Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Reason to Be Scared?

Rodriguez Zapatero is in Caracas, right before he got there he said that he was going to tell Chavez how to deal with certain specific problem.

Not too long ago Huguito was arresting Basques in the middle of the night and flying them to Madrid where Aznar and Garzon awaited with a huge smile.

I am a medium, and I can tell you what is going on here:


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- Huguito, my friend, I will secure all those funds for you, but I want to be sure we reached an agreement.

- Oh don't worry Zapatito, I will get you all the Basques that you ask for, is not like any Basque have ever done anything nice for Venezuela.

- Sure, that is what that bastard Fox said.

~ ~

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Sweet Smell of Democracy

Aukera Guztiak is still working hard to make sure thousands of Basque have a voice.

The first news outlet to say something about it was the Taiwan News, guess they are tuned in with the demands of self-determination of other people.

The attorney general's office and a legal advisory panel to the Justice Ministry had filed suits alleging that 15 would-be candidates of the political group Aukera Guztiak - "All Options" in Basque - had close ties to ETA or Batasuna, its alleged political wing.

The group is expected to appeal the ruling before the Constitutional Court within the next two days. That court would then have to make a final decision before April 1.


This note appeared at Berria today:

The Aukera Guztiak association of electors yesterday filed an appeal for legal protection with the Spanish Constitutional Court requesting that the annulment handed down by the Supreme Court be suspended. As the Constitutional Court will have to rule on this before the start of the campaign [for the April 17 elections in the BAC-Basque Autonomous Community], the day after tomorrow, Thursday, is the deadline. As the Aukera Guztiak representatives and Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the Lehendakari (President) of the BAC Government, pointed out after the meeting at the BAC President’s headquarters, they believe that the “political decision” to leave Aukera Guztiak out of the electoral race has already been taken.

Of course, we did not have to wait too long for the Spanish politicos to come up with their usual drivel, as publised at El Pais:

"Ibarrexte is playing the role of ETA's defense attorney rather than demanding that the terrorist organization abandon violence," Socialist spokesman José Blanco declared in a press conference in Madrid.

The PP leader in the Basque Country, María San Gil, went further, accusing Ibarretxe of being "more receptive" to ETA than to victims of the organization's terrorist campaign. "He is closer to the criminals than to the victims," San Gil said in San Sebastian, describing the Basque premier as a "fundamentalist" who has "further divided Basque society."

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Pintada

Posted at Garagoittiko Orakulua.


Bazterketarik Posted by Hello

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Monday, March 28, 2005

A Bank of a Poor Region


Bilbo Posted by Hello

A general view of the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria BBVA 2005 Shareholders Meeting, 26 February 2005 in the northern Spanish Basque city of Bilbao. The board of BBVA decided to press ahead with a takeover bid for Italian bank BNL, the Spanish news agency EFE reported citing sources close to the bank.(AFP/File/Rafa Rivas)

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Blazquez and Hitler's King


Blazquez Posted by Hello

The newly-elected head of Spain's Roman Catholic Bishop's Conference Bishop Ricardo Blazquez (L) is greeted by Spain's King Juan Carlos before their private meeting at Madrid's Zarzuela Palace, Madrid 28, 2005. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

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Rebecca the Basque-phobe

Do you want to know the mind of a Basque-phobe?

Well, take for example Rebecca J. Berfanger who on March 23rd (that is a whole year and a few days after the attacks) stated that the bombings in Madrid were a result of a contribution between Al Quaeda and "the Basques":
On March 11, 2004, terrorists in Madrid with alleged ties to al-Qaida and the Basque Separatists killed 191 people and injured 1,700 others, detonating 10 bombs on four separate commuter trains.
Just like that, Rebecca echoes what Aznar and his Junta wanted the entire world to believe.

This begs a couple of questions.

Is Rebecca really so stupid as to parrot a proven Fascist?

Is she in Aznar's payroll?

Or her hate towards the Basque people is gratuitous just like many others?

What Rebecca doesn't know or doesn't want to know is that Aznar did not blame ETA for the attacks, he blamed the entire Basque society.

He lied, repeatedly, and he ordered his underlings to take any opportunity to blame "the Basques".

For those lies his party was kicked out of the top office. Yes, there is some fake liberals that get upset when you call Aznar a liar, but they suffer of the Ostrich Syndrome.

Rebecca spills her non sense at a news media called (don't laugh) Republican American.

The media in the USA is in a sorry ass state.

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AG Plows Ahead

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Basque Premier Juan Jos Ibarretxe (R) meets with Beatrice Ilardia (L), Marije Rodrguez (2L) and Ana Arbulure, representatives of Basque pro-independence party Aukera Guztiak (AG) in Vitoria, northern Spain, March 28, 2005. AG will appeal a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that would erase the group from the April 17 ballot due to its purported ties to armed separatist group ETA. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Sunday, March 27, 2005

Aberri Eguna

Five hundred years of struggle.

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Five hundred years of resistance.

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"Now the People, Now the Peace"

The Spanish government decided to attack thousands of Basques that wanted to celebrate Aberri Eguna, the Basque national day, under the motto "Now the People, Now the Peace".

Madrid deemed the celebration illegal because it was called by Batasuna, a political party that was banned two years ago accused of not condemning violence. The Holly Inquisition has been unable to prove their case until today.

Seems like for the Spaniards, to ask for peace is not enough condemnation of violence.

If the pictures that you are about to see came from Taipei, Kiev or Beirut, there would be an international outcry for justice.

As it happens, it won't make it to the front page of a single news paper.

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Guilty Until Proven Innocent

That is the way it goes for you in Spain if you happen to be a Basque that wants self determination.
It really did not come as a surprise when the Court decided to ban AG from running, fascistoid people know when to band together.

The ruling, which may be appealed to the Constitutional Court, stands to erase Batasuna from the electoral map. The pro-independence party was banned in 2003, and the last of its previously elected officials will soon see their terms expire.

The court agreed with a petition from the government and from the state prosecutor that the new grouping, Aukera Guztiak (AG), was an attempt by ETA and Batasuna to subvert bans on them running for public office. A court spokesman said all 16 justices were unanimous.

AG has denied ties to either group and Batasuna has always denied being part of ETA.

