It seems that supporters of the Calexit movement—activists who are hoping to see California break off from the rest of the United States and become a republic all by itself—aren’t giving up their quixotic campaign just yet. While the idea of secession won’t even come up for a public vote for at least two years, supporters are already hard at work preparing for what could (in a very unlikely event) happen. That includes the announcement that the Independent Republic of California has opened its first “embassy” in Moscow.
"We want to start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now," Calexit activist Louis Marinelli told the L.A. Times.
The embassy was opened with a press conference about California and the secession movement. According to Marinelli’s social media posts, the goal of establishing the center is to promote California’s culture and values and to establish a recognition of California as an independent entity in other countries, which is something the international community generally looks for when considering formal acknowledgment of new nations.
Russia makes sense as a place to start developing a diplomatic framework in these troubled times, one assumes—but, also, Marinelli is conveniently already in Moscow, where he lives and works as an English teacher, so that probably helped when it came to choosing the location.
The Calexit-ers have a few high-profile backers, particularly out of Silicon Valley, but, embassy aside, they don’t seem to be building a lot of political momentum for their movement. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti is among those who have come out against the long-shot effort, as has his counterpart, Kevin Faulconer, in San Diego. Nonetheless, the pro-Calexit organization Yes California has submitted the necessary paperwork to the state’s attorney general to initiate the process of getting a ballot proposition in front of voters in November of 2018.
Presentation to the press at the opening of the Embassy of the Independent Republic of California @CAEmbRu @YesCalifornia #Calexit pic.twitter.com/MsF56cPjvf
— Bear Flagger (@LouisJMarinelli) December 18, 2016
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