jueves, 17 de mayo de 2012

Evictions, detentions, kettles. What's going on with Police and 15M?


15M one year celebrations have just finished in between exciting demonstrations, thousands of assemblies, and a few late night evictions. Last weekend people all around Spain came back to the streets, took the squares again. They claim 15M is more alive than ever, they say they still want to change the world. Even some of them truly believe it.

But is not 15M what stole my dream. Not today. Concerns me deeply the latest news about citizens arrested during hours “for being in the wrong place at the wrong time” (as Laura, who just went on party with her friends last Saturday and was detained by Police in her way home -you can watch the video and judge yourself-), and journalists dropped out the street when they were doing their job (as you can see here, and here, and those are just two examples). 

Seeing how Spanish Police did a kettle in Madrid city centre let me speechless. The last straw. Around 500 people rounded by cops at Alcala Street (one of the roads which go to Sol), locked during an hour for making a 'cacerolada' ( 'cacerola' means pot, so 'cacerolada' means a group of people shaking noisily pots and pans, this time in order to ‘welcome’ Spanish risk premium which those days is reaching unbeliable levels). 

Is this how democracy looks like? People trapped in streets for demanding a better world for them and next generations? I mean, I don't know if demonstrators know how to escape from economical crisis, improve the system or change something. But at least they try to, peacefully, not hurting anyone (in 99 per cent of the times, there are always fools everywhere). They do not stay at home staring at TV as lots of people do. They try to do something. And what do they get; being persecuted like criminals? 

Police repressing citizens instead of protecting them is a horrible symptom of an ill system. They are not supposed to act like that and we should not allow it. 

I do not know nor what is going to happen, neither where we are going. But we have to do something because things are getting worse and worse. Cut backs are done and will be done in sunny Spain every Friday from now till July in the name of a welfare state which seems to be critically damaged. Definitely we better do something now, simply because tomorrow it may be too late.

'Cacerolada' at Puerta del Sol (Madrid, Spain)

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