Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Ibarretxe Supports Egunkaria

Juan José Ibarretxe, President of the Basque Autonomous Community, opened his office to Martxelo Otamendi and his colleagues accused by Madrid of abetting terrorism for publishing a news paper in Euskara.

That is the way the Iguana chews in Spain, if you read books in Euskara, you support terrorism.
Almost two years ago the Spanish Government closed down Egunkaria, the only news paper published entirely in Euskara, accusing the director and a number of the top executives and reporters to be part of ETA, the armed group. For more information about this visit Ingeleraz February 2003 and March 2003.

The Guardia Civil seized files, computers, documents and such. Almost two years later the Spanish justice has been unable to present solid evidence of the charges to the public, it doesn't really matter, when it comes to the Basques the Spanish justice drags its feet.

In the mean time, the accused have experienced mistreatment and torture, they have paid enormous amounts of money in the form of bails, they are prevented from traveling outside Spain due to the nature of the accusations against them and they have to present themselves again and again to the authorities to be monitored.

There is no assumption of innocence when it comes to the Basques, if you happen to love your land and defend your culture and language, and you are accused of terrorism as a result, then you are guilty until proven innocent.

Here is a note that appeared today at Berria English:

The President of the Basque Autonomous Community Government met with Joan Mari Torrealdai, Txema Auzmendi, Martxelo Otamendi, Pello Zubiria, Iñaki Uria and Xabier Oleaga; Azkarate called for the presumption of innocence to be respected

Edurne Begiristain – GASTEIZ (Vitoria)

The people charged have been summonsed to appear before the Spanish National Criminal Court on December 3 to have their charges read out to them; this was why the Lehendakari was keen to express his support and solidarity with them yesterday. Joan Mari Torrealdai referred to this during a press briefing given after the meeting. On behalf of the indictees he “sincerely” thanked Ibarretxe for meeting with them at his headquarters and for listening to their concerns. “We are grateful to him for his warm reception, his approachability and for the support and solidarity he had shown towards us,” he explained.

Torrealdai said they were “worried” about the Egunkaria case for two reasons. Firstly, if the verdict confirms what the indictment is aiming to achieve, they could face between 8 and 14 years in prison. Secondly, they were worried because they had no “confidence” in the Spanish National Criminal Court: “We do not have any confidence in the way the Court conducts justice in connection with the Basque question,” he stressed. However, the Chairman of the Board of Egunkaria S.A. stressed that they had no faith in the Madrid court, whereas they did believe in the institutions and the people of the Basque Country. For this reason he appealed to the institutions and the people to express their “support, help and backing” towards those facing charges. So he called on people to join the rallies that are going to be held at the Martin Ugalde Kultur Parkea in Andoain (Gipuzkoa) on the day they have to appear in court in Madrid.

Note: Berria is the newspaper that was created after the closure of Egunkaria, it is now the only news paper in Euskara, gladly, the also publish an English version in the internet, if you want to read the same note in Euskara, go here.

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Monday, November 29, 2004

Professional Liar

Earlier today former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar enjoyed the opportunity to be on the spot light again and splurged in his favorite pastime, to tell lies.

To him, it doesn't really matter that months have passed and that his lies and his willingness to profit politically from a tragedy is what brought the defeat of his anointed successor back in March.

Of course, he insisted there was a link between the attacks and ETA, after all, there is a big portion among the Spaniard public that believes him, that wants to believe him, they are the same crowd that longs for totalitarism to be reinstated in Spain, they are the ones that commemorate Franco every year, they are the ones that believe that Spain is one.

But not only the media in Spain is clinging to the lies by Aznar and his underlings, there will be those in the international community that will choose to believe him, because he is a "stalwart ally against terrorism". Just like in the past Francisco Franco was a "stalwart ally against communism".

Don't be surprised if Aznar finally gets that Congressional Medal next year, that is where he is going with all that denial of the bombings not having to do with Iraq.

Aznar, one more thing, remember: "The bombs that they dropped in Baghdad, exploded in Madrid".


31 minutes ago

MADRID (AFP) - Former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar insisted that the March 11 Madrid train bombings were not a by-product of his support for the war in Iraq and told a parliamentary inquiry that his government told the truth in the aftermath of the blasts.

