Peace and Independence

I think that after today, the nay-sayers have no room to continue to deny the one will of the Basque people, to obtain their one dream: Independence.

As clear as that.

Here you have the note from Yahoo News:

Basques march for peace and independence

Sat Apr 1, 5:40 PM ET

Tens of thousands of people marched in Bilbao, northern Spain, to call for a peaceful road to independence for the Basque region.

Demonstrators cheered the group at the head of the orderly procession, which included key figures from Basque political parties marching under a Basque-language banner reading "It's time for solutions".

Demonstrators shouted "Amnesty for the prisoners," apparently referring to members of the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna held in custody pending trial for involvement in violence during a general strike last month.

The march passed off peacefully from the outskirts of the city to the centre, finishing at the town hall where speakers read out a manifesto in Basque, Spanish and French.

"We need a democratic solution," one speaker said. "The process of resolution ... will have to recognize and guarantee all the rights of the women and men in this (Basque) country."

Among the leaders of the procession were Pernando Barrena, spokesman for Batasuna -- the political wing of the armed Basque separatist group ETA -- and Begona Errazti, head of the centre-left Eusko Alkartasuna party that forms part of the autonomous region's ruling coalition.

"The Basque people are entering on an unstoppable road to sovereignty," Errazti told journalists before the start of the march.

She called for "a change for our country, and peace for our people, and the restoring of the rights that we deserve."

A ceasefire declaration by ETA on March 22 ended a 38-year armed campaign -- said to have cost over 800 lives -- to carve out an independent homeland comprising the Basque-speaking regions of Spain and neighbouring France.

While the violence has now officially ended, moderate Spanish Basque nationalists are still seeking greater autonomy from Madrid and hardliners like Batasuna and ETA still demand self-determination.

The demonstration was organized by the civil group Democratic Grassroots Agreement and attended by over 50 organisations including left-wing parties and non-political groups, but was boycotted by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV).

PNV -- the moderate coalition partner of Eusko Alkartasuna -- favours autonomy rather than independence for the Basque Country, and did not want to take part in an initiative that may have provided legitimacy for Batasuna.

It called for its members not to take part, though its youth wing had already announced it would do so.

"It is the time for national unity, the time when all the political parties must cooperate and help each other to establish a peace process. That is the priority at the moment," PNV president Josu Jon Imaz said in a radio interview.

Earlier Saturday Batasuna spokesman Joseba Permach had called for supporters to donate money to help pay bail for three Batasuna members in custody in Madrid.

The party needs to raise 650,000 euros (788,000 dollars) to bail Batasuna's leader Arnaldo Otegi, its communications chief Juan Jose Petrikorena and militant Juan Maria Olano.

The three are accused of involvement in acts of violence, including attempted attacks by ETA, during a Batasuna-backed general strike in the Basque Country on March 9.

Organizers had asked for banners of political parties not to be carried on Saturday's march. A few flags were visible in the crowd, including flags of the Basque, Catalan and Navarre regions of Spain, and Brittany in France.

Among the participants in the march was Irish priest Alec Reid, who has acted as a mediator in the Basque issue following his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

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