Global Mobilisation, Saturday, October 13th at 18h, Catalunya square.

In recent months, the impact on our lives of the so-called crisis has intensified and politicians show no will or capacity to act upon it. So, we are building our own politics, we are taking the initiative, revealing what is behind the debt mechanism that sustains this big  scam they call crisis.  We declare that:

The debt crisis, which only started to affect European populations seriously from 2008, is not exclusive patrimony of the northern countries. For decades, debt has been used as an extortion and submission mechanism, a way to divest states of their sovereignty and turn them into financial slaves.

Far from serving the population that supposedly subscribed it, debt has been destined to finance the interests of financial powers and private companies. Profit is never socialised. Nevertheless, we see how the losses are not only socialised, but the practical totality of them fall on our shoulders; the common people.

We’ve been told we are responsible of the «crisis-scam», that we’ve been living over our possibilities. But responsibility is not the same nor was it originated to cover the same necessities. Family debt is only 20% of total debt and has been used mainly to acquire first homes (a constitutional right supposedly guaranteed by the state), while more than 60% of total debt belongs to banks and big cocorporations (specially construction companies) and it was originated by activities seeking economical profit. It’s a fact; the 1% has lived over the possibilities of the 99%: massive evictions, cuts on working, social and even civil rights as a result. A continuous spoil of the people to satisfy the pathological necessity of creditors to have their casino investments back. You played, you lost. We don’t owe, won’t pay!

A debt which has not been used to give public services to the population, but to pay the mistakes of those responsible of the fraud is ILLEGITIMATE and must NOT be payed by the population.

The bailouts that are being carried out right now in Europe, in countries like Portugal, Greece, Ireland and now Spain, had been used before in the southern countries during decades under the name of «Structural Adjustment Plans». To face debts subscribed by private companies or financial institutions, governments subscribe loans with financial organisms such as the IMF, the World Bank and in Europe, the European Central Bank and the EEC.

Following Zapatero’s tradition, who invented different names for the «crisis-scam», Rajoy’s government denies to call it bailout and searches for euphemisms such as «help to the bank sector», «soft bailout», etc. All is the same thing: injections of capital for the banks under conditions of austerity measures (cuts) and structural reforms (labour, VAT increase, and other fiscal reforms..), progressively applied by the government following a designed plan  and signed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the Spanish  Government and the Troika. Its acceptance and its reforms are not  temporary but permanent measures, and are destined to dismantle the so-called welfare state to establish a neoliberal model of society until its very last consequences.

It is all about guaranteeing the recovery of the European bank system’s irresponsible investments. Credit won’t flow to families, small and medium sized companies, or autonomous workers; the money goes straight to pay off losses in the bank’s accounts and not to the productive economy. It is not a bailout, it is a financial blow against democracy. No to the bailout. We will rescue ourselves with the money of those who created this scam.

The consequences of this kind of measures for the population are clear, we are already suffering them and there is still more to come. It is not a matter of a few years, it is a long term process that is going to put at risk our future and the future of our next generations. Increase of poverty and social differences, with greater impact on the most disadvantagedd as women, immigrants, pensionists, the young,  children, etc. Increase of the price of basic goods such as water,  electricity, food. Privatization of public services and selling of the commons. Welfare cuts, such as benefits of the dependence law which has special impact on immigrants and women who keep carrying out the biggest load of caring work and of course, dependent people. Increase of the unemployment helped by labour reforms, dismissions of public workers, cuts in education (increasing precarity of education services, classroom massification, etc.). R+R and health care cuts (growing waiting lists, re-payment of medicine, privatisation of the health system). Culture cuts, increase of VAT to 21%, nonpayment of subsidies, etc.

The establishment of these unfair measures comes with the loss of sovereignty. States are subjugated to financial powers which impose their one thought policy through the media. We are bombed with messages of constant and unlimited growth and the fact that we are in the middle of an unprecedented multidimensional global crisis is not shown; humanitarian, social, environmmental, energetical, of food supply, of care, financial and economical. Facing this, more and more voices are rising up working and developing alternatives as well as promoting a general indefinite global strike that will include all the people besides workers: students, unemployed, pensioners, immigrants, workers in the informal economy, domestic workers, etc. From here, we are calling to the mobilisation of all the people.

To face all these attacks, we are organising,  we have taken the streets to protest and to create real alternatives to  the problems that capitalism imposes. We reinforced networks that already existed and created new ones. We have created efficient devices that allow us to face this injustice.

Among these tools we want to highlight two general strikes, 29S and 29M, camps in cities round half the world and two global demonstrations over the last year. We see how other fights, demonstrations and strikes have multiplied during this year: students, workers from different sectors, for the right to decide on our own body, free abortion, immigrants and unemployed… We are many, we have only to take the step forward.

During the next days. in neighbourhood assemblies, fighting collectives and working centres, we will decide if we are joining the call for a global strike next October 31st.

– We are the solution

– Refusal of the Memorandum and payment of illegitimate debt, in order to recover sovereignty over our own lives. Don’t owe, won’t pay! It depends on us!

– Let’s rescue the people not banks

– Abolition of austerity measures which mean cuts and privatisation of public services, essential to look after social welfare, as well as labour and pension reforms.

– Prosecution of those guilty, those who caused this crisis-scam.

– Start changing the system, looking for the fair distribution of the wealth:

     – Fiscal reform

     – Prosecution of fiscal fraud and abolition of tax heavens.

     – End of SICAV regime

– Recover the commons: universal public services and spaces for self-management and self-support.

– Creation of a real public and socialised bank under democratic control.

Our problems are neither particular nor geographical, in the rest of the world the same is happening, so the solution must be global, requiring local actions and coordination.

Therefore, we encourage you to participate and create actions against the payment of illegitimate debt and get ready for the International Week of Action against Debt, and especially join the Global Noise concentration-demonstration that will take place on Saturday, October 13th at 18h on Catalunya square. «We will throw back the debt to those who created it».

Week of Global Action against Debt: http://tinyurl.com/8t8gkqq