"The March 11 attack had nothing to do with the intervention in Iraq," Aznar said Monday as he gave testimony to a parliamentary inquiry which since July has been hearing evidence from politicians, intelligence officials and police in connection with Spain's worst ever terrorist attack which killed 191 people.

"We told the truth -- it was others who lied and engaged in manipulation," insisted Aznar as he defended his government's initial decision to pin the blame for the blasts, which also injured close on 2000 people, on armed Basque separatist group ETA.

Spain's worst ever terrorist attack came with the country engaged in the final days of campaigning for a March 14 general election which Aznar's rightwing Popular Party (PP) had been set to win under leader Mariano Rajoy, Aznar having long before decided not to seek a third term in office.

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Saturday, November 27, 2004

De Villepin: Empty Words

Everytime the French Interior Minister goes to Iparralde, the part of the Basque Country within France, the old French arrogance and contempt for the ethnic and cultural minorities comes with him.

He never brings solutions, he never brings compromises, he always brings empty words.

My grandfather is one of those who "shed their blood". He did so fighting Franco in Hegoalde when he could have been living an easy life in Mexico, he then went back to his own land and continued to fight the Nazis after France capitulated in record time.

He did not fight for France, he fought for the Basque Country, he believed in a different set of empty words, those by the Allied Forces that promised the Basques an independent state in return for their commitment to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.

The Basques upheld their part of the deal, on Liberation Day in Paris they marched under their beloved Ikurriña, my grandfather did not get to see that day, he died in operations in the area of Montalivet.

Now this clown De Villepin goes to Iparralde to deny the Basques their right to have their own department, he goes to Iparralde to tell the Basques that in France only French must be spoken as to "preserve national unity".

Vive la Liberté!

De Villepin turns down Batera’s four requests

Eneko Bidegain – BAIONA (Bayonne)

“Your fathers shed their blood for the [French] Fatherland, today you devote all your energy to France.” That is how Dominique de Villepin padded out his speech to show how “proud” he was of “the Basque Country being in France”. The French Interior Minister came to the Northern Basque Country yesterday with lots of compliments like that. But with little else besides.

He spoke in front of numerous elected representatives in the Chamber of Commerce. It was a long speech full of platitudes about the Basque Country but lacking in content. He confirmed his position against the creation of a Basque Département. He rejected the official recognition of the Basque language. “We have to defend diversity without damaging unity,” he explained to reporters.

Yet the main focus of De Villepin’s visit was based on the work to support the Basque language. At the building of the General Council in Baiona (Bayonne) he signed an agreement on the creation of a Public Bureau for Basque Language Policy. Jean-Jacques Lasserre praised the work of the associations. “Without your work the Basque language would have been about to disappear. Thanks to you we have developed an awareness with respect to the language.” The words of the Chairman of the General Council were like a victory speech. He presented the creation of a Public Bureau as “the finishing line”.

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Friday, November 26, 2004

Yin and Yang

On one side the Basques work, they present their plea to the world, on the other, the Spaniards cling to their old glories, repeating their mantras ad nauseum.

Here you have a couple of notes appeared today at Berria.

On one you see the Basques being proactive and getting the whole of Europe involved. On the other one you have Madrid's representatives calling Basques that do not agree with them by the "T" word.




Editorial Staff

Batasuna was present in the Italian Parliament yesterday in a meeting with deputies of the Communist Party, the Rifondazione Comunista and the Green Party. Arnaldo Otegi, Juan Joxe Petrikorena and Joseba Alvarez, members of Batasuna’s executive committee, explained Batasuna’s proposal aimed at resolving the Basque conflict. Otegi and Alvarez offered a press conference afterwards to give details of the meeting they had had with the deputies. They were accompanied during yesterday’s press briefing by Mauro Bulgarelli, a Green Party member of parliament.

The party’s executive committee members pointed out first of all that, despite Batasuna being an outlawed party, they had been able to meet “perfectly normally” in the Italian Parliament with members of the parties represented there. So they expressed their gratitude to the three parties that had met with them and “for opening the doors of Parliament”. No Batasuna members have been at the Parliament in Rome for the last five years.

