The Northern Irish Path

Thanks to a press release by the University of Ulster we learned about what Ibarretxe said regarding a certain path to peace, here you have it:

Northern Ireland Points Path to Basque Peace, Says President Ibarretxe

Northern Ireland’s path to peace could be the route to ending conflict in the Basque country, the democratic leader of more than two million Basques said in a major address at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus.

Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu, the President of the Basque Government, said disavowal of violence and inclusive talks – the basis of the peace process here - must be the first step to resolving the long-running dispute about Spanish sovereignty over its Basque population.

Delivering the Tip O’Neill Peace Lecture, he said inclusive talks and respect for a democratic mandate must replace a failed formula of back-door contacts between the Spanish Government and ETA extremists who have been waging a 40-year war for Basque independence.

“ETA and the Spanish government can not decide the future of the Basque people in secret meetings. This future will only be freely decided by the men and women of our country through peaceful and democratic means,” he asserted.

“I am convinced that we will never achieve peace if we carry on making the same mistakes. We have to learn from Northern Ireland and many conflict zones that have been able to transform positively even more difficult situations.”

President Ibarretxe was the latest international luminary to deliver the lecture, at the invitation of Nobel Peace Laureate Professor John Hume, holder of the Tip O’Neill Chair of Peace Studies at Magee. The Chair, funded by the Ireland Funds, commemorates the Speaker of the US House of Representatives during 1977-1987 who was widely respected for his support of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Before Monday’s lecture, Professor Hume escorted the President on a tour of Derry’s Walls, accompanied by Professor Tom Fraser, the former Provost of Magee.

In the lecture, President Ibarretxe paid warm tribute to Professor Hume’s dedication to peace-building: “You represent the best of humankind, the power of dialogue against violence, the capacity of political leaders to solve the real problems of their people, the necessity to fight peacefully the most violent battles and the resilience to overcome opposition in the most difficult conditions. Your whole life is a source of inspiration for political leaders all around the world who have to face up to similar circumstances.”

As President of the Basque Autonomous Community since 1999, the President is the chief voice of non-violent Basque nationalism. The historic Basque culture and identity straddles the Spanish-French border in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Basque Autonomous Community is one of Spain’s 17 regions, all of which have varying degrees of home-rule under sovereignty of the central government in Madrid. It has 75% of the Basque people, who for generations have demanded self-determination.

The Basque Country is a competitive and balanced community, President Ibarretxe said. “An ancient people among the top countries in the field of sustainable human development…... but we lack peace. Unfortunately, on too many occasions, news about the violence of ETA hides the economic and social reality of a peaceful and hard-working people. Northern Ireland has suffered a similar situation for too long.

“Nobody knows better than you that violence only generates the suffering of innocent people and tarnishes the good name of the Basques. Basque society demands that ETA declares clearly and unequivocally its willingness to put an end to its violent campaign now.”
Following the 2007 collapse of an ETA ceasefire, President Ibarretxe launched a talks’ initiative which he described as “actually a Basque-style Downing Street Declaration”. The political debate in Northern Ireland moved from secret negotiations between the British Government and the IRA, to all-party talks after the signing of the Downing Street Declaration, he recalled.

“The message that your two governments sent out to all parties involved was crystal clear at all times. Talks would be inclusive, all parties simply had to accept a firm commitment to using exclusively peaceful and democratic means to achieve their goals and the people of this country had to be consulted directly about the changes for the future. This is precisely the same route we need to follow in the Basque Country.

“Our main difficulty lies in the reluctance to move from the old paradigm of negotiation between ETA and the Government, to a new paradigm based on all party talks.”

It was unfortunate, he said, that President Zapatero of Spain did not interpret his offer of all-party dialogue as an opportunity for a Basque way to follow the route marked out in the Northern Ireland peace process.

“He never presented an alternative, and neither did the rest of the political parties…..Our problem is that any attempt to conduct a similar effort in the Basque area is still considered as weakness in the face of terrorism.

"This is the old paradigm but a new one can still be created. We need to reinforce the leadership of all political parties. And we have to do it accepting all the consequences, even though the end result of the peace process may be unexpected and on many occasions difficult for those who were the front runners.

“We are at a crucial time that will affect the history of our land. A democratic battle is being waged between those who still carry on trying to transform the Basque conflict implementing old and failed frameworks and those that want to explore new avenues for peace. The outcome of this debate will determine our future for the coming decade.”

Funny thing, Ibarretxe's political party squandered the chance they had a couple of years ago when they decided to abide by the orders coming directly from Juan Carlos Borbon and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who did all they could do in order to derail the peace process ushered by ETA's ceasefire going to the extreme of refusing to accept an offer by ETA to lay down their weapons.

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Spain's Rome Does Not Pay Traitors

The Basque Autonomous Community government's president will be tried for meeting members of Batasuna, a Spanish court said Monday. Basque regional president Juan Jose Ibarretxe and two members of Spain's governing Socialist party — Patxi Lopez and Rodolfo Ares — are charged with committing a crime by meeting with Batasuna leaders.

Batasuna was declared illegal in 2003 after a law was created ad-hoc by the extreme right government of Juan Carlos Borbon and his assistant Jose Maria Aznar in order to deprive a portion of the Basque electorate of its right to vote, a throwback to Francisco Franco's reign of terror.

The meetings took place after ETA declared a cease-fire in March 2006. The group ended the cease-fire in December that year, after the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had reneged on delivering political concessions promised during peace talks, going to the extreme of incarcerating peace talks delegates in a clear violation of international treaties.

Ibarretxe — who belongs to the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)— met with Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi and others in April 2006 and January 2007 when optimism about ETA's cease-fire was still high. Lopez and Ares, both members of the Basque branch of Zapatero's party, met Batasuna leaders publicly in July 2006.

The Superior Court of Justice of the Basque country said the three would be tried on January 8th. The case was brought by two Spanish extreme-right groups acting as political saboteurs in Euskal Herria. Under Spanish law, private parties can ask courts to bring criminal charges, this way the central government can escape criticism by the international community, relying on these groups to carry out the dirty war against Basque society.

This is a reminder to Ibarretxe that as Rome, Madrid does not pay traitors. He, Ibarretxe, was an active colaborator with Zapatero in his efforts to derail the peace talks. Going to trial is what he gets as a reward for betraying the Basque people.

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Basque-phobe of the Week : Hans-Gert Pöttering

Well, just a few days ago a pro-torture Canadian judge earned the title of Basquephobe of the week, now we have a German showing his bias against the Basque people.

This note appeared today at EU Business:

European parliament head sees no need for Basque referendum

03 October 2008, 23:02 CET

(MADRID) - European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering said on Friday he saw no need for Spain's Basque region to hold a referendum on self-determination, a move desired by nationalists there.

"I don't see the need for a referendum in the Basque Country," he said in response to an AFP question at a conference in Madrid.

"Today in the EU we have a system where all people can live their identity. People of the Basque Country can live in Spain. I see no reason for a region to split away from the Spanish state," he added.

Last month Spain's Constitutional Court ruled that a plan by authorities in the Basque region to hold a referendum on self-determination was illegal on the grounds that only the central government could call such a vote.