The ruling was the result of a series of measures taken by the Spanish legal and political establishment to deny public office to anyone who refuses to clearly condemn ETA violence.
Of course, just like some self righteous fellas I met before, no one in Spain demands from the PP or the PSOE to condemn the rampant torture against Basque detainees. Seems like they focus on one kind of violence only.
Here is Berria's take on the issue:
The basis and arguments for acting against Aukera Guztiak put forward by the Lawyer of the State and the Spanish Attorney General were the same. The Supreme Court accepted the hypotheses of both: that the association of electors was “a tool of the ETA-Batasuna network”, and that the creation of Aukera Guztiak formed “part of a clear strategy” designed by ETA. According to the theory endorsed by the Supreme Court, ETA had decided to present two sets of lists of candidates at the same time in a bid to be represented in the BAC Parliament: a “dirty list” made up of well-known Batasuna members which would be annulled immediately; and a “clean list” made up of people who had no obvious connection with the Basque nationalist left. To support this theory, the Spanish Police and the Spanish Civil Guard investigated the thousands of citizens who had given their signatures to enable Aukera Guztiak to stand in the elections. At the same time they recorded phone conversations of Rafa Diez, the General Secretary of the trade union LAB, promoters of Aukera Guztiak and Batasuna members.
But hey, the European Union is concerned about the political prisoners, in Cuba.

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Friday, March 25, 2005

Lunatics in Jakarta

I never thought that this nice little article about the touristic attractions that the Basque Country offers would trigger such venomous responses on the part of a couple of Spaniards in Jakarta.

There was a time before the Tsunami when people had no clue there are a couple of independentist movements in both Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Suddenly the entire world learned about the Tamils and the Acehnese.

Indonesia had been stuck in a long war against the rebels in the Aceh province. But Banda Aceh was the region that endured the largest devastation both from the earthquake and the tsunami. The warring sides decided to call a truce that is still holding in order to provide the victims and survivors with much needed aid.

It was only natural that the author, Jim Read, used Aceh as an example to put the Basque Country into context.

Well, someone that claims to be from Bilbo decided to send an scathing letter to the editor, the author of the letter says that he wants to sets some things straight, and then he proceeds to spill the usual venom against anyone that dares to be sympathetic towards the Basques.

Here I am to set him straight:

One hundred percent of all political parties in the Spanish Parliament, and all the real Basque democratic nationalist parties are against ETA and have requested ETA to stop the violence under the slogan Basta Ya, which means "Stop".

The Basque nationalist parties are not behid Basta Ya, Basta Ya is a front group for the PP, just like AVT, their only function is to provide the Neofrancoists with a space among the real human rights organizations so they can make noise and create distractions each time Madrid tramples the rights of the Basque society. By the way, it means Enough.

It is stated that "Guernika-Luno have been since the Middle Ages the center of the Basque regional assembly". It is not correct in Guernika-Luno are and have been the Juntas de Guernika assembly only for Bizkaia county and not for the other two counties Gipuzkoa and Alava.
Gernika is not the heart of the BAC, it is the heart of the entire Euskal Herria, which besides the afore mentioned Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba, includes Nafarroa, Behe Nafarroa, Lapurdi and Zuberoa.

No Basque would call them counties, is either herrialdes or provinces. And he goes from Gipuzkoa in Euskera to Álava in Spanish, quite unique.

It's stated that "Alava where one of Spain's most famous wines, Rioja is produced." The "Riojas" can only be produced in "La Rioja", a land with its own government and parliament and the only wines that can have the label of "Rioja ". At least later on in your report you describe its wines correctly as "Rioja Alavesa" wines.
Huh?

Jim Read is right from the begining, but then Mr. Delgado (quite a Basque last name by the way) goes into this convoluted attack that only demonstrates how sick and twisted he is. Some Rioja wines ARE produced in the Rioja Alavesa, and they say so. Most of them are produced in you guessed it, La Rioja, which neighbors the Basque Country.

But it was not over, then someone by the name of Francisco Aquilera took the chance to deliver the favorite piece of propaganda from Madrid, here you go:

ETA, and its several branches, is outlawed, and it is currently included, as a terrorist group, on the official list of the United Nations, the European Union and other relevant international bodies.
That beauty goes hand in hand with Mr. Delgado's:
Only Batasuna, ETA's political party, does not criticize ETA violence but most Batusuna supporters are against the use of violence by ETA.
That is the whole package, right there, is not only ETA, but its several branches, meaning political parties, youth organizations, newspapers, unions, cultural groups. Bottom line, anyone that works towards the self determination of the Basque Country either as an individual or as a group can be accused by Madrid of being part of these "branches".

What both of them fail to mention is that after two years, Madrid has been unable to produce solid evidence to demonstrate that Batasuna is in fact ETA's political branch.

The lies that the Españolistas say. And the half assed information they expect us to believe.

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Good Friday in Bilbo


Viernes Santo Posted by Hello

Last Supper procession : Penitents gather before the start of the Holy Friday 'Last Supper' procession organized by the Santa Vera Cruz brotherhood in the northern Spanish Basque city of Bilbao. (AFP/Rafa Rivas)

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Via Crucis in Balmaseda


Balmaseda Posted by Hello

A penitent representing Jesus Christ carries a cross during a Passion re-enactment in Balmaseda, northern Spain, March 25, 2005. Hundreds of Easter processions take place in Spain during Holy Week around the clock drawing thousands of visitors. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Thursday, March 24, 2005

They Call This a Democracy

Since they know they are going to lose the election, they are trying to rig it, again:

Spain seeks to ban Basque candidates for ETA links.

Spain's government asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to bar a group of Basque candidates from standing in regional elections next month, saying they were instruments of separatist guerrillas ETA.

Documents filed with the court said the new grouping, Aukera Guztiak, was an attempt by ETA and outlawed party Batasuna to subvert bans on them running in the April 17 Basque elections.

Funny, they have been unable to finally link Batasuna to ETA, but they have proof for Aukera Guztiak.

I guess things like that happen only in countries where the presumption of innocence does not exist.

Here is what EITB says about the case:

Banning the candidates of Aukera Guztiak is unfounded-Basque nationalist parties

Josune Ariztondo, leading PNV member, said today in Bilbao the members of the Aukera Guztiak initiative maintain "all their civil and political rights" and reminded there are no penal processes against them, as it would happen if they obeyed ETA's orders.

"The prosecutor challenges Aukera Guztiak because it is controlled by ETA ... Being controlled by ETA has a certain meaning and that carries with it penal processes; it is obvious that they are not, because otherwise those penal processes would be undertaken," the member of the Basque nationalist party PNV Josune Ariztondo told state radio. "As that is not the case, they are in possession of all their civil and political rights."

As I said before, antidemocratic measures keep rearing their ugly faces in Spain's politics.

Update: Berria provides with a sampler of how convoluted Madrid can be when it comes to accusing Basque individuals and/or organizations of having ties to ETA:

ETA also behind Aukera Guztiak according to State Lawyer and Attorney General

The Lawyer of the State puts the creation of Aukera Guztiak within “a clear strategy” formulated by ETA to stand in the BAC elections. According to the challenge, ETA decided to present two lists of candidates at the same time: the Batasuna one, which would be suspended immediately, and a “clean list” made up of people who had no obvious links with ETA or with the institutions which have been outlawed. The Lawyer of the State has put forward two types of proof to support this hypothesis. Firstly, evidence pointing to political links between Aukera Guztiak and either Batasuna or ETA; and secondly, evidence reflecting personal connections between Aukera Guztiak and “the Basque nationalist left”.