* * *


Edurne Begiristain – GASTEIZ (Vitoria)

The celebrations in Gasteiz (Vitoria) to mark 25 years of Democratic Town Councils organised by the Spanish Federation of Town Councils (FEMP) ended in much the same way as they began three weeks ago: with a visit by one of the highest Spanish authorities. The inauguration in the capital of Araba was attended by the King and Queen of Spain and the closing ceremony by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez-Zapatero.

In a speech given at the Goiurri Palace yesterday afternoon Zapatero said the Basque Country was “proud” of its history and that “with everyone working together” it would be proud of its future, too. He felt that it would be possible for “coexistence and identity to be linked” in the future in the Basque Country.

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Thursday, November 25, 2004

Working Hard: The Basque Way

Don't let the media's propaganda machine fool you, they are always feeding the international community with the lie that only violent Basques are demanding independence, as a matter of fact, those are the tiny minority, a large percentage works peacefully and diligently towards Basque self-determination, here are a couple of examples, the notes appeared at Berria English:




Editorial Staff

In Rome and Brussels yesterday Batasuna spoke about the Peace Proposal it presented on November 14 at the Anoeta Cycling Stadium (Donostia-San Sebastian). Arnaldo Otegi, the spokesman for the party’s executive committee, gave a speech in Rome while Koldo Gorostiaga, the former MEP, gave a press conference in Brussels after a meeting with a number of elected representatives in the European Parliament.

Otegi gave a speech yesterday evening entitled It’s time for peace, let the Basque Country speak at the Intifada Social Centre in Rome accompanied by Mauro Bulgarelli, a Green Party MP, and Marco Santopadre, a representative of the Citta Aperta radio station. Otegi summarised the course of the last 25 years; he went on to point out that the right moment had come to bring about peace, and that the Basque nationalist left had made “a bid to overcome the conflict”. The Batasuna spokesman had an audience of about one hundred people.

* * *


Editorial Staff

Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the Lehendakari or President of the BAC-Basque Autonomous Community Government, was in Madrid yesterday to take part in a press conference organised by the Association of European Journalists. In reply to the journalists’ questions he said that politics today had “replaced” violence and that the “post-ETA era” had begun. He did not, however, say whether he thought it was necessary to speak to the armed organisation.

He also felt that the “lack of communication” that had until recently prevailed under the PP was over, and that the era of dialogue had been ushered in with Zapatero in power. In this respect, he was reaching out to the PSOE so that “these new opportunities” could be seized. Ibarretxe stressed that it was absolutely crucial for the Lehendakari and the head of the Spanish Government to speak to each other, despite their different viewpoints. He regarded respect for each one’s ideas as “indispensable” and consequently claimed the same respect for his own ideas.

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Monday, November 22, 2004

Bastogne and Gernika

There is a quite interesting article at CNN about the city of Bastogne in Belgium and their celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany's troops during the Battle of the Bulge.

Here is a bit something that I extracted from the article:

Around the edge of the woods, Bastogne invited other cities marked by war to plant trees of their own.

There's an oak from the Basque city of Guernica bombed by Hitler's airforce in the Spanish Civil War; an apple tree from Avranches representing the orchards inland from Normandy's D-Day beaches; a poplar from Oswiecim, the Polish city that the Germans called Auschwitz; and from Jerusalem, two Israeli and Palestinian women came together in 2002 to plant plum trees in memory of loved ones killed in the Middle East conflict.

Let us never forget on which side the Basques fought that war.

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Sunday, November 21, 2004

In the Basque Heartland

This article appeared at Escape, a travel site from Australia:

In the Basque heartland

In the Basque country of southwest France David May found a picture-postcard landscape

September 26, 2004

AFTER four days driving through pelting rain, the sun-drenched curve of Biarritz beach appeared like a mirage. It was early spring and a couple of dog-lovers strolled the almost deserted sands as a solitary surfer skimmed across the gentle blue-green swell of the Gulf of Gascony.

In southwest France, in the foothills of the western Pyrenees, Biarritz is the crown jewel of the Pays Basque, homeland of the Basque people since the 6th century. But away from the glitzy, celebrity-studded coast, the Basque heartland is a postcard-Pyrenean landscape of sinuous hills and valleys where rivers run fast and passions run deep.

