DISINFO: Catalan protests are staged by the US and Soros to punish Spain for its relations with Cuba
SUMMARY
A Catalan “hotspot” in economically developed Spain, in a country with no big ethnic differences between the regions, came as a surprise to many. Hence, the source of this madness is located outside the country. Among other things, George Soros’ organisations provided support for Catalan unrest. The US is not happy that Madrid has been developing relations with Cuba lately. A quarter of all foreign companies registered in Cuba are Spanish. In terms of imports, in 2017, Spain was Cuban’s second largest trading partner. Spain also invests a lot and is gradually taking control of the Cuban touristic industry. Hence, Madrid assists Havana at a time when the world’s hegemon attempts to choke Cuba with sanctions. Some people in the US must have taken Spanish activities in Cuba as an aspiration to revive the Spanish colonial empire in a new form. Americans repeatedly warned Spaniards about possible consequences for playing with Cuba, but Madrid did not take the threats seriously.
RESPONSE
This is conspiracy theory, one of many about George Soros, and consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about US' destabilising actions elsewhere to favour its policies. The recent strike and protests in Catalonia erupted because of the ruling of Spain’s Supreme Court which sentenced nine Catalan pro-independence leaders to jail for sedition. Although Donald Trump's administration is more confrontational with Cuba than his predecessor's office, there is no proof that the US is behind the Catalan protests in retaliation for Spanish-Cuban economic cooperation. Read more about how the pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets target George Soros and see earlier disinformation cases alleging that by supporting Euromaidan, the EU promoted similar protests in Catalonia, that George Soros seeks to destabilise Europe by encouraging mass illegal immigration, promoting gender theory and supporting unruly minorities and that the logical answer from Europe to the Catalonia referendum would have been to recognise the independence of Catalonia and bomb Madrid.