LET CATALANS VOTE:
LET CATALANS VOTE
A majority of Catalans have repeatedly expressed in different ways the
wish to exercise their democratic right to vote on their political future.
This strong demand to vote is the result of longstanding dissension
between the governments of Catalonia and Spain over the degree of
cultural, political, and financial autonomy that Catalans should enjoy,
despite several attempts to reach an acceptable solution.
As the precedents in Quebec and Scotland show, the best way to solve
legitimate internal disputes is to employ the tools of democracy. To
prevent the Catalans from voting seems to contradict the principles
that inspire democratic societies.
Accordingly, we call on the Spanish government and institutions and
their Catalan counterparts to work together to allow the citizens of
Catalonia to vote on their political future and then negotiate in good
faith based on the result.
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, sculptor and Nobel Peace Laureate
Ken Loach, cinema director
Saskia Sassen, Sociologist (Columbia University)
Richard Sennett, Sociologist (New York University)
Harold Bloom, literary critic (Yale University)
António Lobo Antunes, writer
Bill Shipsey, Founder of Art for Amnesty International
Paul Preston, Historian and Hispanist (London School of Economics)
Ambler Moss, former Ambassador of the United States of America