The ruling was a defeat for the Basque region's nationalist president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who was the driving force behind the non-binding vote he had scheduled for October 25.

Ibarretxe has said he will appeal against the Spanish court's decision to the European Court of Human Rights.

The wealthy northeastern Basque Country, which has its own distinct language and culture, already enjoys a high level of self-government and polls show the majority of Basques do not want to secede outright from Spain.

The armed Basque separatist group ETA, which has killed over 820 people in its 40-year campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque homeland, has long defended the Basque people's right to self-determination.

According to information easily available on the internet Pöttering is a German conservative politician who just won European Excellence Award 2008 of the Autonomous Community of Madrid ('Premio a la Excelencia Europea 2008'). Was that a bribe to get him to speak against the Basque political rights? What's next, is he sending the Lüftwaffe to bomb Durango and Gernika?

I am going to answer Herr Pöttering why there is a need for a real referendum regarding the right of the Basque people to its self-determination, and I am saying a real one because the one championed by Ibarretxe is not even a true referendum on self-determination.

The reason is there is such a thing as a United Nation's Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which reads in its first article:

Article 1

1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

Spain signed that Covenant just like France did, oh, and Germany. By the way, Germany also recognized the right of Kosovo to "split from the" Serbian state, and since there is Albanians living their identity in Europe in a country called Albania then there was no good reason for the Albanians in Kosovo to secede, all they needed to do was to move back to Albania following Pöttering's logic.

To the coward who wrote the article I say, the Basque Country is today a continental colony to two colonialist powers, France and Spain. As if that was not enough, they Basques live in three different political entities, two of which are located south of the Pyrenees (Navarre and the Basque Autonomous Community) and one north of the Pyrenees, grouped with Pau in something called the Pyrinees Atlantiques. That is why despite living in a wealthy region that enjoys "a high level of self-government" the Basques still long for self determination, so they can leave together, with no borders dividing them and preventing them from strenghtening their culture.

And what about those polls that say that Basques do not want independence from France and Spain, wouldn't an actual referendum sponsored by the UN and/or the EU would put that discussion to rest? Why then the opposition to a referendum?

One last thing, thanks to the right of self-determination Germany is an unified country today, how strange it results that a German refuses the same right to the Basques, who live in two different states due to the current political situation. To want for some what you deny to others is called discrimination, and I still remember a certain Austrian-Catholic politician who unified all German peoples and who discriminated against the Jewish and the Roma communities.

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NABO's Basque Region

Thanks to the blog Ant's Meat and the post "To Basque Amerika", I found out about the strangest thing, NABO (North American Basque Organizations) has issued a declaration regarding the now inexistent referendum initiative called by Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the statement is in support of the initiative, if you want to read it follow this link:

Declaration Proposal

Until now NABO had been suspiciously silent about the political situation in Euskal Herria, that is why I agree with the comment by Jon, specially this part:

If NABO’s role if going to be political from now on, we cannot reduce our perspective to only one side of the spectrum. So, when is NABO going to sign a declaration in favor of the repatriation of Basque political prisoners and exiles? When is NABO going to sign a declaration against banning Basque political parties? When is NABO going to sign a declaration against the practice of torture in Spain?

And how about this map posted by NABO?

Not even the anti-Basque crowd would dare to post a map of Euskal Herria that shows but a sliver of the entire territory.

After the Idaho Memorial, Basques around the world had always been hopeful that the Basque community in the USA would finally wake up and start applying some pressure to their government in behalf of the right of Euskal Herria to its independence. When they finally say something through NABO is to support an initiative that amounts to a revamped political status between Gazteiz and Madrid that ensures the PNV members will continue to milk the cow.

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Oxford's Comfort

When one hears of Oxford one thinks of excellence in education.

Then you read the article titled "Basque discomfort" at Oxford Analytica and you start to doubt it.

This is what they say about themselves:

About us

Company Profile

Oxford Analytica is an international, independent consulting firm drawing on a network of over 1,000 senior faculty members at Oxford and other major universities and research institutions around the world.

Impressive, over one thousand of them, so, let us analyze the article:

Basque discomfort

Basque Regional President Juan Jose Ibarretxe of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party will attempt to trigger on Tuesday a referendum on Basque autonomy, when he appeals to the European Court of Human Rights over the Spanish Constitutional Court’s decision to outlaw the referendum.

Ibarretxe first floated the idea of a “consultation” in September last year, and narrowly passed it in the regional parliament only with the support of a parliamentarian thought to be close to Basque terrorist group ETA. The Basque branch of the nationally ruling Socialist party (PSOE) and the main national opposition party (PP) rejected the idea, and appealed to the Constitutional Court. The Court ruled in favour of the national parties, saying that only the central government could call such a referendum.

September last year?

For the love of Pete, Ibarretxe has been talking about a referendum, consultation or whatever you want to call it since at least 2003. Something tells me that the author started doing research about the issue less than a year ago, a week perhaps.

The vote, scheduled for October 25, was to ask whether to have enter a dialogue with ETA, and whether to hold a political debate on the "right to decide of the Basque people" -- implying eventual cessation of the Basque Country from Spain. The central government strongly opposed both proposals.

Now, this time the author willfully misdirects the readers, Ibarretxe's first question is not "whether to have enter dialogue with ETA" but "if they favor a negotiated solution to the conflict if the armed Basque group ETA was willing to end violence".

That is a big difference. The way the author poses the question plays right into Spain's preposterous accusation that Ibarretxe is advancing ETA's agenda departing from the notion that when it comes to Basque self determination "everything is ETA", meaning, the Basque society does not deserve a shot at independence because it favors violence.

Echoes of Ghandi's non violent campaign to liberate India from England come to mind, but that independence process in particular is the exception to the rule due to one simple fact, colonialist powers ALWAYS resort to violence when it comes to their colonies wanting to regain their sovereignty.

One more thing, all what Ibarretxe wants is to reform the political relationship between the Basque Autonomous Community (which includes only three out of the seven Basque provinces) with Madrid, a far cry from independence.

Following the failure of its attempt to engage in dialogue with ETA in 2006 -- for which it had been harshly criticised by the opposition -- it has ruled out any return to the negotiating table, instead opting to crack-down on all organisations associated with the terrorist group. This resulted in the ban by the Constitutional Court of two political parties believed to be ETA’s political wing and which enjoy respectable representation in Basque local and regional assemblies. The second proposal was seen as a clear challenge to the constitutional order and territorial integrity of Spain. It was opposed not only by the PSOE and PP, but also the Spanish public at large. Moreover, it created divisions within Ibarretxe’s PNV, which ultimately benefited the Socialists in March’s general election.

Terrorist group? This from a citizen of a country that is taking an active part in the murder of dozens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine over oil and gas profits.

I am not even going to mention the principle of law called "presumption of innocence".

And what about this grammar gaffe: "two political parties believed to be ETA’s political wing"... two political parties, one wing. Man I am glad I did not waste my money studying at Oxford.