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BIC's Newsletter II

Here you have the most recent newsletter from BIC:

Dear sympathiser of the Basque Information Centre (BIC),

We provide every month an English overview of news-events about the left wing Basque independence struggle and other relevant topics from Euskal Herria. We hope you will benefit from this mail and that you stay with us. Please check for all kinds of documents in English and items to buy in on our website www.baskinfo.org

Agur!
BIC, The Netherlands


Monthly digital BIC-Newsletter nr. 2, period 1 February – 15 March 2005

1) Basque political prisoners
2) Initiatives from the Basque Country to come to a political
solution of the conflict
3) Repression in the Basque Country
4) ETA
5) ‘Plan-Ibarretxe’
6) Elections Basque Country 17 April

1) A letter from a Basque political prisoner from the prison of Jaén II, at 800 kilometres of the Basque Country, about the circumstances: “Every day for 4 hours we are being let out in two terms. (...) The cells are 4 by 3 metres and totally cement, with a sink and a stone cupboard for clothes. We have to eat in our cells. Once a week we can write 2 letters, that are delivered one month later. Once a week we can make a phone call of 5 minutes. The visits lasts 40 minutes in a room where we can hardly hear each other and all conversations are being recorded. We are not allowed to go the sports area or do other activities. Besides that we are being punished for all kind of small things. (...)

There were never as much Basque political prisoners as nowadays, not even under Franco; 719 as was made public by the prisonhelpgroup Etxerat at 4 March. Last year was a heavy year for the prisoners, and also for their family-members. In total 47 accidents occurred with people travelling up and down prisons involved; 1 person was killed, 126 were wounded. Because of the huge distances they have to travel (an average of 1400 kilometres), the bad condition of the roads, the dangerous traffic, the hurry and loss of concentration, many accidents happen. And it costs the families an average of 1.600 euro each month.

At 14 March, one year after the PSOE took over from the PP, 700 Basque political prisoners went on hunger strike for the recognition of their political rights and the rights as an individual. In a declaration the prisoners claim that the Spanish and French authorities reacted on protests so far with punishment measures. The EPPK, the prisoners collective, calls for an end to the dispersion, for the return to Basque prisons and for participation in the political process in their country.

2) The ‘conflict resolution committee’ that was set up by the National Debate Forum, has presented at 1 February an international group that has to guard the process. It contains of Sjurdur Skaale, an ex-parlementarian of the Faroer-islands, Verena Graf, a Swiss human rights expert, Alec Reid, the Irish priest who played an important role in the Irish peace process, the Catalans Aureli Argemi and Monica Sabata of the Centre for Ethnic Minorities and Nations and the former secretary of state from Idaho, United States, Pete Cenarrusa.

In Bilbao demonstrate at 13 February thousands of people against the European constitution.

The Platfrom 18/98+, that represents and defends the accused in the ‘case 18/98’ against the Basque independence movement, manifests at 19 February with 2000 people in Donostia. In the ‘case 18/98’ 220 people, who are active in all kinds of ways for the independence of the Basque Country, are being connected with ETA. During the case people are unlawfully detained, there has been tempered with evidence, people have been tortured, placed in isolation and abused and locked in on political reasons. Nobody is convicted, although some cases are from 1998.

At the referendum about the European constitution 60% of the people who were allowed to vote stayed at home in the Basque Countr; 24.6% voted for, 12.7% against.

At 26 February tens of thousands people demonstrated in Bilbao at a call from the platform 18/98+ behind the slogan ‘Eskubide zibil eta politikoen alde’, for civil and political rights. Despite it was hard to estimate how many people came, it was one of the biggest demonstrations in the Basque Country ever.

3) At 30 January 33 Basques, who were ever a member of the left political formations Herri Batasuna, Euskal Herritarrok or Batasuna, had to report in Madrid at the offices of the investigative judge Garzon to hear that they were being accused of ‘integration in an armed gang’. They all denied any ties with ETA and declared: ‘We came from Euskal Herria to the High Court to declare ourselves guilty on one item; the defence of the right of the Basque people for self determination’. Due to health reasons Jon Idigoras and Karlos Rodriguez were absent; they had to testify in the High Court in Bilbao. Gotzon Kortazar was already in prison, in Osny, France.

In Paris the European Arrest Warrant against Jean-Francois Lefort, the spokesman of the Basque prisonsolidarity group Askatasuna (according to the Spanish justice a ‘criminal organisation’), is denied on 2 February. It has probably to do with the fact that Leforts ‘crimes’ were committed on French soil. Lefort is still in prison in La Santé; 12 year prison is requested for him, also because Askatasuna is on the ‘European terrorist list’.

On 7 February the mass trial against the left Basque youth organisations Jarrai-Haika-SEGI starts in Madrid; 42 youngsters face 654 years in jail. The trial has to be in high speed tempo because the terms of 4 years imprisonment without trial of 6 of the youngsters is almost finished.19 others are already 3 years in pre-trial detention. 10 youngsters decided, faced with the charges between 10 and 112 year, to hide from the police. The defence has due to the speed of the trials hardly the time to prepare to the numerous accusations. Strange is the fact that SEGI is still legal operating on French soil, that France refused to extradite 3 SEGI-members to Spain and that the Spanish justice can’t provide any evidence for the accusation thatSEGI is part of ETA. Even stranger is the case of Asier Tapia, who will be locked up for 112 year. In March 2001 he called on a press conference to condemn and resist the arrests of 15 alleged members of Haika. The Spanish justice turned that call into ‘provoking violent actions’ and accuse him of 22 actions with ‘terrorist damage’. And above all that, there is the Asociacion de Victimas del Terrorisme (AVT), a cover organisation of the PP, who demonstrated at the end of January with slogans like ‘A united Spain can never be beaten’, ‘We will follow Spain until death’, who demands 336 years extra jail for the youngsters because of ‘an act of genocide’ against ‘everyone who didn’t apply to the national-terrorist dictates of the Basque Country’. The lawyers of the youngsters appeal at the Basque commission for human rights, at the Basque minister of justice, they appeal of course at the court itself and at the association of European lawyers. The trial continued the whole week and is full of irregularities, even the translator can’t cope with the Basque language. At 20 February the public prosecutor Enrique Molina calls some witnesses who has to back his case; Imanol Iparragirre testified in 1995 to the Guardia Civil that he was a member of KAS as well as Jarrai, with that backing Molina’s thesis that Jarrai was subdued to KAS. Ipparragirre, however, testified that his statement then was taken from him under torture and he complained at large at the current judge about it. At 5 March Olatz Dañobeitia,Olatz Karro, Garazi Biteri, Ugaitz Elizaran, Igor Ortega and Garikoitz Etxeberria have to be released because they ended their 4 years pre-trail detention. The appeal of the public prosecutor that they have to be kept another 126 days, because the defence was deliberately delaying the trial, was dismissed. The 6 have to report every day to the police station in their villages and are not allowed to travel abroad.

