CUP calls its former MP Basha Changue 'Pro-Spanish'

The internal war within CUP continues, now over the controversial video of a performance at Barcelona's city hall where Catalan is disparaged. Pro-separatism parties and organizations have raised an outcry. Òmnium, Junts, ERC, and CUP apologized and called for resignations at city hall, which has acknowledged the "mistake" of not supervising the act they describe as "Catalanophobic."

This has created particular tension within CUP, since the protagonists of the sketch are a theater group of Latin American immigrant women. CUP includes both more pro-separatism and more socialist factions. The latter have defended the actresses and the social content of their play.

Message from the former CUP deputy

Among their defenders is the former CUP candidate in the last municipal elections in Barcelona, Basha Changue. She has stated that "what the show actually explains is how the use of Catalan as a weapon adds to the obstacles and other forms of discrimination faced by migrants."

Changue, who was also a CUP deputy in Parliament, believes that the message of the play is to criticize that "instead of making people love the language, it's treated as just another administrative requirement." In response to the "imposition," she has advocated for other "natural learning policies" such as children's television or language partner programs.

"As Catalan speakers, we can and must do better in this regard. Less outrage and holding your breath, and more getting involved in language partner volunteering," she said.

CUP responds to Basha Changue

This has provoked a reaction from CUP's institutional sector. "This isn't CUP's position," they clarified, "our position is that of the official accounts." They thus distance themselves from their former deputy, whom they further accuse of "downplaying attacks on the language" and label as "pro-Spanish."

CUP states that "Catalan isn't a weapon, nor does it have to be likable, nor should it be optional." They add that Catalan is "Catalonia's own language," and the "distinctive feature of our nation."

This discussion on social media comes the same week thatthe former number three of CUP for Barcelona, Santi Aranya, called the party 'shit'. In this case, it was over the controversy regarding the eviction of squatters by the CUP-governed city hall of Girona. The housing union has accused CUP members of being reactionary and of destroying forms of working-class organization.

War among CUP members

CUP's official sector is beginning to see it as a mistake to have replaced institutional profiles with radical activists like Basha Changue. That coincided with the organization's electoral collapse. Now they're trying to redirect the crisis by betting on an institutional shift, but they're facing rebellion from those factions.

The controversy over the sketch in question also highlights the contradiction faced by part of the separatism movement. Factions that have promoted illegal immigration for years now find themselves facing a decline in Catalan.