Ibarretxe is unlikely to succeed with his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. But in order to save face, he might opt for snap regional elections, trying to capitalise on growing tensions between the Basque country and the central administration following the ban of the ‘pro-ETA’ parties. For Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, this might mean less cooperation from the PNV on the national level; an unfortunate result as his minority government depends on the support of regional parties. However, Zapatero’s categorical support of the constitution and hard anti-terror stance leaves the PP with no room to criticise him.

Well, look it that, the author knows that Strasbourg will betray the Basques, like every other international community's organization in the past.

Something tells me that this Oxford educated chap does not favor the independence of Wales and Scotland.

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Spain Bans ANV

This is not a news article from Spain under the murderous dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Neither a note from six years ago when Spain was ruled by an extreme-right party lead by a fascist and genocidal maniac by the name of Jose Maria Aznar, responsible along with George W. Bush and Tony Blair for the murder of dozens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

No, this is breaking news, it is happening just now, when Spain is ruled by an allegedly socialist party led by a "well intentioned" politician by the name of Jose Luis Rodríguez, responsible along George W. Bush and Tony Blair for the murder of dozens of thousands of Afghan civilians.

Yes, in today's Spain, an authoritarian state that a lot of people fancy calling it a "young democracy", a Basque political party has been banned accused of being the continuation of another political party, Batasuna, a party that six years ago, you read that correctly, six years ago was accused of being ETA political wing without the Spanish government having produced a single piece of evidence to support the accusation.

Here you have it, the article appeared at Yahoo News:

Spain's Supreme Court bans Basque party

Tue Sep 16, 8:13 AM ET

Spain's Supreme Court has banned a party in the country's Basque region because of its links to armed separatists ETA, the court's head said on Tuesday.

The court had already banned the ANV (the Nationalist Basque Action) from taking part in Spain's general elections in March, but had stopped short of preventing party members from carrying out other activities.

The court's ruling on Tuesday meant the ANV would be dissolved and its assets seized, court head Francisco Jose Hernando said in a brief statement outside the court.

ANV's 400 or so local councilors in the Basque Region and Navarra, in northern Spain, would be expected to stand down under the ruling.

The Spanish authorities say the ANV has taken over representing ETA from Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, which is already banned.

From Wednesday, the Supreme Court will start to study whether to also ban Basque party PCTV.

Last week, Spain's Constitutional Court also banned a plan by the Basque Country's government to hold a referendum-style vote on the region's future.

Basque Country Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe, a member of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, said the region's government would appeal to Europe over the ban, branding it "an abuse of democracy."

Spain's Socialist government has said from the start that the vote would be illegal and could not go ahead.

Ibarretxe has not clarified whether he wants the Basque Country to secede or just obtain more powers from Madrid.

The Basque Country already has autonomy over many areas including health and education, which it has used to promote the unique Basque language.

(Reporting by Inmaculada Sanz, writing by Sarah Morris, editing by Myra MacDonald)

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Spain Issues Threat

Like I said in the previous post, Spain will make sure that Strasbourg violates the rights of the Basque people.

Here you have an article published at B92 that contains the threat by a Spanish politician:

Basques take referendum case to Strasbourg

13 September 2008 | 10:29 | Source: EuroNews

MADRID -- The Basque question is beginning to rear its head once again, reports say.

It comes as moderate nationalists take their demand for the right to hold a referendum on self-determination, rejected by Spain’s Constitutional Court, to the European Court of Human Rights.

Madrid has turned Juan José Ibarretxe down. The Basque Prime Minister remains positive.

“We accept the court’s decision but we aren’t resigned to defeat. We will peacefully pursue our social goals, and our political and legal ones forcefully to defend our rights wherever necessary,” he said.

The moderate nationalist-dominated Basque parliament wants the vote in October. Do not hope for much from Strasbourg, warned Spain’s deputy minister, Maria-Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.

“Mr Ibarretxe is free to knock on any door he likes, but we’re convinced those who respect democratic procedures, above all the European parliament, will never accept an attack on legal principle such as this one.”

The Basque country enjoys more autonomy than most European regions-within-a-state that have campaigned for more self-rule. Opinion polls regularly show most Basques want more freedoms.

Anyone that is familiar with the UN Charter and the principle of self-determination is aware that Ibarretxe's lukewarm call for more autonomy for the citizens of the Basque Autonomous Community could never be considered an attack against any legal principle but Maria Teresa Fernandez knows that Spain counts with the silent complicity of the international community when it comes to the state sponsored violence used by Madrid against the Basques people. This is why Spain so openly tramples the human rights and civil liberties of an entire people. Madrid has an entire arsenal of laws created ad-hoc to supress the Basque drive for self-determination.

Strasbourg should know by now about the assasinations, abductions, cases of torture, attacks on language and culture that at the every day bread in Euskal Herria, and they should know that Juan Carlos Borbon and the two main political parties in Spain (PP and PSOE) are to blame for what amounts to Apartheid.

But Strasbourg also know that the old colonial powers, the same powers that recognized Kosovo's independence a few months ago will rally behind Madrid on this one, and since they finance the Human Rights Court well, you can imagine.

So, lets wait and see how this one plays out.

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To Strasbourg

I have been posting about the so called Plan Ibarretxe that calls for a new political relationship between the Basque Autonomous Community (which comprises only three out of the seven Basque provinces) and Spain since 2002.

The entire project resides in the right of the Basque people to be consulted about what they want to do, a true exercise on self determination, at least for the Basques living in the provinces of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.

The plan is criticized by the Basques that want full independence for the entire Basque Country and loathed by the Spaniards who hate every single initiative by the Basque people even if the initiative is an overly cautious one like the so called Ibarretxe Plan.

The Constitutional Court in Spain said no to the referendum demanded by Ibarretxe, so now the president of the Basque autonomous community is talking about taking the case to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg.

That is what this note published at Yahoo News talks about:

Basque government to seek ruling by European rights court

Fri Sep 12, 1:54 PM ET

VITORIA, Spain (AFP) - Basque country leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe said Friday he would appeal to Europe's highest rights court after Spanish judges ruled out a referendum next month on the political future of the region.

"The time has come to turn to a European court to defend our right to express ourselves to decide on our future," said Ibarretxe after a special meeting of his government.

He called on all citizens and political parties in the Basque country to draft their own pleas to the European Court of Human Rights individually by September 23, saying his government would forward them to the Strasbourg-based court.

Spain's Constitutional Court on Thursday unanimously upheld a move by the central government and the main opposition Popular Party to block the October 25 referendum which the Basque parliament had approved by a narrow majority in June.

It ruled that under Spain's 1978 constitution the Spanish state "has the exclusive authorisation to call popular consultations by means of a referendum."

It also said the plan infringed the constitution by seeking the opinion of part of the population on an issue that concerned the whole country.

The moderate nationalist government of the northern region wanted to call a referendum on whether to hold peace talks with the armed separatist group ETA -- provided it renounced violence -- and the Basque people's right to "self-determination", which is seen as a coded reference to its right to secede from Spain.

The armed Basque separatist group ETA, blamed for the deaths of 823 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland, has long defended the Basque people's right to self-determination.

The proposed referendum would ask voters two questions:

1: "Do you support a process aimed at negotiating an end to violence if ETA first demonstrates, unequivocally, its will to definitively end violence?"

