What Took So Long?

The file and rank of the Partido Popular finally exposed their rotten political ways and their lack of a moral stand.

They decided to place their political future in the hands of the most backwards sectors of Spain (the Catholic Church, the Falangistas, the Francoists) by finally distancing themselves from the government of Rodríguez Zapatero, a vindictive move that they have been mulling since March 14th of 2004.

Their excuse?

The compromise by Zapatero's government to initiate a dialogue with ETA and Batasuna to ensure the peace process for the Basque Country. The PP's Mariano Rajoy says that to do so is to betray the victims of terrorism.

Mariano Rajoy's selective memory conveniently forgets that his Partido Popular also negotiated with ETA, just like every single Spanish government since the death of Rajoy's source of inspiration, Francisco Franco.

With this rupture the openly Francoist Partido Popular declares itself a tool for those Spaniards that still cling to the "glory" of Spain's imperial and colonialist past, denying the right of the nations without statehood to their self determination.

But the conservatives in Spain are not the only ones exposed in all their hatred and bigotry against the Basque people, also all the neocons in the United States of America, France and England are now out in the open, closing ranks with a political party that supports repressive measures, torture and state sponsored terrorism. This goes for politicians, news reporters and bloggers.

And here you have the report by Reuters (a news outlet that consistently takes the Francoist side by the way) about the Partido Popular's rupture with a hope for peace and justice:

Spain to push on with ETA talks despite opposition

Wed Jun 7, 2006 02:36 PM BST

By Jason Webb

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialist government will persevere with plans for peace talks with Basque separatist guerrillas ETA although the job of ending 38 years of violence has been made more difficult by an opposition boycott.

"The government has the best opportunity for a peace process for more than 30 years," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Wednesday, referring to a cease-fire announced by the Basque guerrilla group in March.

"The government is going to take this opportunity because the Spanish people deserve it," Zapatero said during a heated exchange in parliament the morning after the conservative Popular Party withdrew its backing for talks with ETA.

Zapatero said he would keep trying to persuade the PP to support negotiations and join a political consensus which analysts say is key to reaching a successful peace deal.

He plans to announce the start of talks in a speech to parliament later in June.

PP leader Mariano Rajoy announced he was withdrawing his support for talks on Tuesday night in protest at a planned meeting between Socialist officials and Batasuna -- a Basque separatist party banned for links to ETA.

The PP has also been angered by what it considers the secretive way in which the government has handled contacts with the separatists who want independence for the Basque Country in northern Spain and south-western France.

The PP has traditionally taken a harder line against ETA than the Socialists, although it too carried out secret contacts with the guerrillas when in government in the late 1990s.

Police broke up a press conference announced by Batasuna in the town of Pamplona on Wednesday. A Batasuna official said the police had committed an act of "sabotage" that undermined conditions for peace talks.

The Basque conflict has claimed 850 lives and rouses deep emotions in Spain, where the media describes ETA as "terrorists". The European Union and United States also class ETA as terrorists.

Polls show a majority of Spaniards doubt the sincerity of the guerrillas' desire for peace.

Without PP backing, it will be much harder for Zapatero to win public support for a peace deal, said Carlos Barrera, who teaches modern history at the University of Navarre.

"If the two main parties can't agree on the basics, whatever they do, they won't have that necessary support," he said.

Even before its cease-fire, ETA had not staged a fatal attack for three years and analysts say its clandestine network has been badly damaged by police action in Spain and France.

Its political allies in Batasuna have only about 15 percent support in the Basque Country and both groups have dropped demands for immediate independence.

(Additional reporting by Blanca Rodriguez)

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