BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Catalonia’s leader called for dialogue with Spain and a meeting with the country’s prime minister, complying with a Monday deadline to respond to a request from the central government to state explicitly whether the regional president had declared independence. But Carles Puigdemont’s letter, released about two hours before the deadline was set to expire, didn’t clarify whether he indeed had proclaimed that Catalonia had broken away from Spain. The central government had explicitly asked him to respond with a simple “yes” or “no” to that question. Instead, Puigdemont replied with a four-page letter seeking two months of negotiations and mediation. “The priority of my government is to intensively seek a path to dialogue,” Puigdemont said in his letter. “We want to talk … Our proposal for dialogue is sincere and honest.” Spain has repeatedly said that it’s not willing to sit down with Puigdemont if calls for independence are on the table, or accept any form of international mediation. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government has threatened to activate Article 155 of Spain’s Constitution, which could see Madrid take temporary control of some parts of Catalonia’s self-government. Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala said that Puigdemont’s letter didn’t