2: "Do you agree that Basque political parties should begin a process of negotiation to reach an agreement on a democratic accord on the Basque people's exercise of the right of self-determination and that this accord be submitted to a (regional) referendum before the end of 2010?"

Ibarretxe said the court ruling was an "attack on the Basque government" which had "confirmed our worst fears ... by putting reasons of state above reasons of democracy."

"We find ourselves in the situation of being unable to express an opinion," he said, "a situation which is unusual in 21st century Europe."

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said she was convinced the European court would not accept "any challenge to the law."

"We will defend the position of the Spanish government which was upheld by the Constitutional Court," she told a press conference following a cabinet meeting.

Ibarretxe "seems determined to maintain his plan at whatever cost, even though it divides Basque society and is against the constitution," she added.

As much as I don't agree with Ibarretxe's proposal and as much as I am sure that Strasbourg will rule against the Basque people I have to say that this is one more instance in which the basic rights of the Basques are being trampled by the authoritarian and fascist Spanish government.

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Non Dramatic Democracy

Ibarretxe makes a point when he says that the future of all peoples in Europe is consultation through referendum.

You can read about it takes to this article published by EITb:

Ibarretxe: “Consulting means future for all European regions”

09/08/2008

Basque President affirmed that consulting is not something “dramatic” but “democratic.” He also called the citizens to defend their rights in order to decide “pacifically everywhere”.

‘Lehendakari’-Basque President Juan Jose Ibarretxe affirmed on Monday that consulting is the future for all European regions while “forbidding is the past”. He wondered which kind of ”participating democracy” is being created is Spain, a place where “first, the right to decide was denied. Then, the right to ask and now, the right to appeal against”.

Lehendakari made that statement at the official inauguration of the University of Basque Country Summer Course ‘Citizen Participation: new political culture in a context of shared leadership’ at Miramar Palace in Donostia - San Sebastian, accompanied by Gipuzkoa’s County Council Markel Olano.

Juan Jose Ibarretxe reminded that citizens must defend pacifically the right to decide “in Spain, in Europe and everywhere”, because that gesture does not mean something “dramatic” but “democratic.” While it is said that “democratic participation sets the way in Europe, Spain denies that way”, he dennounced.

In spite of the fact that the consultation is now seen as “exceptional”, future times “will not have limits” because “letting the citizens take part in the decisions” is “the way,” he added.

Speaking of which maybe Balza could be less "dramatic" and stop outlawing the civil acts and demonstrations called by the pro-independence Basque organization. Let us remember that Javier Balza's "dramatics" include torture and brutal police charges against pacifist demonstrators.

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Spain is Not England

Arnaldo Otegi has been released from jail. He spent over a year behind bars because he is the spokesman for a large sector of Basque society often referred to as the pro-independence left. He was one of the chief negotiators during the peace talks torpedoed by Zapatero and Ibarretxe. To many, both in Euskal Herria and abroad, he was jailed to punish him for trying everything he could to make sure that the peace talks could continue. This is the reason why I present to you this article appeared at The Independent:

Martin McGuinness: There can be no going back

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister was once said – in a government euphemism – to have had 'first-hand operational experience' in the IRA. But, he says, since teaming up with his former foe Ian Paisley, attitudes towards him changed overnight

Sunday, 31 August 2008

Brightly coloured sight-seeing buses cruise along the Falls Road, with rain-soaked heads turning as the guides point out the headquarters of Sinn Fein: this is post-Troubles Belfast.

But inside the building, things are not at all relaxed: it is a hive of activity, with men and women bounding purposefully up and down the stairs and in and out of the building. "That door never stops," said the cheerful republican on security duty.

There used to be a great deal of overlap between Sinn Fein and the IRA, but now the "armed struggle" is no more. Once a centre of subversion, the office is now strictly confined to the business of politics.

This is one of the offices used by Martin McGuinness, once regarded by Downing Street as a republican with "first-hand operational experience". Now he is a senior political figure.

As Deputy First Minister, he also has another office in the baronial splendour of Stormont Castle, once occupied by the British ministers who used to run Northern Ireland.

Today Westminster shares power with Belfast's devolved government, which last year came into being amid widespread amazement and a general welcome for what was seen as an epic breakthrough.

McGuinness, a one-time icon of militancy but now a symbol of his movement's politicisation, readily acknowledged the difficulties within the administration that was headed jointly by Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.

Not too many years ago, talk of difficulties often brought warnings of a possible surge in violence. Today, this element is gone. There will certainly be crises ahead, but they will be political, and not matters of life and death.

Time was when many viewed McGuinness as one of those who kept the Troubles going, blaming him for prolonging the conflict. Many felt exactly the same about his loyalist counterpart, the Reverend Ian Paisley.

Yet the general perception of both men changed dramatically last year, when Sinn Fein and the DUP formed their governing coalition. Most people were, in the words of McGuinness, "gobsmacked and amazed" that they could make peace after all those decades of implacable enmity.

A double act developed, characterised by so much bonhomie and good cheer that McGuinness and Paisley became known as the "Chuckle Brothers". Paisley (like the IRA) has now left the scene, to be replaced as First Minister by his deputy, Peter Robinson.

The republican leader now sounds almost nostalgic about the Paisley-McGuinness double act, saying of the octogenarian loyalist leader: "I respected his mandate, I respected his age and the courageous decision that he took to come into government."

He recalled how attitudes towards them changed overnight. "Ian Paisley and I would tell each other stories about the people who approached us after making the deal," he said.

"He told me about coming off a plane at Heathrow, and this woman came over and said, 'Mr Paisley, can I shake your hand?' And he said yes, and they shook hands. Then she said that a couple of months earlier she wouldn't have shaken his hand; she would probably have slapped him on the face – and it turned out she was the Mother Superior of a nunnery. But she praised him to high heaven and said he had done a good thing and she wanted to say thanks."

McGuinness has had similar encounters. "I told him about being in the City Hotel in Derry, and this woman came running up to me and said, 'Can I give you a big hug?' And I said yes, and she hugged me. Then she said, 'I wouldn't have given you a big hug before this – I'm an Ian Paisley supporter, but I think what you've done is absolutely tremendous.' That happens to me all the time.

"I think that tells you how things have changed, and that something very, very powerful has happened. And it's not just on this island.

"In all the times I've travelled to London since 1994, everybody that comes up to me tells me to keep up the good work. I haven't heard one angry voice, which is absolutely amazing."

But does he get such reactions from people who have specifically suffered at the hands of the IRA? "I meet people all the time who have been hurt by the IRA," he replied. "Some of the most humbling moments are meeting those people, and they put out their hands and say, 'Well done, this is good, keep it going.'"

He recalled receiving a letter asking for a meeting from a number of disabled police officers. The request produced, he said, "all sorts of opinions within Sinn Fein" on whether or not to hold such a meeting.

"But I met them," he recalled. "When they came into the room. it was clear they were disabled as a result of the conflict and as a result of being injured by the IRA. But they shook hands and said, 'We're here to say we support what you're doing, that we support this process.'"