Despite the number of arrests of Basque citizens by Spanish, French and Basque police declining, there are more complaints about torture filed. In 2003 210 Basques were placed in the notorious ‘incommunicado’-detention, in 2004 138. 6 of them by the Ertzaintza, 46 by the Spanish police, 24 by the Guardia Civil, 58 by the French police and 4 by Belgian police. These figures are made public by the anti-torture group TAT at 7 February on a press conference and they complain at the same time about the time that passes between the actual torture-complaint and the treatment of that complaint, sometimes years. 57 complaints of torture were filed, divided over the Spanish police (35) and the Guardia Civil (22).

At 9 February 14 people are arrested in the Basque Autonomous Community and Cadiz and Valencia in an operation with 200 Spanish police officers, at the orders of Garzon. In Azpeitia in the province Gipuzkoa the police tries to arrest somebody, but the person escaped. The 14 are accused by the Spanish minister of Internal Affairs Jose Antonio Alonso of ‘recruiting people for ETA’. The names of the arrested come from documents seized from Ibon Fernandez-Iradi at his arrest in Baiona at 19 December 2002. On this papers 110 people are arrested up till now, 39 of them were released. Of these last 14, 3 were released, one had to pay a bail of 25.000 euro and 10 were put in jail. At 12 February Angel Alkalde, former parliamentarian of Herri Batasuna, is arrested at the stairs of the Audiencia Nacional, were he came voluntarily when he heard he was accused of ‘collaboration’. Garzon put him in Soto del Real in Madrid. In Getxo Antonio Orbegozo-Linares is arrested. Against Kizkitza Gil de San Vicente an arrest warrant is filed.

At the orders of the Frech investigative judge Le Vert 2 Benedicts, Juan Joxe Agirre (75) and Marcel Etxandi (70), are arrested in Lazkao (Gipuzkoa) and in Belloc in the Frech-Basque province Lapurdi. The Guardia Civil and the French police searched their archives and accused them of ‘connections to ETA’. The searches were connected to a letter the French police found in the house of the in October arrested Mikel Albisu, the so called leader of ETA. Agirre said he was released at the end of the day and that the police found copies of the ETA-magazine Zutabe, but the Benedicts archive everything about Euskal Herria. A copy of the report of the search and arrest was however refused, when Agirre asked for it. Etxandi was released after 2 days in the police station of Baiona. Some days later people from the cultural world protested against the arrest of Etxandi, through an open letter to the French government and also the Abertzaleen Batasuna and the Basque solidarity party EA come with a statement, in which they refer to the first raid of the Benedict abyss, in 1943 by the Gestapo.

In Madrid at 14 February the trail against 11 Basque youngsters accused of throwing molotov cocktails in 2000 to the barracks of the Guardia Civil in Galdako starts. Against each of them is 18 year requested for arson, 4 years for the inflicting of wounds and an amount of money to pay for the damage, 45.060 euro.

In Valencia Mikel Orebezogo and and Sara Majarenas are arrested on 17 February and explosives, weapons and documents are seized at their place. According to the police they were about to conduct an attack.

At 22 February in Andoian in the province Gipuzkoa the caravan company Itsasmendi is searched by numerous officers of the Spanish police. The search is connected to the case ‘Pro-amnistia’ into the funding of this organisation, that was closed by Garzon in 2001. Some members are still in prison, waiting for their trial.

Judge Garzon calls the former Sozialista Abertzaleak members Joseba Permach and Joseba Alvarez to testify in the ‘case-Batasuna’. He can do this now because the Basque parliament is dissolved because of the coming elections. He also would have liked to call Arnaldo Otegi and Jon Salaberria, but these 2 are member of the permanent commission of the parliament, so Garzon asked the Basque High Court to question them. It was for now the last working day of Garzon, who is going to the US for 9 months, to give lectures and to study English. Permach and Alvarez are being accused of being ‘ETA-member’, Josu Urritikoetxea also, against him run still an European Arrest Warrant and an international arrest warrant.

At 3 March hundreds of people commemorate in Gasteiz the bloody events of 3 March 1976 when the Spanish police attacked 5000 strikers, who were gathered in the San Fransisco church, killing 5 of them; Pedro Maria Martinez-Ocio, Fransisco Aznar, Romualdo Barroso, Bienvienido Perea and Jose Garcia-Castillo. Still this story is covered up and is there no justice done, according to the relatives of the victims. One of the main responsible, then minister of Internal Affairs and PP-founder Manuel Fraga, is still governor of Galicia.

Arnaldo Otegi has to defend himself at 10 March at the Basque High Court for a speech in which he called the Spanish king Juan Carlos ‘head of all torturers’. Otegi said this at a press conference just after the closing of the only newspaper in Basque Egunkaria in 2002, when it was revealed that 10 of the arrested people were tortured. The public prosecutor asks for 15 months in prison for Otegi.

4) ETA takes responsibility for 23 attacks she conducted between 15 September and 23 December 2004, but also complains about false claims in their name. ETA said to have nothing to do with the bomb call in the stadium of Real Madrid during a game against Real Sociedad. As we said wrongly as well.

The French newspaper Le Figaro writes in January that ETA has in France 150-200 so called ‘liberados’, people who are known by the police as ETA-member. At the end of January Europe Press writes that ETA is looking for foreign interlocutors to negotiate for them. People as Nelson Mandela, Mario Soares (former president of Portugal) and Fransesco Cossiga (former president of Italy) are being mentioned.

In the new book of the Spanish judge Garzon ‘A world without fear’ he writes that the 2 ETA-members who were caught putting a bag full explosives on a train just before Christmas 2003, ‘wanted to detonate when the train was out of service, so without passengers’. The 2, Gorka Loran and Garikoitz Arruarte, heard in November last year a demand of 2.788 years in prison, at the accusation of 184 attempts of murder, 180 passengers and 4 serviceman. Garzon also writes that it was not sure that the van that was intercepted in Cuenca, was to conduct a mass slaughter. Garzon doubts because the accusation was based on the statement of 1 person, who was ‘interrogated’ at the police station.

At 9 February ETA detonates a car bomb near the conference centre in Madrid; 43 people are slightly injured by glass falling. Half an hour before somebody of ETA called the Basque newspaper GARA. The bomb went off some hours before the Spanish king Juan Carlos and the Mexican president Fox were about to open the exhibition in the centre.

