11.07.2014 - 09:31
The Catalan National Assembly (Assemblea Nacional Catalana, ANC) presented the campaign it has planned for the next two months in the run up to Catalonia’s National Day on September 11th. The events will take place during the months of July, August, and the first week of September all over the Catalan territory, as well as in some other cities of the world, thanks to collaboration with the ANC’s local and foreign chapters.
Like last year’s practice sessions in preparation of the Catalan Way, this year “V marches”—in which large groups of people form the letter V, for Votar (Vote), for Via (Way), Voluntat (Will), and for Victòria (Victory)—will be organized all over the country in order to make people familiar with the huge V Day demonstration planned for September 11th. The ANC aims to internationalize the sovereignty process and mobilize the land as they head into the campaign for the November 9th referendum on independence. “2014 is a decisive year in our path towards independence. For that reason, this year, the most important date is not September 11th, but rather November 9th: the day that we will vote and decide our future,” said ANC president Carme Forcadell.
A message for the world
Núria Vinyals, member of the ANC’s Governing Board, explained that beginning Friday, the Assembly will organize large regional events each weekend in which a large mural will be displayed. Each event will feature a shout out to a key political leader with respect to international recognition of the Catalan cause. The events will serve to drum up world coverage and explain that Catalans will vote on November 9th. The first mural will be directed to the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and will be unfurled in Badalona.
In total, ten large murals will be created, one for each of the world leaders and each one will measure 50 x 100 feet (15 x 30 meters). Barack Obama, Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Schulz, Angela Merkel, François Hollande, David Cameron, Matteo Renzi, Ban Ki-moon, Dilma Roussef, Pope Francis, and Fredrik Reinfeldt are the world leaders to whom this message of democracy and freedom will be sent. Forcadell explained that the selection was made from European countries and those considered “absolutely democratic”.
A V in each municipality
Ignasi Termes, of the ANC Governing Board, explained that in addition to the murals that transmit this message to the principal world leaders, the local and foreign chapters of the assembly will carry out a series of smaller demonstrations, “V Marches”, in municipalities all over Catalonia and the world. Such auxiliary events were also carried out in the summers of 2012 and 2013, in the run up to the March for Independence and the Catalan Way.
Termes also explained that this month posters will be hung in the streets of Catalonia, capitalizing on the ANC’s summer mobilization, as part of the “Estem preparats” [We are prepared] campaign, whose goal is to consolidate and broaden majority community support for independence. “In this way, we’ll build upon all of the preparatory events for the September 11th V Day Demonstration in order for the whole country to see that we are prepared to take on the challenge that we have set for ourselves.”
Details for the gigantic V to be released next week
With respect to details about the huge V demonstration that will be held next September 11th on two principal avenues in Barcelona—the Diagonal and the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, and meeting at a point in the Plaça de les Glòries—Forcadell announced that the ANC would hold an explanatory press conference together with Òmnium Cultural next week. The slogan of the demonstration, she added, has not been completely decided on, but it will certainly be focused on the November 9th referendum and the word “voting” will play a central role.
New Video: “V, the letter that will change our history”
During the presentation of the summer campaign, the ANC also made public yesterday a new promotional video which featured images of figures in the shape of a letter V, like the hands on a clock, the branches of a tree, a clothespin, and even traffic signals. Next week, a second version of the video will be released.