The IRA killed many police officers, but now Sinn Fein supports policing and justice: McGuinness has paid hospital visits to a number of officers who have been injured in attacks by dissident republicans.

Of the violent dissidents, he commented: "Those people think that more car-bombing, more military activity, is going to bring about the freedom of Ireland, but they're living in cloud cuckoo land.

"They need to recognise and understand that we're in a new situation, and that there cannot be – under any circumstances whatever – any contemplation of going back to the bad old days. People should assist in the apprehension of those who are involved in these deeds."

To those splinter groups who still wage small-scale campaigns of sporadic violence, he said: "My message is that it is a totally futile exercise that runs totally contrary to what the people of Ireland as a whole want.

"Any attempt to plunge us back into the violent days is not going to be supported. Do they really want to see 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers back on the streets?"

The Deputy First Minister gets up at 5.30am each day to drive from his home city of Londonderry to Belfast – a journey he says, with a passing grumble about the state of the motorway, that can take hours.

Then it's attending the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast, chairing and taking part in meetings, signing letters, studying documents, seeing delegations until eight or nine o'clock in the evening. "It's just wall-to-wall meetings from morning to night," he said.

McGuinness has never met David Cameron, though he has met members of the Shadow Cabinet. Gordon Brown, he said, has been through "excruciatingly difficult" times.

In common with other political figures, he reported that there is "huge interest, absolutely amazing interest" in the Irish peace process from further afield, citing visitors from Sri Lanka, the Middle East, the Basque country and elsewhere.

He has travelled twice to Helsinki and once to Baghdad for talks on Iraq. "All we can do is offer our experiences. I tell them that without decisive leadership, it is almost impossible to resolve conflict. We have no delusions of grandeur about our abilities to resolve those conflicts – but if it saves lives, why not negotiate now?"

Could that not apply to Ireland as well? "We have to recognise that, in the final analysis, we got it done," he responded.

The performances of McGuinness and his party's president, Gerry Adams, were both commended in the recent book on the peace process by Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, who spent many hours engrossed in often tense negotiations with them.

Powell wrote: "It was a remarkable act of leadership by Adams and McGuinness to talk the IRA into peace and to persuade them to settle for something far less than they had demanded in 1993." (Of the two, Powell found McGuinness "more human, though we suspected he had more first-hand operational experience".)

The peace process is now at yet another tricky point, since Paisley's replacement in June by the markedly less jovial Peter Robinson. Sinn Fein figures complain that few major governmental decisions have been going their way.

McGuinness is reserved, but not hostile, when talking about his new governmental partner. "I have entered into the relationship with Peter Robinson with a commitment and dedication to make it work," he said.

"I think it's fair to say there have been difficulties, but my assessment is: why would he not want it to work? It's still early days in the leadership of Peter Robinson, but I'm working on the basis that he wants this to succeed. I'm optimistic."

There are grumbles, in the republican grassroots, that the DUP is blocking what Sinn Fein would like to see happening in important areas such as policing and justice, education reform, the status of the Irish language and the future of the old Maze prison.

McGuinness acknowledged that there was a certain amount of restlessness and frustration in the republican community, and added: "I suppose that has been a feature of the process from the very beginning – people are impatient for change, and I think rightly so.

"Nobody could say with their hand on their heart that, at this stage, the institutions have delivered everything that people want. But I think what they want to know is: are they beginning to deliver and is the potential there for delivery?

"All of this is worth nothing if it doesn't make a difference, a real difference."

The power-sharing executive clearly has its stresses and strains: republicans, as ever, want rapid movement on various fronts, while loyalists, as usual, are suspicious of wholesale change. Robinson is certainly in favour of the settlement, but some in his party want to see rather less chuckling and rather more opposition to the republican agenda.

McGuinness is hopeful. "A Rubicon has been crossed by everybody, and the project for me now is to ensure that there can be no going back. This is the only sane and sensible way forward for all of us," he insisted. "This is the best way to break down the old hatreds and divisions."

As a young man, he pursued military victory over his opponents; now, in his late fifties, his talk is of relationships, of negotiation, of mandates, of his belief that violence is futile.

What has he learnt in the course of his controversial, incident-packed career? "Compromises have had to be made: compromise is a dirty word in the course of Irish politics, but people recognise that they had to be made," he said.

"I'll tell you what I've learnt. I've learnt that nothing is impossible – that no matter how things are, if there's a will to find a way through, then a way will be found."

Like I said in the post's title, Spain is not England.

The euphemism is quite easy to understand, England knew that McGuinness was an IRA member, the big bad "T" word was involved, and yet, now he is considered a peace maker.

This is proof that every conflict can be resolved if all parts involved are really and honestly willing to negotiate. That is what is lacking in the ongoing conflict between Spain and Euskal Herria, true and honest will to build a new future without one nation being imprisoned by the other.

One more thing, the members of the Irish diaspora were never reluctant to show their full support for an independent and then unified Ireland, unlike the Basque diaspora, too happy to play along with what Lakua dictates and Madrid approves.

.... ... .

The Media and Otegi

As you may know by now, Arnaldo Otegi has been released from jail. The media all over the world is dedicating some articles about this issue but as usual, they doing little more than to repeat the press release from Madrid.

I'll give you three examples:

Deutsche Welle says: Spain Releases Basque Separatist Otegi From Prison

The New York Times claims: Basque Separatist, Free From Spanish Prison, Backs Talks

And The Herald Tribune: Basque politician freed from prison

Few different words here and there but pretty much this is what all of them say:

A former leader of the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna was released from prison on Saturday, having served a 15-month sentence for glorifying terrorism.

Arnaldo Otegi, 50, was met by dozens of supporters as he left the jail in the northern coastal town of San Sebastian.

"There is an unresolved problem in this country," Otegi told reporters. "I personally consider this problem will only be solved through dialogue and negotiation."

Otegi also said that during the process "all Basque political prisoners must be freed."

While serving his sentence Ortegi reportedly kept a low profile, spending his time learning English and only having rare visits from political figures. Asked what he had planned for the future, he said only, "We'll see."

He was imprisoned following a failed appeal against charges of glorifying terrorism in a speech praising a member of ETA, the Basque separatist group.

Otegi's detention in June 2007 came days after ETA called off a ceasefire with the Spanish government. He is believed to have been a key figure in the resumption of violent attacks against the Spanish state.

Batsuna has been banned since 2003 for refusing to formally sever links with ETA, which has waged a 40-year terror campaign for Basque independence in which 823 people have died.

Absolutely no editorial style that could tell you that you are reading a news paper from Germany, or from England or from the United States, they all parrot whatever Spain says.

And what is the problem?

Well, none of them dares to even question the press release. They are quite happy with switching a few words on the header and that's it.

The truth is, Arnaldo Otegi ended up in jail because he represented the part of the Basque society that honestly backed the most recent attempt at peace negotiations between the political forces in Euskal Herria, Spain and France. His only sin was to trust Zapatero a little bit too much. From the beginning Zapatero showed no desire to see the peace negotiations through, all what he did was to escalate the violent repression against Basque society going to the extent of ordering the ETA delegates to the peace talks arrested, something that violates international agreements.