Between 10 and 18 February various embassies of EU-countries in Madrid and the air travel company KLM receive a letter from ETA warning them for attacks on tourist targets.

At 27 February a small ETA-bomb goes off after a warning in the garden of a holiday resort of employees of the BBVA-bank in Alicante. Nobody gets hurt.

5) At 1 February the Basque president Ibarretxe presents his plan for a ‘free association’ with Spain in the Spanish parliament. He defended in half an hour the right of the Basques to decide for their own future; ‘About our future is going to be decided by they who live and work in the Basque Country and not in the meetings of Zapatero and Rajoy (PP-chairman, BIC).’ As expected 164 members of the PSOE, 148 members of the PP, 3 of the communist IU, 3 of the coalition of Canaric Isles and 1 regionalist of Aragon (313 deputies in all) voted against. The 29 pro-voters were: 10 of the Catalan CiU, 8 of the left republican ERC from Catalonia, the 7 EAJ-PNV members of course, 2 of the Bloque Nacionalista from Galicia, 1 of the Basque Solidaruty party EA and 1 of the coalition Naffaroa Bai.

6) In a reaction on the dismissal of the ‘Plan-Ibarretxe’ in the Spanish parliament, the Basque government calls for early elections for 17 April. Ibarretxe calls the Spanish government to let ‘all political options’ participate, referring to the banned left wing party Batasuna. Batasuna on her turn calls on Ibarretxe not to call for elections as long as their participation is not guaranteed, because it would be ‘a serious obstacle to peace’, but Ibarretxe refuses.

The reaction of the Spanish minister of Justitce Lopez-Aguilar and the Spanish public prosecutor Candido Conde-Pumpido is swift; one day later they say Batasuna is not allowed to participate, under whatever name. Aguilar adds that Batasuna is not ‘legal because it refuses to condemn violence’ (...) ’Batasuna was banned on the local elections in 2003, with the common elections last year and with the European elections, and also this elections they will be banned, so that the result will be that they disappear from the political scene’.

At 15 February Batasuna announces to participate in the elections with their own lists and to use their peace proposal from 14 November last year as main point in their program. At the same day the Spanish daily El Pais wrote that the Guardia Civil together with the Spanish secret service CNI made a list of 1.500 people who are not allowed to take part in elections. These persons were never in contact with justice, were never on lists of Batasuna, never organised manifestations for political prisoners, but seemed to fit the profile of a left wing independentist and future candidate for Batasuna. The list for the elections, headed by Arnaldo Otegi, are in the eyes of the CNI ‘distraction manoeuvres’, because it is easy to ban. Besides the aforementioned list there is also a list of people who were on the banned lists from the local elections (254 lists), the common elections and the European. Reaction of Zapatero: ‘The ‘Law on the political parties’ will be put into effect to prohibit Batasuna from standing in the elections’.

At 16 February a platform is erected, Aukera Guztiak, that has to take care that every citizen of Araba, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia has the possibility to make the choice of their preference at the coming elections. The founders, from a broad layer of Basque society, say that they don’t want to replace anybody and also not have a political manifest. They just want to defend the right for all political ideas to participate. To establish an electoral platform they collected 20.000 signatures and they presented a
list with 75 candidates. The Spanish public prosecutor has said he is ‘sure’ that Aukera Guztiak is a ‘front of Batasuna’ and that he will prosecute them.

BIC,
Pobox 2884,
3500 GW Utrecht,
The Netherlands.
baskinfo@xs4all.nl
www.baskinfo.org

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Tuesday, March 22, 2005

7th Day of Hunger Strike

We enter the seventh day of the hunger strike by the Basque prisoners demading their political prisoner status.

Here is a few notes about the coverage of this issue:

At Berria:

EPPK on indefinite hunger strike to get political status recognised

The Basque Political Prisoners’ Group (EPPK) has begun an indefinite hunger strike today to get the political status of Basque prisoners’ recognised. In a statement sent to BERRIA, the group, which brings together the 700 plus Basque prisoners dispersed throughout the world, explained that an indefinite hunger strike was part of the ongoing struggle it began at the beginning of January in support of their political status. This is the first time that the Basque prisoners in the EPPK have gone on a hunger strike all together at the same time.


At EITB:

Basque Political Prisoners Association begins indefinite hunger strike

In the press release, the group concedes that within these dynamics they have carried out protest acts. However, "Spanish and French governments have had a punishing attitude" with disciplinary files and denying communications "apart from infringing other rights," as they have denounced.

With this "new step" they reaffirm their stance "to keep on fighting indefinitely until each and every one of our rights is respected, as well as our political status. Only thus will we gain a decent way of life; only thus will we occupy the natural space corresponding to the Basque political process," the association representing more than 700 Basque prisoners in jails around the world affirms.


The Belfast Telegraph:

SF backing for Basque hunger strike

Sinn Fein today expressed solidarity with Basque political prisoners who began a hunger strike last week.

Over 700 Basque prisoners have entered into the hunger strike in a bid to secure political status in a move strongly echoing the 1981 protest here in Northern Ireland.

Foyle MLA Raymond McCartney, former leader of the IRA hunger strikers, said that governments around the world had not learned any new lessons over the last 25 years.

Hopefully the advanced and democratic societies of Europe will listen.

.... ... .

Controversy Over German Pilot

On behalf of those who are now demanding that this pilot by the name of Werner Mölders who downed 115 enemy pilots is not stripped of his honors I will say that I know there was members of the German military that opposed the Nazis.

This is why he is being divested from his honors:

Now Peter Struck, the Defence Minister, is to enforce a 1998 law that bans any honour being bestowed on the German volunteers who served in the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War, including Colonel Mölders. German pilots, wearing the uniform of the Spanish Fascists, bombed the Basque city of Guernica, killing thousands.

But there is a part that bugs me, here it is:

Colonel Mölders did not take part in the bombing — he was a fighter not a bomber pilot. However, he did shoot down 14 aircraft during the civil war and, according to recent research, took part in a battle on the River Ebro that claimed many civilian casualties.

There is recounts by survivors that indicate that fighter planes were involved in the process of gunning down the civilians running away from the bombs. They mention that these fighter planes, Messerschmitts it seems, came back again and again machine gunning anything and anyone that moved.

Julio Medem even made up this fictitious story about German Otto el Piloto for his movie "Lovers of the Arctic Circle". In the movie, a fighter plane crashes to the ground after the bombing of Gernika.

Lore is knowledge that is handed down to the younger generations through oral recounts based on the memories of those who lived through specific moments in history.

