The Communist Youth Collectives (CJC), the youth of the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE), has strongly condemned brutal police repression against students and university workers in Madrid, reporting five arrests, including one CJC militant, and several injured militants who required hospital treatment.
Communist Youth Collectives of Spain condemns police brutality
In a statement published on October 14, the Communist Youth Collectives (CJC) denounced the police violence suffered by students and university workers while they were carrying out informational pickets at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Several militants sustained injuries from blows and contusions, with some requiring hospitalisation.
The Communist Youth Collectives declared that the arrests and assaults were intended to intimidate the working class and its children, calling on the labour, student and trade union movements throughout Spain to demonstrate solidarity with those targeted. CJC demanded the immediate release of all five detainees without charges and urged class organisations to express their support in workplaces, educational institutions and communities across the country.
The Communist Youth Collectives placed the repression within a broader context of growing mobilisation, particularly in the Community of Madrid, where an indefinite strike by non-university teaching staff began on October 14, ahead of a university strike planned for three weeks later. CJC accused the central government and its Government Delegate in Madrid of bearing responsibility for the police crackdown, pointing out that the authorities were attempting to contain the organisation of the working class and its children.
CJC emphasise that "an injury to one is an injury to all" principle must be understood as more than an abstract slogan. Without a firm, organised response, the organisation warned, police violence could extend to every sector of the working class.
We call upon the entire working class of Spain and their sons and daughters to condemn the repression suffered, to demand the immediate release of those arrested, and to protect the right to demonstrate and defend public education . The governments of capital want us to be afraid, but now we only feel rage. Let us work together to make the indefinite strike that begins today a success. Let us march together toward the general strike of November 11th without yielding an inch, in order to build a true workers' opposition.