But Zapatero was not alone in this ill conceived strategy against the peace talks, he had supporters, and I am not talking about Juan Carlos Borbon nor the PP led by Mariano Rajoy, oh no, I am talking about how Ibarretxe and other prominent members of the PNV stalled the peace talks as much as they could for one simple reason: Otegi represents those who want full independence for Euskal Herria (and that includes the seven provinces) while Ibarretexe represents those who want a new political frame of co-dependence between Madrid and the Basque Autonomous Community (meaning only three out of the seven provinces).

They needed an scape goat, and they put Otegi in jail. Strangely enough, unlike they do for Mandela, they do not call Otegi a political prisoner.

By the way, shall I remind the media outlets about the principle called "presumption of innocence"?

Batasuna stands accused of being the political wing of ETA, yet, the banning took place more than five years ago and to date Madrid is yet to present one single piece of evidence to support its accusation, which leads us to a second principle called "expedite trial".

Both principles are being violated and the media keeps quiet about it, in doing so, news paper editors from around the world become apologists of an authoritarian and fascist regime.

And I can not end this post without stating this, with the Afghan and Iraqi civilians death toll approaching the two million people, two wars over oil and gas profits, how dare the USA apply the "terrorist" label to anyone?

Oh, and by the way, Spain has taken part in both wars.

.... ... .

Think Gaur Euskadi 2020

They say it is a long term plan when they know that their political referent (I was going to say ally but that term implies equal conditions) the PSOE is plotting to put Patxi Lopez in Lakua as soon as possible. And the PSOE holds all the cards: Urkullu is an ideological heir to Imaz and we all know just how negative Imaz was for Basque nationalism, the PP is crumbling down and the PNV unleashed the Spanish state's reign of terror on the true nationalist parties (Batasuna, ANV, EHAK).

So, taking those variables into consideration I present to you this article appeared at EITb:

Politics

PNV's event

PNV presents its long-term project

06/15/2008

Under the name 'Think Gaur Euskadi 2020', this project expects to lead Basque society’s future. The Basque Premier has said that the Basque referendum proposal is "of great significance".

Basque Nationalist Party PNV has presented 'Think Gaur Euskadi 2002' project at BEC (Bilbao exhibition Center), which has been set in motion today and ends in December. This project expects to lead Basque society’s future.

The president of the ruling Basque nationalist party PNV Iñigo Urkullu has faced this challenge renouncing neither objectives nor principles and on the basis of the party’s unity.

Mong the questions that PNV members have been able to ask during the event, there have been many references to the referendum that Basque government wants to carry out in October. In this respect, Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe Ibarretxe has assured that his referendum proposal is "of great significance".

Right to decide and Basque people

Ibarretxe has defended that "the right to decide" and "the existence of the Basque people" are "two basis" of "great importance more and more each day" among Basque society.

In his opinion, citizenship observe "with total normality and no dramatics" the fact that they will be questioned and will have to answer those questions". "Political parties are the ones observing with dramatics and nervousness", he added.

.... ... .

Spain Rejects Basque Referendum

Here we are again, witnessing Spain's descent into totalitarianism for refusing to evolve and finally let go of its genocidal colonialist past.

Once again they have rejected a proposal to a referendum in the Basque Autonomous Community depriving part of the Basque society with a chance to express their will regarding their self determination.

I present to you a note regarding this issue published at Earth. com:

Spain rejects Basque referendum on independence
Posted : Tue, 20 May 2008 12:50:04 GMT

Madrid - The Spanish government on Tuesday reiterated its rejection of a Basque plan of a referendum on a self-government bordering on independence, which the Basque regional government is proposing as a solution to the violence of the militant separatist group ETA. Spain could not accept the plan, which did not respect the constitution nor have a wide backing in Basque society, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said after meeting Basque regional Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe in Madrid.

Ibarretxe accused Zapatero of only caring about his Socialist Party's success in the upcoming Basque regional elections, but said he nevertheless believed an agreement to still be possible.

Ibarretxe has announced the referendum for October 25, but even some sectors of his own Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) are against it.

It is expected that the vote would consult the Basques on the future of their region, including a self-government bordering on independence.

There are fears that the vote would lend legimacy to ETA. Spain has expressed willingness to enlarge the Basque region's autonomy in exchange of Ibarretxe abandoning his plan.

ETA has killed about 830 people over four decades. The most recent victim, police officer Juan Manuel Pinuel, died in a car bombing last week.

Just how stupid can Zapatero be?

He says that "Spain could not accept the plan, which did not respect the constitution nor have a wide backing in Basque society". How is it that he knows that the plan does not have a wide backing in Basque society? Wouldn't you need a referendum to find out the backing of any plan by any group?

And how about the recent referendum in Kosovo regarding their independence? It was clearly against the Serbian constitution, yet, it took place.

Oh, and by the way, I would like to ask the people at Earth.com who is counting the victims of the violence generated by the Spanish government, that figure doesn't appear in any of their reports about the Basque Country.

Maybe is time for Ibarretxe to stop betraying the Basque society that really wants independence, is obvious that Madrid is never going to give him any measure of respect.

Note: The Basque Autonomous Community only includes three out of the seven historic Basque provinces.

.... ... .

Three Lehendakaris

EITb brings to us a note regarding a radio show that featured three Basque politicians that have held the job of lehendakari (minister).

Here you have it:

Politics

Over 25 years

Basque PM to make referendum even if no agreement with Zapatero

04/10/2008

Juan José Ibarretxe made that statement in a radio program, in which the three Basque premiers gathered around a table to express their opinions about how Basques have changed over 25 years.

The three Basque Prime Ministers since the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco gathered around a table in a program of the Basque public radio station. Carlos Garaikoetxea, José Antonio Ardanza and Juan José Ibarretxe analyzed how the Basques have changed over 25 years. The main themes were peace, political normalization and the ways to achieve those two points.

The present Basque premier Juan José Ibarretxe reiterated his political offer and criticized those who describe it as “adventure”. “I think time to face the problem has already arrived. We have to make a step forward and break the deadlock in the political situation”, he said.

Ibarretxe pointed out he is ready to make an agreement with the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to know whether he is willing to negotiate or not.

The Basque PM repeated he will fulfil his plan for referendum even if the Spanish PM does not support him.

Ardanza and Garaikoetxea showed they have opposite versions about the necessity to reach an agreement between all the political parties in the Basque Country.

The Basque problem is not a “Basque-Spain” problem; there is a main problem we have not solved yet, and that is that we are not able to agree with each other, because all the Basques are not nationalists. If we are not able to reach an agreement, it will be very difficult to face the problem”, Ardanza said.

Garaikoetxea answered “the Basques have a political problem with Spain. The fact that there is not any agreement between nationalists is the responsibility of Basque armed group ETA”.

That last sentence by Garaikoetxea sums up all what is wrong with the PNV politicians, they use the same lame excuses put forward by Madrid in order to stall a political process aimed at bringing freedom and peace to the Basque people.

.... ... .

