This afternoon, the president of the Government of Catalonia sent the following letter to the acting prime minister of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, in response to a WhatsApp message the latter had earlier sent to journalists:
Prime Minister Sánchez,
After I once again called on you to engage in a dialogue and you chose not to answer my phone call, I must respond by letter to the WhatsApp message you have sent to journalists, which is an inappropriate way to answer the president of the Catalan government:
- There is no need for you to give me lessons on how I should condemn and combat violence. The independence movement has been a peaceful one for many years, and I personally have always combated and condemned all
- As the president of the Government of Catalonia, I publicly note that you are refusing to talk to the representative of the Catalan people and, worse still, refusing to establish any kind of dialogue.
- As we have seen since you became prime minister of Spain, you have again made it clear that you have no political narrative or proposal for Catalonia.
- Refusing to engage in dialogue at this point, when a completely unjust ruling against peaceful and democratic individuals has sparked indignation among Catalans, is a grave act of irresponsibility that I am sure the international community will find utterly incomprehensible.
Mr Sánchez, we will never stop calling on you or whoever the next president of the Spanish government is to engage in a dialogue. You will always find us willing to talk about Catalonia’s legitimate right to exercise its right to self-determination. Do not look for excuses where there are none. Assume your responsibility to engage in democratic politics.
Yours sincerely,
Quim Torra i Pla
President of the Government of Catalonia
Barcelona, 19 October 2019