José Antonio de Yturriaga
Ambassador of Spain and professor of Diplomatic Law
Dear Mr. Minder,
We met in march 2019 at a briefing “off the record” with several journalists in Madrid, where some members of the “Foro de Profesores” offered a version of the situation in Catalonia rather different from the ones that you have expressed in your articles in the “New York Times”. I believed that you were ill-informed and influenced by the propaganda of the independent parties and, for that reason, I have tried since then to give you reliable information about what was really happening in Catalonia. It does not appear to have produced any effect, since you continue to maintain your biased opinion on the matter, as can be deduced from your article entitled “Spain Hoped Catalonia´s Separatists Would Fade. They´re Gaining Ground”, which is filled with lack of precision, omissions, half-truths and a few lies. Sometimes, half-truths are worse than lies because they give an appearance of objectivity.
You have stated that parties seeking to create a breakaway for Catalonia increased their majority in the regional Parliament at the Catalonian elections and received a majority of votes, and that moderation within the pro-independence camp had prevailed, since ERC, a moderate leftist party, had won. The truth of the matter is that the separatist parties have lost 718.644 votes compared with the 2017 elections, but the unfair electoral system –which benefits the inner Catalonian provinces, less populated and more nationalist- has allowed them to consolidate their parliamentary majority despite the fact that the three independent parties got only 48% of the votes. The gain was not been provided by ERC –which can hardly be considered a moderate party-, but by the radical antisystem party CUP, which has won five new seats, With a 46.4% abstention, the votes obtained by these parties amount to 26.9% of the Catalonian electors and 3% of the Spanish ones. Do you really think that such percentages reflect the will of the Catalonian people as a whole and permit it to unilaterally declare the independence of a region which forms part of Spain?
With regard to the rapper Pablo Hasel, you have said that he faces prison on charges that his rap lyrics glorified terrorism and denigrated the monarchy, but you omit to mention that he has been condemned by various courts not only for slander and glorification of terrorism in tweets, but also for crimes of false accusations, obstruction to justice, resistance to authority, housebreaking, threats to a witness, and injury to a journalist. Thoughts do not transgress, but words do, especially if they are followed by criminal action. You are aware of the facts, but you have hidden them from your readers. If a civil servant can be legally prosecuted for prevarication, a journalist may be accused morally of “journalistic prevarication”, if he violates the ethical rules of journalism. You may think that a minority part of the Catalonian people has the right to unilaterally declare Catalonia´s independence or that Hasel is in prison for having exercised his freedom of expression without committing any wrongdoing, but I believe that journalists should not confuse or mix objective facts with their subjective opinions. I regret that you maintain your “parti pris” concerning Catalonia and that your articles contribute to strengthen the attitude of your paper that, with its frequent criticisms, does not favor the position of the democratic Spanish Governments.
Kind regards
Madrid, February 20th, 2021
© All rights reserved