"Condemned"

This note was published by EITb:

Politics

Interview with Radio Euskadi

Ibarretxe to Zapatero: "We are condemned to understand each other"

03/13/2008

He thinks 2008 is the year of "breaking of politics deadlock". Therefore, "an important year to achieve peace, political agreements, to coexist between Basque Country and Spain".

Basque Prime Minister, Juan José Ibarretxe, has said that he phoned Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on election night and told him that the agenda was open and after saying they were "condemned to understand each other", he has assured that he believes in a "possible" agreement.

In an interview to the Basque radio station Radio Euskadi, he has declared that they have to "start working" and has emphasized that, in conversations with Zapatero, he told him he was ready for an agreement. "We need, we want an agreement and we think it is possible", he has said.

The Basque premier is convinced that 2008 is the year of the "breaking of politics deadlock". Therefore, "an important year to achieve peace, political agreements, to coexist between Basque Country and Spain, and a year to keep governing".

Ibarretxe has also pointed out that he hopes to take the achieved agreement with the Spanish Primer Minister to Basque Paliament.

Extended hand

Basque Prime Minister has stated in relation to a possible negotiation, that when someone wants to negotiate, he has to show "openness". "Zapatero has been negotiating with the Basque armed group ETA five months ago about Basque people’s right to decide, since if he has been negotiating with ETA why would not he negotiate with the Basque premier", he has pointed out.

Steps

Ibarretxe has pointed out that the first step to carry out in the "political agenda" is political negotiation. He has explained that if a pact cannot be taken to the Parliament, a request will be presented in order to "give Basque society the word to make clear their position about two subjects". Those two aspects would be, on the one hand, to tell ETA that a dialogued process to finish with violence must be opened. On the other hand, to give political parties a mandate, so that in a certain period and before 2010 a "democratic agreement" is achieved.

Oh but they understand each other already, they both work towards one goal, to deprive the Basque people from their right to decide their future. Ibarretxe is all words and not much else as proven by his actions throughout the length of his time as lehendakari of the Basque Autonomous Community. In fact, Ibarretxe enters this period heavily weakened because this time 120,000 Basques decided to take away the support they showed him for the last eight years, eight years in which Ibarretxe allowed Jabier Balza to repress and torture as many Basques as he could in behalf of Jose Maria Aznar and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

.... ... .

Autonomy Is Not Enough

This article was published by Earth Times:

Spain intends to defuse Basque sovereignty plan

Europe World News

Madrid - Spain's re-elected Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will attempt to defuse a looming conflict with the Basque region over its independence strivings by offering it a more limited enlargement of its current autonomy status, the daily El Pais reported Friday. Zapatero's Socialists won a second consecutive term in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Basque regional Prime Minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe announced in 2007 that he would stage a regional referendum in October on the right of the 2.1 million Basques to decide their own future. The options are understood to include a self-government bordering on independence.

Ibarretxe believes that a referendum would help to end Spain's conflict of four decades with the militant Basque separatist group ETA, which has claimed more than 800 lives.

ETA's most recent attack occurred two days before Sunday's elections, when a gunman shot dead a former Socialist councillor in the Basque town of Arrasate.

The Spanish government, however, regards the referendum as illegal and has vowed to block it.

Zapatero's new government, which has not yet been appointed, is now expected to try to defuse Ibarretxe's initiative by offering to enlarge the Basque region's autonomy within the limits imposed by the constitution.

The Basques already have the widest measure of self-government among Spain's 17 regions, with their own police force, the right to raise taxes and to teach their language in schools.

The Zapatero government enlarged the autonomy of six other regions during the previous legislature.

The Socialists, who did not win an absolute majority in Sunday's elections, are hoping to govern with the support of Ibarretxe's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and some other smaller party.

Ibarretxe was not expected to easily relinquish his referendum plan, which he described as remaining valid despite the PNV only taking 6 seats, one less than in 2004, in the Spanish parliament.

The PNV is, however, divided between Ibarretxe's separatist-minded and a more moderate current.

And this is when exactly when the plot thickens. For the last few weeks the European media has been telling us about how Kosovo declared its independence unilaterally after refusing to accept the a more limited enlargement of its autonomy status by Belgrade. Meaning, nations without statehood do not need to accept crumbles of freedom from their occupying powers anymore, and let us remember that Kosovo's independence was immediately recognized by a number of states around the world.

One more thing, the article cites the deaths caused by one side of the conflict but fails to offer a figure of how many Basques have been murdered by Spain (and France).

.... ... .

Lakua Mulls Defeat

As you may know by now, the ruling party in the Basque Autonomous Community was the big loser in the recent electoral process, an electoral process pregnant with repression and deceptive moves by Zapatero's government, an electoral process in which a large portion of the Basque citizenry was left without a valid political option after an Spanish judge banned two political parties from participating in a clear throwback to Francisco Franco's reign of terror.

Well, here you have the mea culpa from the Basque government:

Politics

Basque government

"There haven't been the best results for the tripartite govt."

03/11/2008

There will be an early election in the Basque Country if the Spanish Government says no to dialogue with the Basque Government, the spokeswoman for the Basque Government said.

Spokeswoman for the Basque Government Miren Azkarate said that the Basque Premier Juan José Ibarretxe will call an early election or a referendum if the Spanish Government "says no to dialogue" with the Basque executive.

In a press conference in Vitoria-Gasteiz after the weekly meeting of the Basque Government's councilors, the spokeswoman for the Basque Government Miren Azkarate said the results of the Spanish general election on Sunday were not "the best" results for the three parties in the tripartite government.

Azkarate added that Ibarretxe keeps "his hand held" to dialogue and agreement and says that in case the Spanish Government "says no to dialogue without giving a chance for an agreement", the Basque Parliament will decide "whether to call an early election or to call a referendum to overcome the situation of paralysis".

According to Azkarate, the Basque PM has already got in touch with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to tell him "his agenda is open".

The truth is, their lost comes as a result of their open betrayal against the people they claim to represent.

.... ... .

Social Reference Institutions

This note comes to us via EITb:

Politics

Official visit to California

Basque PM Ibarretxe ask Basque centers to be "social reference"

02/17/2008

In an act celebrated at San Francisco’s Basque Cultural Centre, Basque Prime Minister has declared that in this way, Basque Country will obtain "bigger international recognition".

Basque Prime Minister Juan José Ibarretxe has asked Basque centers abroad to be "social reference institutions" in their environment so that Basque Country will obtain "bigger international recognition wherever it may be".

Ibarretxe, who finishes his visit to California today, has been attending an act at San Francisco’s Basque Cultural Center, where he has been welcomed by directors there, representatives of other Basque communities in US and a large group of Basque people living in this country.

The Basque Premier has thanked "all Basque citizens in US" for their effort "in favour of our country and the expansion of our Basque Culture values".

"Thanks to your efforts, in spite of everything, Basque Country is well considered in the international field", has added Ibarrtexe in a speech given in English.

Actually, the Basque community in the USA unlike the one in Mexico is doing a terrific job at providing an opportunity to the people living in the cities with a Basque organization or club to get to know more about Basque history and culture as a mean to ensure a better understanding of what Euskal Herria is.