Germans are known for keeping record of everything they do, I believe them if they say that he did not take part of that specific bombing, but the fact is, Mölders is not being divested of his honors for what happened in Gernika only, but for what the Kondor Legion did to prop the soon to become Fascist dictator Francisco Franco.

The story appeared at Times on Line.

You can read the whole story here also.

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Basque Prisoner in England's Gitmo

Here is a quite interesting article on Iñigo Makazaga, the Basque political prisoner detained in England.

The author tell us about the by now known discrepancies and fabrications leveled by Madrid against Basque political refugees around the world.

But this one contains a number of statements by Iñigo's lawyer that are rather telling, here they are:

She adds, “It was a revelation to us that the [Spanish] government was willing to behave with such dishonesty and ask for extradition of this young man on the basis of evidence that simply did not exist.

“What again was a learning experience for us was when we began to look at what would happen to Iñigo — a very decent, very intelligent, very principled, very pleasant young man — if he were extradited to Spain.

“We have seen reports from the UN rapporteur of torture and realised there’s systematic use of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of Basques. There’s a pattern here of fabrication of evidence that’s shocking. He would not receive a fair trial.”

The article details the two charges that Iñigo already won, check the whole thing at the Socialist Worker online.

You can also read it here.

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Monday, March 21, 2005

Franco's Bitter Legacy

I think this is an excellent article on how Spain needs to deal with Franco's bitter legacy once and for all.

The author, James Badcock, points out at some of the discrepancies I have mentioned a couple of times at this blog:

Last September, in response to the newly-elected Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) proposal to create a commission to ‘restore remembrance and dignity’ of the victims of Franco’s Nationalist forces, a team from Nizkor, a Hispano-American human rights organisation grouping 15 organisations including the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARHM), presented the Party with a series of demands.

First, they demanded government funding and resources for the location of mass graves, where the ARHM estimate that 30,000 bodies lie unaccounted for. These are mostly people accused of ‘aiding the rebellion’, in other words, supporting the Republican government in the years leading up to the conflict.


And:

Nizkor’s second demand was for the removal of the symbols of Franco’s regime. Besides the controversial statue, Madrid alone has a total of 167 streets that continue to bear the name of either the Generalísimo himself or that of one of his associates. Referring to a declaration by the United Nations that denounces the ‘criminal nature’ of Franco’s regime, Nizkor asks for ‘all the arbitrary and illegal military and criminal trials to be nullified’.
A mention of the Valle de los Caídos was in order:

Nizkor’s third demand focuses on Franco’s memorial monument, the Valley of the Fallen, built by 1,200 political prisoners used as slave labour. The ARMH wants a notice put up that make it clear to the mainly foreign visitors of the grandiose tomb exactly how the gigantic cross above the dictator’s resting place was erected.
And well, this is the part that pertains to the central topic of this blog:

The reality is that there are in many ways ‘two Spains’: the nationalist Right of today rails against regional separatism in Catalonia and the Basque Country; the socialist Left focuses on any potential abuse of power by a conservative politician as a sign of anti-democratic tendencies. Any issue that directly relates to the Civil War magnifies such divisions, as was demonstrated in the recent controversy over Civil War documents.

The Nizkor people have their own webpage both in Spanish and English.

The story appeared at
Index.

You can also read the
whole story here.

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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Keyword Analysis Answers

There is a couple of entries at the Keyword Analysis at Statcounter that called my attention, so I will now try to elaborate on them.

Item No.1: Fher Maná Subcomandante Marcos.

A couple of years ago, in virtue of the first Aguascalientes celebrated in Europe, more specifically in Madrid, the Subcomandante Marcos from the EZLN sent a letter to the organizers of the event.

In the body of that letter, the Sup Marcos sent a special greeting to the Basque women and men working in behalf of the self-determination of Euskal Herria.

As usual, the idiots like Savater and Garzón cried wolf and insisted that the Sup Marcos was endorsing ETA.

Nowhere in the letter one can read anything that may lead to think that the Sup Marcos was supporting ETA, but that is the way the Spaniards and their drones around the world address any show of support towards the Basque, let us remember the Idaho Memorial that was received with the same sort of borish reaction.

The Sup Marcos proceeded to demolish all the Anti-Basque idiots with a series of letters. In the process, he demonstrated to the world just how fake and cowardly Baltasar Garzón is. After Garzón refused to assist to a meeting he himself called, the whole thing came to an end.

Months later, out of the blue, Fher, the singer and front man of the Mexican rock group Maná, attacked the Sup Marcos for its support of ETA. Fher quoted that same letter. Fher went on to say that he regreted using a poem by the Sup Marcos in the group's last album.

The Sup Marcos did not even bother trying to talk things out with this poser by the name of Fher, he rather lirically said that he had no time for pendejadas.

Fher is one of those fakes that Muguruza talks about in one of his songs.

Item No. 2: What They Say About the Basque People Arrogant Direct Harsh.

Well, reading Dean's World, the Trasatlantic Intelligencer or the Barcepundit would give you a good idea of what some people think and/or say about the Basques. Sorry if I don't provide the links to those blogs, the first one features good posts time to time, but the other two are just the classic drivel by hateful people with nothing better to do but spill venom and lies.

At A Green Conservatism, Marcus calls them Anti-Basques. Justin Raimondo calls them Basque-phobes at his Anti War page.

Whenever it comes to self-determination, what they apply to Taiwan or Israel does not apply for the Basques. Suddenly the Basques are a bunch of lunatics that are hell bent on planting bombs out of some stupid and racist idea that they are superior to the rest of the Spaniards and that they should have independence, even after there "was never a Basque country in history", nevermind the Kingdom of Navarre.

They go to the extreme of saying that the Basque Country is a poor and undeveloped country, when in reality is the second most developed economy in the Iberian peninsula. They say that as an independent country it would be too small, as if Luxembourg, Andorra, Lichtenstein, Slovenia and the Netherlands were known for their vast territories.

Yes, when it comes to deriding the Basques, there are many arrogant bores around the world willing to be quite direct about their hate towards this European nation and quite harsh about what they say about a society that all what is asking for is to be allowed to do things their way, which is no better or worst than the way other people do things, it is just their way, the Basque way.

And there you have it, more on these Keyword Analysis answers coming your way.

.... ... .

Bask in Donostia

The Pittsburgh Post is featuring an excellent article about Donostia cleverly titled "Bask in the beaches and culture of San Sebastian".

The author is Betsa Marsh, and you can tell she knows her business.

Here is a few parts where she gives people a crash course in Euskera:

Mention "la playa" in Spain and most people think of the sizzling strands of the Costa Brava and Costa del Sol on the Mediterranean. But shift to "hondartza" -- "beach" in the Basque language of Euskera -- and an entire new Northern world opens up.

