The Basque Country is at a crossroad.
The Basque society supports a negotiated end to the struggle, the full weight of a nation is behind the Basque nationalist parties.
Madrid knows it, that is why it went to the extreme of bringing back some of Franco's worst examples by banning a political party (Batasuna) and an electoral list (Aukera Guztiak) in their attempt to deprive thousands of Basques of a political voice.
They do it because they know the international community do not care.
There is voices in the desert, like those of Mark Kurlansky, Hillel Halkin, Rigoberta Menchu and the Sup Marcos, there is echoes, but more must be done to prevent more injustice, more illegal arrests, more torture, more political prisoners.
The Basque Country is ready to express its will, and since Madrid decided to curtail some right, one more political party gets into the fray and announces that they will champion the political platform presented by Aukera Guztiak.
Here is what Berria published today:
AukeraGuztiak itself, Batasuna, Aralarand the Communist Party of the Basque Territories (EHAK) all believe that the annulment of the Aukera Guztiak lists by the Spanish Constitutional Court signifies a setback for democracy. They all say that this “grave” situation has to be addressed. So, Aukera Guztiak called a meeting of all the parties which oppose the Law of Political Parties with the aim of “taking a new step forward” and seeking a practical way out of the situation. The call that brought Aukera Guztiak, Batasuna, Aralar and the EHAK together has produced a result. The Communist Party of the Basque Territories (EHAK) is prepared to take over from Aukera Guztiak and abandon its own plans, so as to take the restoration of democracy and peace as its sole aim. So the EHAK has put its lists, which are legal, at the service of civil and political rights.
The Spanish authoritarian strategists did not see that one coming.
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