Catalan Vote Inspires Brazil’s Southern Separatist Movement
- ’The South is My Country’ will organize informal plebiscite
- Leaders claim region unfairly taxed and poorly represented
Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
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Inspired by the separatist vote in Catalonia, secessionists in three wealthy southern Brazilian states are redoubling their efforts to break away from the crisis-battered nation.
Residents of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana states are being called to vote in an informal plebiscite on Oct. 7 on whether they want independence. Organizers are also urging residents of the three states to sign a legislative proposal for each of their regional assemblies that would call for a formal, binding referendum. The non-profit group "The South is My Country" aims to mobilize a million voters in 900 out of the region’s 1,191 cities.