Famous for their fiery food and music, Basques are a spiritedly self-sufficient people stubbornly wedded to their culture and a mysterious ancient tongue full of perplexing words beginning with Xs, Ks, and TTs.

In the rural interior, beech forests and farms speckled with sheep separated little villages, each with its traditional trio – town hall, church and pelote court.

Pelote is similar to squash except the ball is flung at the wall with a curved basket.

The villages with their red-shuttered, whitewashed houses seemed similar but there were subtle differences. Espelette has given its name to a unique Basque chilli pepper and celebrates the local chilli harvest with a two-day annual festival. Itxassou has cherry orchards and a lovely rustic church while Hasparren snoozes at the foot of the Pyrenees, stirring only for the annual Pamplona-style running of the cows. In Louhossoa, a grim stone church towers over a graveyard of crosses and disc-shaped Basque headstones and pretty red and white buildings on the tree-lined streets beyond.

But all roads lead to St Jean Pied de Port, the most beautiful of the Basque towns, founded in the 13th century by the last Basque king, Sancho the Strong.

Since the Middle Ages, St Jean Pied de Port has been the main staging post for pilgrims trekking to the Tomb of St James at Santiago de Compostela across the Spanish border. They still do.
In the late afternoon the sun played on the citadel that dominates the town while stirring Basque music played quietly from speakers.

From the citadel, Rue de la Citadelle descended steeply to the river, a cobbled street lined with ancient rose-tinted granite houses dating back to 1510.

At the bottom, at the end of a stone bridge, was the neo-Gothic and sensibly named Church of Our Lady at the End of the Bridge.

At Cafe le Trinquet a sturdy waitress brought a bottle of Irouleguy, a Basque red wine, for the spiced chicken basquaise, casseroled with capsicum, garlic, tomatoes and Espelette peppers. That and the Iraty fromage de brebis (sheep's cheese) with a dollop of blackberry jam were superb.

Saturday afternoon in St Jean Pied de Port was drenched in a deluge. Locals retreated to the Ttipia Bar to sing and dance to accordions and drums and to quaff Akerbeltz beer, pittara, a sharp-tasting cider and a potent herb liqueur called izzara.

It all seemed a bit like home. Patrons placed bets with the PMU (French TAB) but most of the beret-topped men were there to watch the rugby super 12s on wide-screen TV and on another, the pelote match of the day – an apparently critical confrontation between the muscled men of Larramendi and Eguzkiza.

The blokes muttered encouragement or disapproval as pelote players punished the court walls while girls with fashionable curly hair and flashing dark eyes screeched adoringly at their heroes. Pelote players have been paid professionals since the 16th century and this was serious business.

Suddenly, it was over. Grinning Eguzkiza players told the story and the passionate young fans returned to what the Basques do best – the music and dance that shook Ttipia Bar to its old oak rafters late into Saturday night.


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Thursday, November 18, 2004

Facilitating Torture

Today at Berria:

Detainees held incommunicado to facilitate torture

The anti-torture association TAT and the pro-amnesty movement AAM have launched a campaign to secure effective commitments and have appealed to political parties and social players

Aitziber Laskibar – BILBO

“They are tortured, because they are held incommunicado. Furthermore, they are held incommunicado, so that they can be tortured.” Thus affirmed TAT member Aiert Larrarte yesterday during a press conference in Bilbo, in which he was accompanied by the lawyer Jon Enparantza and a number of young people who had been arrested during the last few weeks and who, after complaining that they had been tortured, were released. He pointed out that the young people had been held incommunicado after their arrest during the operation conducted by the Spanish Civil Guard in Bizkaia and that all of them had denounced being subjected to severe torture; he added that “16 people are in incommunicado detention at the moment; just imagine what they are going through right now in the hands of the police”.

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Sunday, November 14, 2004

Battling Isms

I found this article at Yahoo News:

Battling Basque terrorism
By Jonathan Power November 13, 2004

MADRID

THE BASQUE autonomy question and its corollary, the future of Europe's one remaining active, homegrown, terrorist movement, is moving into a new phase, one both subtle and contradictory.
The relatively new Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero works both sides of the street. On the one side it has just convened a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Pact, a forum where the government and the opposition meet to review a joint approach to Basque terrorism.

