The nonexistent Independent Republic of California opens an embassy in Moscow

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

last updated 21 December 2016

The Independent Republic of California has yet to be established, but it just opened its own embassy in Moscow.

Louis Marinelli of San Diego is a leader of Yes California, which wants the state to split off from the United States and form its own nation. Marinelli, in Russia to work on immigration issues related to his wife, told the Los Angeles Times the "embassy" was opened last weekend in order to "start laying the groundwork for a dialogue about an independent California joining the United Nations now."

Yes California argues that the state, which has the sixth largest economy in the world, could "do more good as an independent country than it is able to do as just a U.S. state." The group also says it feels the United States "represents so many things that conflict with Californian values," and continued statehood "means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children." The effort must first be approved by voters in 2018, then also win a special election in 2019. Should it get that far, it would face an immense legal battle, but Marinelli is shrugging off the long odds, telling the Times, "All major social and political movements in this country take time and inevitably have to overcome failures and setbacks before they are ultimately successful."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox