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PERDRE UN ULL / PERDER UN OJO

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    "[...] as soon as some group starts uncontrolled violent actions,
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    police units don't even move and when violence is becoming
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    widespread, law enforcement is deliberately delayed
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    until damage are socially unacceptable.
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    It's then when police charges take place,
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    not wanting to be a deterrent, no need to conceal.
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    It's headed directly against the protesters, who are already considered
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    vandals, and that are attacked fast enough for not giving protesters time
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    to scape and forcing physical confrontation.
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    [...] Innocent victims begin to appear -collateral damage is said now-.
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    Those who have avoided confrontation, are now with the rest
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    of police units that will close off their way
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    and that will not make detainees -prisoners-, the dispersion is not voluntary,
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    it is forced with the defenses (batons) and any hint of resistance
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    is answered with exaggerated force and mass arrests"
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    In the ancient battles, it was then when cavalry was sent
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    pursuing those who scaped while the infantry annihilated
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    those who had surrendered in the battlefield."
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    Extracted from "How to end with crusties" Author: David Pique, head of riot police of the Catalan police
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    I'm a peaceful person
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    I'm not very brave
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    I would have never been in a place
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    where I see people
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    that is provoking, and then I could be hitten, at the end.
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    There was people in that part
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    of Paseo de Gracia, by Gran VĂa,
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    but people was there just about to leave home
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    untill we got surrounded by the mossos (catalan police)
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    and of course the people started running
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    because... by the way they were behaving
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    they were not saying "stay" but "get out of here"
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    that's what they wanted, that we got away,
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    that we ran. It was closed down the avenue
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    we could see people running from Plaça Catalunya
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    we tried to go up the avenue, it was blocked too,
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    police vans came and closed Gran Via
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    At this point, everybody started running
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    towards Diagonal, crossing Passeig de Gracia
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    because there was no other place to go,
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    towards Caspe street,
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    and so did I. I went along
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    with 5 or 6 friends of mine
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    and each of them took a different direction,
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    I was there with LluĂs and I remember
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    crossing Passeig de Gracia
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    and I turned round trying not to get lost,
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    and I saw that
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    vans and policemen where there.
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    And it was then when I noticed the impact in my face,
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    very painful, well, unspeakable.
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    I thought "it's not possible, it's not possible"
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    Immediately i said "Lluis, I've been hitten, I've been hitten",
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    I put my hand in my face
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    and, well, and that's it, no...
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    He looked at me shouting
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    and I told him "I've no eye, I've no eye"
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    and he told me "yes" and well...
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    That was the first moment I knew that
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    the impact had been very hard.
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    It did hurt
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    not in an specific point, it was all the left half on my face that hurt
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    I was saying "ambulance please, ambulance, ice, ice,
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    someone give me some ice, someone called an ambulace",
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    I didn't even thought about calling an ambulance with my cell phone
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    they sat me in a corner, on the floor.
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    Suddenly, we were there for a while, and suddenly a local police showed up.
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    The local policeman asked me what happened to me
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    and I showed him, I uncovered my eye
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    and I showed him. He asked me if it hurted,
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    "yes I told him and he gave me more
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    paper handkerchiefs, he took out some
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    paper handkerchiefs and he gave some clean ones.
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    After a while, I know he was there calling the ambulance
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    the ambulance wouldn't come, they said they were not allowed to get to the area
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    and the people there was screaming,
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    "Help ambulance, make an ambulance come!",
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    some friends of mine went to look for some, to see if they could find some
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    ice, and the the local policemen
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    told me "Come with me, come with me"
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    and he took me to his car conmigo
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    and he sat me on the drives seat
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    we were there, he was calling the ambulance again and again
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    and the ambulance said that they were not allowed to get into the area
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    they asked if I was conscieous
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    and then I even said "Tell them I'm not concious, tell them to come now"
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    and then I started to get dizzy inside his car
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    and I told them "I'm getting dizzy, I'm getting dizzy"
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    The next day, I woke up
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    in the box, and my family was there
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    and, well, I had my eye covered
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    They had rebuilt my eyeball
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    and all this part of the eye.
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    All the bones around here
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    all this around here is broken, the chickbone
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    and untill here, a bone that I don't even know the name of
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    my optical nerve is cut off
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    and they told me that they should make a second intervention
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    in order to put a plate and that they still had to assess when the inflammation got better
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    but they still had to assess what will they do, they were not sure.
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    The first thing they told me was that I had lost my vision
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    and that I will never recover that vision
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    This nerve that has been cut off makes that I have no sensibility in all this part
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    I still cannot eat well, I can't chew on this side
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    I cannot even yawn, when I yawn it hurts,
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    I can only eat on this side
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    Well, I had all this inflamed
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    But I had the hope that
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    even if I couldn't see, I could keep my eye
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    and keep going.
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    But he told me that the eye and the vision, I wouldn't recover them
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    That the eye should be removed and they had to implant a prothesis
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    They didn't offer any kind of psychological aid, even though I asked for it
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    I insisted on that but it hasn't been provided to me.
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    I don't know if they dont have it or if my case doesn't fit in any pathology that should have psycological aid.
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    But this that has happened to me is very hard, I don't wish this to anyone
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    What you dont wish for yourself, don't do it to the others, that's my philosophy
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    But it has happened to me, and well, here we are.
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    This happened the night of the 14th of november
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    and monday 19th I got the first visit of the ophthalmologist at 10am
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    the ophthalmological protocol said that if you are not being medicated intravenously you have to go home
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    I told them that I wasn't
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    strong enough to go away
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    to go home, that my parent are old, my mother is
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    72 years old and my father 86 and I live with them
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    and it's them who have to take care of me.
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    They told me I colud go to the outpatiens clinic
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    and having the cures done
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    but they are each 8 hours. And I told them that