Despite their bitter differences, as recently as three years ago the Popular Party and the Socialist Party combined their forces in an unsuccessful effort in the Basque regional elections to avoid victory by the moderate Basque Nationalist Party. Both the mainstream parties do their best to stand together in supporting the security services that recently had success in capturing top leaders of ETA, the terrorist arm of Basque nationalism. Many in Madrid are saying that ETA is smashed.

This overblown rhetoric sharply contradicts the insistence of the Popular Party on ETA's connections with Islamist terrorists. Even at last week's meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Pact, Popular Party representatives argued that the government should do more to investigate the relationship between ETA terrorists and Islamic ones, even though no one in the security services believes that the Islamist bombers had any Spanish allies of any kind.

It's all a face saving game on behalf of the former PP prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, who has been accused in those crucial three days between the bombing and the election of trying to mislead the electorate by insisting that the bombing was the work of ETA, despite much evidence to the contrary, in his attempt to ensure victory.

But while these interparty tensions are being played out, Zapatero is also working another side of the street. The new government has changed the tone Madrid takes toward Basque nationalism. Zapatero recently invited Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the leader of the Basque Nationalist Party, to Madrid, along with the presidents of other regional governments, to discuss measures that would give the regions a more powerful independent voice, even the right to talk directly to the Brussels headquarters of the European Union about issues that concern them.

The question for the future is, can Zapatero develop the pace of the dialogue with Basque nationalism so that the hard core is reduced to scores rather than the hundreds and thousands it has been? ETA is down but is certainly not out. On Nov. 14 Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, that used to hold a small number of seats in the Basque parliament but is now banned, is planning to issue a policy document. Already leaked to the press it apparently makes no commitment to abjure violence and has been summarily rejected by Madrid.

But this otherwise conciliatory document suggests this could be the opportunity to resurrect the Lizarra Declaration of 1988 that was closely modeled on the Good Friday agreement that brought an end to IRA terrorism in Northern Ireland. The Lizarra Declaration led to ETA's first cease-fire without a time limit in ETA's history. Whilst blame for the breakdown of the truce can fairly be aimed at both sides it is nonetheless true that Aznar's approach could not have been more different than Tony Blair's in Northern Ireland. Blair was ready to make concessions, while Aznar stuck to his guns arguing that the Basque country already had more autonomy that any other region in Europe.

But as Paddy Woodworth, the Irish Times correspondent, has argued in the current World Policy Journal, "This is rather disingenuous because, as Aznar must have known, it was Britain's recognition of the Irish people's right to determine their own future that brought the IRA to the table, and not the limited powers on offer to the Stormont government. The core issue is really that, while London is now prepared to relinquish control of Northern Ireland, Madrid regards the Basque country as an essential element in the Spanish nation."

The same could be written about Zapatero's attitude today, even if his policy is softer around the edges than Aznar's. As Blair talked to Sinn Fein, Zapatero needs to talk to Batasuna and he needs to rescind Aznar's ban on the party contesting seats in the Basque regional parliament.

Moreover, he should withdraw his opposition to Ibarretxe's planned referendum on Basque self-determination. (In a more conciliatory atmosphere Ibarratxe could well lose it or at least win it by a majority unconvincing enough to pursue independence.) For its part Batasuna, if it is clever, must lean on ETA to declare an indefinite truce.

Jonathan Power is a columnist based in London.


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Saturday, November 13, 2004

Building the Peace Process

It is needed, so the whole of the Basque Society is free to determine its own future, read about it at Berria:

Batasuna to give priority tomorrow to building peace process

The Basque nationalist left is going to commit itself to getting the armed, political conflict off the street and onto the solution table, according to the proposal it is planning to present at the Donostia Cycle Stadium tomorrow afternoon

Pello Urzelai – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

The proposal to be presented at the Donostia (San Sebastian) Cycle Stadium tomorrow clearly indicates that Batasuna has given priority to the building of a process aimed at resolving the conflict. Batasuna is keen for the document it will be presenting tomorrow to be a contribution towards building a peace process. In tomorrow’s event it will be stressing the need to build a process through dialogue, because it believes that the conditions are in place to support such a move.