The four beaches of Donostia/San Sebastian -- "Donostia" in the Basque Euskera language, "San Sebastian" in Spanish -- are the most famous and photogenic. Ten minutes from France, they're celebrating their 160th year in the celebrity game -- all because of doctor's orders.

That story calls for a drink, and luckily Zarautz bottles its own txakoli (chakoLEE), a young, white wine with a tart bite, usually served with seafood and fish. It pairs nicely with long-finned tuna and sardines.

A splurge is great, but what then? Grab the family and friends and do as the locals do -- try a poteo. It's a mini-pub crawl fueled by the miniature cuisine called "pintxos" (pronounced "PINchose"), the Basque equivalent of tapas, and small glasses of wine or beer.


Don't miss all the places she recomends for dining and lodging, just in case one day you end up in Euskal Herria.

You can also read the whole article here.

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The Zipayo and His Master


Patxi Posted by Hello

Spanish Prime Minister Jos Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (L) and the candidate for Basque regional president Patxi Lopez, listen to a speech during a Socialist party electoral meeting in Durango, in Spain's Basque Country, March 20, 2005. The region's elections take place on April 17, 2005. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Sun Worshipers


Biarritz Posted by Hello

Crowds sunbath on the Biarritz beach, southwestern France, where temperature rose to 26 degrees Celsius (79 Degrees Fahrenheit), Sunday, March 20, 2005, bringing the feel of an early summer in the region. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

Friday, March 18, 2005

Stuck In The Past

The removal of Patxi Garbantzu's statue from its location in Madrid has produced some interesting reactions.

And lack of reaction also, like the US media and the US based bloggers not really making any comments about quite a few lunatics clinging to a dark past. Just try to imagine something like this going on in Germany.

Then there is the words by the PP big wigs, that can move to laughter and sorrow depending in which mood you are.

Example:

"the most radical government in (Spain's) democratic history"
- Eduardo Zaplana, spokesman for the PP, refering to Rodriguez Zapatero.

"to reopen wounds and foment rancour among Spaniards."
- Eduardo Zaplana, spokesman for the PP.

"In 1978 we all made an effort to look forward and not back and Franco is dead ... These things are done to play to the gallery,"
- Mariano Rajoy, former PM Candidate for the PP.

Hopefully the Israeli Ambassador to Spain is listening to these pearls of wisdom from the PP worms, not too long ago a Rabbi was presenting José María Aznar with a Statesman Award.

What I would give to be a fly on the wall of a certain place in Barcelona, to see the "liberal blogger" mourning over the removal of the statue in Madrid.



Devolution Posted by Hello

.... ... .

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Took 30 Years

The finally removed the last statue of the Fascist Dictator Francisco Franco from Madrid.

It only took 30 years.

And it happened only because the PP is not in power anymore, if Aznar's dauphin Marriano Rajoy was the Prime Minister today, they would be erecting more monuments.

Some nay-sayers insist Spain made a mistake when the Spanish people kicked Aznar and Rajoy along with the rest of their Junta out of La Moncloa.

Well, the victims of the savage Civil War are finally being recognized, and that is a plus by itself.

With their track record, try to imagine a PP member going to the opening of the new Holocaust Museum in Israel.

There is the fools that insist Spain is a democracy, and no one would mind if Anzar himself would have been invited, but the truth is, a large percentage of PP members still long for the glory of the Francoist Regime, and its founding member, Fraga Iribarne, is a Holocaust denier, period.

Of course, the neo-cons and the "liberals" will never demand from a Spaniard that wants the Francoist dogma of an Eternal and Unified Spain to condemn the Holocaust, so little consistent they are.

And then there is those that insist in blemishing France and Germany for the Neo Nazis that desecrate Sinagogues and Jewish cemetaries.

Well, the fellas in this here pictue are Aznar followers, yes, the staunch ally that was kicked out of power due to his lies and his callouness to try to profit from a tragedy. They are not Neo nothing, they are good ol' style Fascists, just like Francisco Franco, Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Will they demolish El Valle de los Caidos next?

Fat chance, but then again, there is hope.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Unidentified supporters of former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco (news - web sites) sing while giving a fascist salute as the statue of Franco is taken away in Madrid in the early hours of Thursday March 17, 2005. The statue, the last remaining in Madrid, was finally removed Thursday 30 years after Francos death. (AP Photo/Paul White)

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Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Support For The Six Basques

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

A student Felipe Echenique protests with others against the extradition of Basque prisoners in Mexico, outside of the Supreme Court, Wednesday, March 16, 2005, in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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Sunday, March 13, 2005

Basque Youth and Irish Solidarity

This note was published at Indymedia Ireland:

Protests in Ireland in solidarity with banned Basque Youth movement

Forty people in Dublin, sixty in Belfast, fifteen in Galway and twenty in Derry gathered to express their solidarity with 42 Basque Youth activists of the Basque pro-independence left youth organizations Jarrai, Haika and Segi and who have been brought to courts in Madrid for a show trial and who are facing a total of 654 years in prison for their political work defending Basque youth rights and Basque Country's right to self-determination.

The judge and the state prosecution allege that "these organizations are all ETA".

Trials against the political party Batasuna, two anti-repression organizations, two newspapers, one magazine, a publishing house, etc. are to follow. All these organizations and media have been banned in the last 7 years.

Judge Garzon became famous worldwide for his attempt to extradite Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet from London to Spain a few years ago, but he looks elsewhere when Basque detainees are brought in front of him covered in bruises or with signs of deep psychological shock after the customary five day incommunicado period of interrogation (4 Basque detainees have died in police custody since Spanish "democracy" began).

In the last 7 years Judge Garzon has been dismantling various nationalist left organizations and Basque media, arguing that at the end of the day they are all ETA. He has arrested and put in jail some 200 people. No matter how little evidence he has to support his comprehensive theories, the trial had to begin last month, since under Spanish law the authorities can hold a prisoner on remand for up to four years. In fact, nine of the accused youths had to be released from jail last Friday, for they completed their remand period without being tried. They are now awaiting the result of this show trial together with another 33 youths. They are all accused of belonging to their respective youth organizations, which the judge argues are part of ETA. They could get up to 654 years in total.

Since freedom of association was finally recognized by the Spanish state in the late seventies after dictatorship, the Basque nationalist left youth organization Jarrai and its successors Haika and Segi have been working for better conditions for the youth, for promoting alternative ways of life like the Gaztetxes (self-managed centres for the youth), against conscription, etc.

This is not a criminal case but a political one where the accusations are collective, not based on individual acts. By Judge Garzon's standards tens of thousands of Basque people could be imprisoned any time. So far he has got some of the more determined and committed to achieve a free Basque Country. Ironically, some of those 200 people to be tried in the near future have publicly criticized ETA through the years.