But there is areas of opportunity where Basque clubs need to improve, the main issue is the need to create spaces for those who more openly support the right of the Basque people to their self determination.

.... ... .

In Stanford

Despite the mud slinging campaign by Zapatero and one of Aznar's underlings living in the USA, Ibarretxe was able to talk at Stanford University.

The note covering the event was published by EITb:

Politics

Talk in Stanford

The right to decide is the key to the solution-Basque PM Ibarretxe

02/15/2008

During a conference in the U.S. university of Stanford, the Basque PM denounced the reduction of the civil and political rights in the Basque Country and defended the right of the Basques to decide their own future.



Basque Prime Minister Juan José Ibarretxe said the right of the Basque people to decide their own future is the key to the solution of the political conflict in the Basque Country, a right that "inspired the Declaration of Independence of the United States".

In a conference hosted by the U.S. University of Stanford in a crowded auditorium, Ibarretxe talked about the political situation in the Basque Country and explained his route map to find a solution to the political conflict in the Basque Country.

"The recognition of the right of the Basque people to decide their own future and the commitment to exercise this right through agreement and negotiation is the key to the solution", Ibarretxe said.

The Basque PM pointed out that "sometimes the Spanish Government claims that this right to decide divides Basque society." "What really divides Basque society is not to have the right to decide our own future", Ibarretxe added.

Ibarretxe said he was convinced that the "violence of ETA can not be combated by narrowing democracy but by broadening it."

The Basque PM denounced violence could not be used "as an excuse for the indiscriminate reduction of civil and political rights" in a true democracy.

"Unfortunately, Spain has promoted the closure of newspapers and other media and the use of special laws to exclude a part of Basque society from its institutions. This, in the opinion of most of the Basque society, does not bring a solution closer, but makes it more difficult to achieve", Ibarretxe explained.

Despite the controversy surfaced before the visit took place, only about ten people rallied outside the Stanford auditorium to protest against the visit of the Basque PM. The protesters were holding a banner reading "ETA kilss, Ibarretxe negotiates".

Now, if he could convince the members of his PNV political formation we could finally be on the right path.

.... ... .

Basque Victory at Stanford

Bad news to Zapatero and Aznar's undercover operator, they lost the Stanford Battle.

With the support of the big media they were able to gather 5,000 signatures from among 40 million Spaniards while the Basque camp was able to obtain 3,000 signatures from among 3 million Basques, if the percentage was not enough, the winners achieved that amount in one week only while their opponents had a full month to try to expand Spain's posture on freedom of speech.

Here you have the note from The Stanford Daily:

Basque debate continues

Second petition surfaces in support of President Ibarretxe’s arrival

February 13, 2008
By Kamil Dada

In anticipation of Thursday’s visit by the Basque Government president, a maelstrom of international controversy has surfaced. Stanford’s plans to host Juan Jose Ibarretxe has garnered coverage from both U.S. and Spanish media outlets, including the two largest Spanish national newspapers, El Pais and El Mundo.

A petition protesting Ibarretxe’s talk had garnered over 5,000 signatures as of Tuesday. However, within the last two weeks, another petition has emerged in support of the lecture. It has since received over 3,000 signatures.

The second petition calls on Stanford “to disregard the petitions of groups that pretend to obstruct freedom of speech.” It further argues that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The democratically elected president’s visit has led to deep divisions over whether the leader should be allowed to speak on campus in the current format.

Rafael Dobado Gonzalez, a professor of history and economic institutions at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid who signed the first petition, said he wishes that the audience could be offered a contrasting perspective to Ibarretxe’s. He believes that the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the political organization that Ibarretxe belongs to, has given long-standing political support to the terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

“The PNV opposes to any legal and political measure adopted by the Spanish government in order to weaken ETA,” Gonzalez said. “In short, the PNV exploits the existence of ETA and its methods — killing and kidnapping included — as a way to impose its rule on Basque society and to physically exclude non-Basque nationalists.”

Gonzalez cited an example in which the PNV, including Ibarretxe’s vice president, signed a 1998 secret political agreement with ETA “in order to create a new stage in the confrontation with Spain.” According to El Mundo, the PNV agreed “to break all agreement with [other non-nationalist, political parties] whose goal is the destruction of the Basque Country and the building of Spain.” The leaders of the PNV denied this agreement until the ETA published it in the Spanish newspaper, Gara, on Apr. 30, 2000.

Gonzalez added that he believed the talk would be used as a political platform.

“[Ibarretxe] is not an academic trying to search the truth on a certain scientific issue to relevant colleagues,” he said. “He is a politician attempting [to sell] his political merchandise to a distinguished and influential audience without competitors. At the same time, he will sell [his message] in Spain, especially, in the Basque Country that Stanford is receptive to his message.”

But Jeff Wachtel, special assistant to Stanford President John Hennessy, championed free expression and the exchange of ideas.

“While we recognize that there are those who disagree with Mr. Ibarretxe, the principle of free speech and open discourse on this subject takes priority at a university,” Wachtel said. “President Hennessy’s analysis and personal opinion [on] the political issues that have been raised does not have a bearing on this invitation.”

Elisenda Paluzie, an economics scholar in Spain, was one of the people who signed the second petition, which was in support of the lecture.

“[The protesters’] proposal to either cancel the event altogether, or to invite a political challenger to Ibarretxe’s claims is not only ridiculous but it reveals a deeply inquisitorial, dictatorial and anti-democratic vein,” Paluzie said.

She, too, placed an emphasis on the need for free speech.

“This conference also fulfills one of the roles of the university,” Paluzie said. “A place where one listens to different ideas, discusses and debates political, historical, philosophical issues. It is an opportunity for students and scholars to listen to a political leader from a minority people — the Basques.”

Paluzie further explained that for the majority of Spaniards, the existence of different nations, cultures and languages is a problem.

“They would never recognize [the Basques’] right to self-determination, their right to decide, as stated by President Wilson’s Fourteen Points or the U.N. Charter,” she said. “Ibarretxe’s proposal is about giving the voice and the decision to the Basques.”

A number of the organizers and supporters of the petition are planning to protest during the lecture, which will be held at Arrillaga Alumni Center at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

“I want the Americans to know that in Europe the nationalists still have some power,” said Jose Jenaro, a Silicon Valley worker who grew up in the Basque city of Vitoria and plans to protest the talk. “They market themselves as peaceful people, but in reality they control the media, the streets and they terrorize their own people.”

Laura Wilson, chief of police at the Department of Public Safety (DPS), said that the protesters should be aware of what constitutes a legal protest.

“What is not permissible is to disrupt an event to the degree that lawful business, such as the ability of a speaker to speak, cannot be continued,” she said. “If an event is closed to the public or tickets are required, it is illegal to obtain entry and a person may be subject to arrest for trespassing. It is also a violation of law to incite others to riot.”

For security reasons, Wilson was not able to discuss the specifics of the security measures for the Ibarretxe event. However, Nick Brunot, a police services officer from the DPS, pointed out that he had been advising the organizers on how to protest legally.

“We have created a demonstration area for the protest group outside the lecture,” he said, “[in order] to allow them to exercise their first amendment right.”

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