BERRIA has learnt that the proposal Batasuna is set to announce tomorrow will consist of two main parts: firstly, the commitments Batasuna will be making to resolve the conflict and to promote a process of dialogue, and, secondly, a proposal to separate two areas of agreement. This proposal towards building a peace process is in some way similar to the KAS alternative made during the transition period [after the death of Franco] or the 1996 Democratic Alternative. But on those two occasions the initiative was taken by ETA, whereas now it is to be taken by Batasuna “as the public, broad-based expression of the Basque nationalist left”.

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Thursday, November 11, 2004

Torture Continues

As more and more Basques are set free after being detained a couple of weeks ago accused of belonging to ETA, the concern in Euskal Herria grows. The practice of torture against the detainees is as rampant as it was during the previous governments, including that of Felipe Gonzalez, who as part of the ruling PSOE unleashed the so called "dirty war" against the Basque armed group.

Here is a couple of notes that appeared today at Berria English:

PSOE carrying on same way as before says Askatasuna

The new Spanish Government has been accused of “opting for repression once again”

Eneko Bidegain – BAIONA

On one side are Patxi Ruiz’s parents, and on the other Jon Aginagalde’s father and Garikoitz Urizar’s sister. In recent days Ruiz and Aginagalde have been beaten in prison. Urizar was arrested during the latest police swoop in Bilbo and denounced bad treatment. They are there alongside Jean-François Lefort, the Askatasuna spokesman, to bear witness to the first seven months of the PSOE's policy.

* * * *

Arriola also denounces torture inflicted until his release

Another two detainees were set free yesterday: Perez and Regeiro. They both appeared before the judge earlier on and were remanded in custody. Basabe is due to go before the judge today when his period in incommunicado detention ends

Editorial Staff – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

A further three young people arrested during the police operation in Bilbo were released yesterday afternoon: Asier Arriola, Oskar Perez and Sergio Regeiro. Asier Arriola testified before the judge yesterday and was released afterwards. Askatasuna disclosed that Arriola had denounced being tortured and that yesterday he “was going to hospital to undergo a medical examination before filing a judicial complaint”. Oskar Perez and Sergio Regeiro, who, by contrast, had been remanded in custody, were released yesterday. They left Soto del Real prison at 20.45 hours. According to Askatasuna “the defence counsel of the two lads had requested their release on the grounds that there were no charges against them”. The three young people were released without having to post bail, but they will have to report to the authorities every month, according to the Askatasuna association.

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Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Long Live the King?

What king?

When I was a kid I learned a very important fact in school.

Humankind was entangled in a constant quest to evolve.

My teachers told me that societies around the world had fought against rancid paradigmas in order to better themselves.

As a result of my education both at school and at home I suscribed to one strong belief, and it is that as an individual I am not more nor less than any other person in this planet. I understood that I was born a free citizen of a democratic state, that those that had investures like President, Governor, Mayor; where in fact ordinary citizens chosen by us to carry on public positions, that they were no more than public servants.

So, I tend to see Monarchic states as a thing of the past, only people that has not evolved as a free society allow such concept to perpetuate itself. Ironic indeed that so many countries in Europe, where people see themselves as the avant garde when it comes to progress, still preserve their "Royal Families".

And time to time, representatives from Spain have the gall to go to the Basque Country, one of the oldest democratic societies in Europe, to proclaim their adherence to the king, the king of Spain that is, the Basques have not vowed to a king since the dismiss of Navarre in in the 1500's. Even more ironic when you are reminded that this king was reinstated by a dictator, a dictator that was ushered to power by the Nazi Regime, sad indeed.

This excerpt was taken from a note that appeared today at Berria English:

Francisco Vazquez, Chairman of the Federation of Spanish Town Councils, ended his short speech shouting “Long live the King, Long live Spain”, which was followed by a round of applause. It was Ibarretxe’s turn to speak next. He welcomed the Spanish King and Queen and all those assembled in Basque.

However, when the Lehendakari of the Basque Autonomous Community began speaking about dreams he switched to Spanish. “In the Basque Country we dream of the disappearance of ETA and peace,” he said. He stressed that Basque citizens had another dream, too: “We also dream of town councils in which all the political parties, including Batasuna, are present. Thus we would be able to defend all our political projects.”