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    it was impossible to go 3 tomes per day to the outpatiens clinic
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    to make this cures
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    Then they insisted that my mother will do it very well
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    and she would cure me
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    and yes, my mother can do it very well
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    but she is not the right person to do it, right?
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    Besides all this happened to a daughter of her
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    it's she who has to
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    make me this cures. No one from the administration
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    has shown any interest for my case
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    or even text me
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    not an a-mail, not a call
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    no one has appeard there
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    in the hospital showing interest for my state of health
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    to see how I am, what happened to me, where was I or
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    who was I with or whatever
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    I don't know if this is the normal procedure
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    but I think that it's not
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    humanitarian.
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    My family need a lot of,
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    and myself, we need a lot
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    a lot of support and the truth is that
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    someone in the administration that had held responsability
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    in behalf of this security state forces that
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    were there and say that they didn't charge,
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    but they did charge, I saw it
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    and I'm the proof of what they did.
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    When I got out of the hospital I've seen images,
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    videos in which
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    Mr Felip Puig (catalan security responsible)
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    said there was no police charge in that area
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    and that no rubber bullets or projectile had been shot.
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    I don't know what hit me, but I do know
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    that it was a mosso d'esquadra (catalan police)
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    and it was a projectile, I don't know what kind, but it was a projectile
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    If he didn't give the order
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    being above all the others, who gave it?
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    I saw it, why does he say there were no police charges?
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    Maybe he could explain that to me,
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    look at me and explain me that there was
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    no police and that they didn't charge. I saw them
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    there live, this has happened to me
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    and I've seen them on TV afterwards.
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    This state of repression and violence takes us nowhere
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    I have even listened some statements
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    of Mr Mas (catalan president)
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    justifying this repression
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    The only thing I say, is that
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    the one that has done this
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    if he has sons and this happened to
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    one of his sons, he should put his hand inside his chest and see if it hurts
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    or not. The have to think
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    that they carry weapons,
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    but that also their sons could have been in that demonstration.
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    Because sometimes the sons
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    also hurt enormously.
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    Depending on what parent, maybe there are father who don't feel pain
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    but to me my sons hurt enormously,
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    enormously.
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    They cannot do whatever they wish to them
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    some boys were going to catch the metro
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    they were not allowed and police started beating them
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    It's not fair, it's not fair
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    let them put their hand in their chest
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    and see what they find.
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    Because they've reuined our lives, we were
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    a humble family, a very united family. I've got 4 children,
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    all of them get on very well with each other
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    and they will never be able to say that we've been in any trouble
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    we've fulfilled our obligations
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    If we had to pay we have paid, no one can say
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    anything, in the neighbourhoor, no injustice, anything.
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    I don't know why they have to do those things to a humble family.
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    I don't know, no, I don't know
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    They have ruined our lives
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    My labour situation has forced me
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    to leave my flat
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    where I lived since 17 years ago in la Verneda (Barcelona)
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    and to come to live with my parents.
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    Beacause untill 2 or 3 months
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    I won't be able to pay the rent, or food or anything.
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    My parents have welcomed me in their house
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    fortunately they have a house
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    and they love me and I can stay with them
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    When you a re self-employed there's no unemplyment benefit,
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    you have no kind of unemplyment benefit
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    According to the State I'm a person
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    with no dependents because I'm not married,
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    I havent any elderly in my charge, I've got no sons.
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    I'm not a single mother
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    I haven't got any episode of gender violence,
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    the National Unemplyment Office doesn't consider my situation in any of it's cases
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    to give me any kind of benefit or aid,
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    when I've been paying my contributions since
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    more or less 22 years ago
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    that I've been working continously
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    as an employee
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    or self employed or getting some jobs
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    what I've been able to do.
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    Now that I'm unemployed
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    and I dont' pay contributions
    y no computo
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    as a person who works and that lose its job
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    and that lose its wage
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    going to this strike, but I thought it was important
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    because with all the budget cuts
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    and all changes that are taking place
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    in housing, healthcare, education, kindergardens,
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    everything, everything is going wrong.
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    So that, that
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    we are the obe who have to go to the streets
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    to say that we do not agree with all of these, isn't it?
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    I will not stop going to demos for this that had happened to me.
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    Maybe, I'll take my time.
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    because I have yet to recover from this
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    and I will go to protests and I hope everyone:
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    my friends and family will do the same.
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    Because a single one has no power
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    but many of us we do have strength.
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    So people musn't be afraid
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    because with fear nothing is achieved.
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    Fear is what they would like to impose us, isn't it?, with all this repression.
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    Everyone tells me that neither the grises (francoist policemen)
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    -that I even don't know what the grises are-, well...
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    I know but I haven't lived it,
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    were so repressive.
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    Maybe they didn't have those weapons.
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    We don't stop this, what will be the next step?
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    What will they do to us? How will they stop us
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    of going to a peaceful and legal demonstration?
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    I don't know but..
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    we have to keep on going to demos.
Title:
PERDRE UN ULL / PERDER UN OJO
Description:

Ester Quintana, aged 42, lost an eye by the impact of a projectile fired by the catalan police Mossos d'Esquadra on 14N general strike. Her version directly contradicted the Regional Minister for the Interior, Felip Puig.
ATTENTION, YOUR COLLABORATION IS IMPORTANT TO ESTER:
If you were in Paseo de Gracia in the area between Gran Via and Catalunya Square (C/Casp), on November 14th between 20:30 am and 21:00 pm, or if you had seen anything from your window or balcony, please contact immediately with the family and friends of Esther Quintana via mail: animsester@gmail.com. Thank you.
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Video Language:
Catalan
Duration:
19:16

English, British subtitles

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