the Vytautas Magnus University.
These two locations hold great importance for the Catalan people. Cuba, Spain’s last colony, has historically had a sizeable Catalan community and a strong economic relationship with Catalonia, as well as being a pro-independence bastion. In fact, the Catalan “Estelada” design comes from the Cuban flag itself.
On the other hand, the Baltic states have been a symbol for Catalan self-determination since their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Catalan Way protest , organized by the Catalan National Assembly in 2013, was inspired by the 1989 Baltic Way which united the three countries as a figure of their desire for independence.