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Saturday, November 06, 2004

Attack on Basque Language

Spain's young democracy prepares for a new assault on the Basque language.

What is it with these fellas, why do they seem unable to understand that Spanish, French and Basque languages can co-exist peacefully?

Is not like the Basques are trying to impose their language on the rest of Spain and France, quite the opposite, the Basques want for their language to develop in the Basque Country, as a mean to preserve our cultural heritage, our history, our legacy.

When are governments like the ones in Madrid and Paris will stop using fear of the unknown to scare their people into submission and get them to accept repressive measures against ethnic and linguistic minorities?

This note appeared today at Berria:

Indictees appeal for protection to face "legal assault"

It is clear from the indictment that after years of investigations the Judge has no proof whatsoever linking ‘Egunkaria’ with ETA, according to their lawyer Elosua

Imanol Murua-Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

They are innocent but they cannot be sure of getting “a fair trial”. This is why they have called for the “support of institutions and citizens to oppose the injustice”. The people indicted in the Egunkaria case together with their defence lawyers and the people who have been accused but who are not facing charges said in a press conference that the indictment issued by Judge Juan Del Olmo was “a legal assault on Basque citizens” and that the “real crime” was the closing down of Egunkaria. “The judge is using this indictment to try to justify the closing down of the paper,” they pointed out.

Joan Mari Torrealdai, the former Chairman of Egunkaria’s Board of Directors, read out the statement on behalf of all the indictees in front of the locked doors of the Egunkaria premises in the Martin Ugalde Kultur Parkea. He was accompanied by the indictees Txema Auzmendi, Xabier Oleaga, Martxelo Otamendi and Iñaki Uria, together with Inma Gomila, Luis Goia and Fermin Lazkano, who are not facing any charges, and their lawyers Joxe Mari Elosua and Iñigo Iruin. Two indictees were not present: Pello Zubiria for health reasons and Xabier Alegria, who is being held in custody.


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Friday, November 05, 2004

Post Election Humor


Cover Posted by Hello
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The Siege Continues

The siege by the Spanish government against everything Basque continues.

Their guns are aimed at Euskara, the Basque language.

Judge del Olmo decided to continue with the process against the people from the newspaper Egunkaria, then the only one entirely printed in Euskara.

Is there calls from Rodriguez Zapatero to stop the harassment?

No.

Why should he? The repressive campaign against the Basques is institutional, it doesn't matter who is the Prime Minister, or which party he represents.

Is there any protests from "Reporters Sans Frontiers"?

No.

Why should they? This is about the rights of Basques, their freedom of speech, and well, all Basques are terrorists, the media says so.

Here is part of the note that appeared today at Berria:

Del Olmo indicts eight people including the late Zumalabe

The judge has charged them with forming “an illegal association” and has decided not to try three of the accused

Imanol Murua-Uria – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)

According to Spanish National Criminal Court Judge Juan Del Olmo, Euskaldunon Egunkaria constituted “an illegal association” from the moment it was created, and he has therefore indicted eight people who held key positions, including Joxemi Zumalabe, the Chief Executive of Egunkaria S.A., despite the fact that he has been dead since 1993. The judge has indicted seven of the ten people arrested in the operation conducted by the Spanish Civil Guard to close down Egunkaria, which means that three have not been charged. In the indictment the judge states that he will not be trying Martin Ugalde, as there is a lack of “sufficient criminal evidence” against him.

The judge has charged three of the indictees, Txema Auzmendi, Joan Mari Torrealdai and Iñaki Uria with being in the main decision-taking positions of the Egunkaria project from the moment it was created until it was closed down, and consequently with being aware of Egunkaria’s “criminal activity”: “The power of decision rests with these people through their signatures,” according to the indictment. Another three, Xabier Oleaga, Pello Zubiria and Martxelo Otamendi stand accused of enjoying the trust of ETA and of being responsible for Egunkaria’s line of information, because of the responsibility they had in the editorial office. The judge has charged Xabier Alegria in his position as a member of KAS of liaising between Egunkaria and ETA. The seven indictees who are still alive have been summonsed by the judge to appear before the National Criminal Court on December 3 to have their charges read out to them. In the case of Zumalabe, the judge has requested his death certificate.


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