WarSclerotic

California Secessionists Open Embassy in Moscow, Truth Revolt,Mark Tapson, December 19, 2016

Louis Marinelli, leader of a Brexit-style movement called Yes California, made the announcement Sunday at a press conference, according to Russian Times. He wishes to “lay the groundwork” for bilateral relations between an independent California and Russia. The embassy is not for dealing with diplomatic issues, however; it is intended more as a cultural center to educate Russians about California’s history, boost trade ties, and promote tourism.

“We’re opening up a conversation in Russia and it’s [to] a much smaller degree to the Americans when they wanted their independence from the British empire,” Marinelli explained. “They went and pursued military assistance and so on and so forth. We’re not doing anything like that.

“We’re not requesting military assistance from Russia,” he continued. “We’re certainly going to request recognition of our independence and recognition of our [2019] independence referendum result, as we’re going to request that the entire international community recognizes the results.” Yeah, good luck with that.

The Yes California independence movement describes itself as a “nonviolent campaign to establish the country of California using any and all legal and constitutional means to do so.” The campaign plans to hold a referendum on independence in the spring of 2019 if it manages to gather the 500,000 signatures required for it to be put on the public ballot.

Marinelli has previously filed several unsuccessful ballot initiative proposals related to California’s secession.