In Belfast, the spokeswoman for the campaign asked for international support to stop the Spanish ad French States ferocious repression against Basque civil and political rights activists and Basque left wing pro-independence movement.

At the same time she denounced the silence of the Irish government and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern during the time that Ireland held the European Union Presidency last year. The EU should not support such illegal and antidemocratic policies within the union but it should rather help to initiate a peace process in the Basque Country aimed to bring justice and freedom.

These protests were coordinated by the Irish Basque Committees-Coistí na mBascach-Éireannach and Ógra Shinn Féin and supported by numerous people and groups like ex-republican political prisoners, Belfast Socialist Youth and Irish Republican Socialist Party.

We want to thank everybody for coming along.

The solidarity campaign will keep going strong for the next few weeks with more events. These issues are of concern to anyone who stands for human rights such as freedom of organization and expression. Anybody who wants to join the campaign can contact us through: irishbasques@hotmail.com
.... ... .

The Biggest Coward

Last friday Spain commemorated the victims of the terrorist attacks of March 11th, 2004.

There was an absence that highlighted what some called the divide in the Spanish society when it comes to addressing the terrible events of that day.

So, who was missing in the picture?

The then Prime Minister José María Aznar.

The pocket size neo-Francoist decided not to pay respect to the victims nor show solidarity with the surviving family members.

Instead he grabbed the opportunity to make some dough presented to him by some imbeciles with no moral values from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico.

So off he went to tell his audience his tales of his modern day efforts to become Spain's new Cid Campeador.

He claims he was not invited.

He forgets he is still the president of the Partido Popular, you do not need to get invited nowhere, you're supposed to be there.

This is just simply unacceptable behavior, luckily for him, the US media will not question him for it, so grateful they are for his support on the one war.

His poisonous legacy did spoil at least one of the events, when his rabid dogs from AVT refused to take part of the main act at the Retiro Park. So hell bent they are in harassing the families of the victims of March 11th for not coming into the fold of their fake human rights organization, which a couple of months ago was finally exposed as a fron group for the Francoist vermin that still infests Spain's political landscape.

Aznar is a liar, one of the worst things ever to happen to the Spanish people after Franco, and he does not give a hoot about the victims of his actions.

.... ... .

Saturday, March 12, 2005

In London Today


London Posted by Hello

Two male Basque youth protesters suspend a banner between the pillars of the gates of Buckingham Palace, London, Saturday March 12 2005.(AP Photo/Fiona Hanson-pa)

Update: Euskalinfo has more information about this demonstration carried out by Basque youths in order to shed light on the process against the youth organizations being accused of (believe it or not) being part of ETA.

Some news outlets reported the demonstration also, many of them mentioning it was a peaceful act, quoting the police officers involved in the arrest of the four Basque youngsters:

BBC News/ Four Quizzed Over Palace Protest

A banner was held up outside the Palace on Saturday saying Basque youth defending civil and political rights.

Two men were cut free from the railings and arrested and another two were arrested after scaling two pillars.

Yahoo News/ Protesters Climb Buckingham Palace Fence

None of the protesters entered the palace grounds, and police said they did not know if they had a connection with the Basque separatist group ETA in Spain.

.... ... .

Friday, March 11, 2005

Join The Campaigns

The more people learn about this injustice, the more chances for Iñigo to find his freedom, please, post this picture and link to the site so more and more individuals commited to the defense of civil liberties and human rights can join this effort.

There is also an campaign in support of the six Basque political prisoners in Mexico, here is the link to 6 de Mexico.

Just in case, I link to the page at Euskalinfo here:

Free Iñigo Makazaga Campaign


Makazaga Posted by Hello

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Thursday, March 10, 2005

Labor Solidarity


Baiona Posted by Hello

Thousands of people demonstrate in Bayonne, southwestern France, Thursday, March 10, 2005, to defend the 35-hour work week and to push for more jobs and pay talks. Introduced under the Socialists but headed for effective abolition by lawmakers Tuesday, 'les 35 heures' have been a boon for some but, critics argue, a big drain on the economy. Banner reads 'stand together', and working time. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

.... ... .

Free Iñigo Makazaga Campaign

Euskalinfo is calling for support to the Free Iñigo Makazaga Campaign.

This weekend a group of Basques living in Engalnd will stage a hunger strike to demand the liberation of Iñigo Makazaga and other Basque political prisoners.

From Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March, Basques living in the UK have planned a protest to highlight the lack of justice for prisoners and for their country, and in solidarity with the only Basque held in a British prison, Iñigo Makazaga (HMP Belmarsh). The protesters will be doing a hunger strike in solidarity with Basque prisoners who are currently on their sixth protest. The weekend will also include talks on prisoners’ resistance, Iñigo’s case, repression in the Basque Country and other relevant issues.

Please, help anyway you can, make this information available.

And if it is within your possibilities, join the hunger strike.

Remember, solidarity is the tenderness among peoples.

.... ... .

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Playing in Busturia


Busturia Posted by Hello

A child plays on a rope-climbing frame near the town of Busturia in Northern Spain, March 8, 2005. REUTERS/Vincent West

.... ... .

Politics in Bermeo


Bermeo Posted by Hello

A child walks past election posters for Basque premier Juan Jos Ibarretxe in the fishing port of Bermeo, northern Spain, March 9, 2005. Elections for the Basque regional parliament are scheduled to take place next April 17, 2005. REUTERS/Vincent West

.... ... .

Monday, March 07, 2005

Oops, Wrong Demand Zapatero

A couple of days ago EITB reported that Spanish Prime Minister played the same worn out card:

Yesterday Basque socialists held a conference in San Sebastian, where Zapatero requested those "who talk about self-determination to be brave enough to declare themselves independent from ETA".


Well, like a certain "liberal" that once asked me a similar question, he got these answers:

Ibarretxe responded that "it's been years since Basque citizens made independent from ETA. Most citizens, I think that even most of outlawed Batasuna want ETA's violence to stop". "Politics debates cannot be mixed with ETA's violence especially when democratic matters are honest and legitimate. Those who support the independence and those who support Spain's unity cannot be mixed. That's to impoverish from the politics point of view."


And:

The outlawed left-wing nationalist Batasuna spokesman, Arnaldo Otegi, has challenged the Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, to "be independent from conservative PP" and "plead independent" from the strategy of "denying and humiliating the Basque country."


There you go, any other requests?

.... ... .

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Otegi in Zarautz


Zarautz Posted by Hello

Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the outlawed Basque nationalist party Batasuna, talks to supporters at an electoral rally in Zarautz, in northern Spain, March 6, 2005. Basque regional elections will take place on April 17, Batasuna being banned from taking part in them. Poster on the background reads in Basque language 'Over any obstacle.' REUTERS/Pablo Sanchez

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