The Tour and Euskal Herria

The Tour de France is into its second stage and Lance Armstrong has the yellow jersey on him. He is a great athlete and his story is that of a person that overcomes all kinds of odds and becomes one of the best ever to ride a bike, so far he has three Tour titles under his belt, and he is only two away fro tying the five times record. We can read about it on any sports publication and there is a little coverage about it on the news. What we can not read is about the two fellas that are right behind him, giving him a run for his money. And why is it that nothing is said about these two other competitors?

Well, no one talks about their tiny nation, is taboo in the media to talk about this people unless it serves the purpose of linking them to a terrorist group. Whenever someone from this tiny nation does something great like being on Lance Armstrong's rear wheel on the mountain stage where Lance has no competition, they are called with a different name, the name of the nation that occupies their tiny nation.

At least yesterday they got to see the green, red and white flag of their followers since for a moment, the Tour de France got close to their tiny nation.

Following the step of their conational, the greatest ever cyclist to run the Tour de France, the one and only Mikel Indurain holder of the five times in a row record, this year it is the boys from Gazteiz, the capital city of the Basque Country. Their names? Joseba Beloki and Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (who by the way donned the yellow jersey for most of the first half of the Tour). No bikes have been harmed or killed in their achievement, so we hope there is no need for people to call them dumb for what they are doing. But you can always count on idiots like this one to attack what they don't understand.

This cheer goes to Joseba Beloki and Igor Gonzalez Galdeano, from the team Once Eroski and their achievements so far in the Tour d' France!

.... ... .

The Basques in Mexico

This is a report by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada in Reno about the influx of immigrants from Euskal Herria to Mexico.

Enjoy it:

The Basques in the Mexican Regions: 16th - 20th Centuries

An International Conference

by J. Mallea Olaetxe

On my way to the “Basques in the Mexican Regions” conference held in Mexico, a conference that would examine the role of Basques in that area since the 16th century, my fellow fliers and I experienced a very 20th century fright. As our plane descended, the back wheels had barely touched ground when, unexpectedly, the jet engines roared, and with some alarm, we noticed the nose of the airplane tilt steeply skyward scrambling to gain altitude. For a few tense seconds, not knowing what was happening, the passengers froze. A couple of minutes later we were circling high above the immense Mexican metropolis. Calmly, the captain explained over the intercom that the tower had ordered him back in the air because he was too close to the plane landing ahead of us. Except for this incident, everything else about the trip turned out beautifully.

The conference took place in Jalapa, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, On December 7-9, 1994. Jalapa is an enchanting city nestled in mountainous terrain where the forest is interrupted by grassy fields dotted with dairy cows. The ambience seemed exotic, with noisy tropical birds that awoke us every morning, banana trees,coffee plantations, and rain-forest vegetation. But it did not rain and the weather could not have been better.

Well Represented

There had been thirty-one participants scheduled to attend the first international conference on Basques in Mexico, but actually only twenty-seven papers were read. The scholars came from all over Mexico, Euskadi, and Nevada, and they represented nineteen academic institutions and universities. The conference, organized by the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas (IIH) of the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), was hosted by the Universidad Veracruzana of Jalapa. IIH has received a three-year grant to organize such endeavors. Earlier in 1993 it hosted a symposium in Mexico City in celebration of the bicentennial of the Real Academia Vascongada de los Amigos del País.

The coordinator of the conference, Amaya Garritz Ruíz, is a native of Mexico City. Her parents immigrated from the Basque Country during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. She recently completed coordinating a five-volume bibliographical work-soon to be published-and she is presently embarking on a dictionary of Basques in Mexico.

Only a minority of the scholars from Mexico had previously studied Basque topics. Most speakers knew little about the geography or history of Euskal Herria. For example, some did not know that the Nafarroans were Basque, and one Anglo-Saxon participant of the conference kept referring to the Basques as a Latin group. Nevertheless, the level of informatio presented to the audience was significant. I was surprised at the wealth of documentation available in Mexican archives that many students of Basque would like to get their hands on.

Everyone agreed that in the past, Mexican history had not distinguished sufficiently the various groups of Peninsulares (immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula). There was a consensus to foster cooperation among the academic institutions interested in studying such regional subjects.

According to the documentation presented, most Basques-and other groups from Spain-emigrated for the following reasons:

1. They had a relative in Mexico. 2. They sought to better their lives. 3. They came to Mexico with jobs, such as public offices in government, the military, and in the church.

Summary of the Discussions

Most speakers dealt with highlights of prominent Basque figures, officials, businessmen, merchants, etc. The issue of nobility was an attention-grabber among the Mexican scholars at the conference. Indeed, nobility involved more than a title or mere social status; it often entailed economic benefits that well-connected individuals expected to receive from their association with the powerful. In general, all Basques claimed noble status, which permitted them to secure jobs in the Hapsburg and Bourbon bureacracies. A number of them worked as accountants, while a privileged few were employed by the secretive Holy Office. It all started when the Bizkaian Juan Zumarraga, the first bishop and inquisitor of Mexico, surrounded himself with compatriots.

Nobles were supposed to lead exemplary lives, even on their death beds. Before dying they often instituted trust funds or left donations for various altruistic purposes in Mexico and in their hometowns in Europe.

Another aspect that was made fairly clear at the conference was the tendency of Basques to associate themselves with compatriots, to marry other Basques, and thus establish an oligarchy. But in most cases, these affinities did not last forever, as intermarriages, economic or political adversities took their toll, chipping away at ethnic values.

A considerable number of immigrants reaching prominence came from Araba and from Bizkaia’s Enkarterri region. Few in either group spoke euskara. Many young men came from Nafarroa. Near the turn of the century, people from the valley of Baztan monopolized bread baking in Mexico City. One individual alone owned over eighty bakeries. These people often returned to their hometowns to marry local women.

There were a good number of Basque entrepreneurs in most Mexican regions. The Castaños-Agirre consortium, both from Bizkaia, owned ships, cloth factories, and haciendas in Tepic. In northwest Mexico, near the U.S. border, Maiz and F. Armendariz ran extensive ranching activities in the 1910 decade. From 1795 to 1810 in Valladolid, Michoac n, there were more than two hundred Basques involved in the church, government, commerce, ranching, mines, and sugar factories. Juan Basagoiti was perhaps the most prominent personality among them. In Morelos and Cuernavaca, Basques owned sugar factories. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Pátzcuaro witnessed a heavy Basque presence. Some of the Basques there were public officials and others were mining operators of merchants trading with the Orient via Acapulco. In 1785 the organization Amigos del País counted sixteen members in Pátzcuaro, and two years later nine out of ten city councilmen were Basques.

Of course land has always attracted all sorts of immigrants, including Basques. Some accumulated huge tracts. In the early part of the eighteenth century, Joaquín Fermín Echauri of Nafarroa established a mayorazgo (land entailment) in Guadalajara, which included over 360,000 acres. But it paled in comparison with the territories controlled or claimed by Francisco Urdi¤ola, governor of Nueva Vizcaya, in the El Parral area.

Naturally, the lives of the better-known Basque figures in Mexican history, such as Bishop Zumarraga, Francisco Ibarra, etc. were also dealt with at the conference. In each case, ethnicity was perceived as a factor that influenced their activities. The great Zumarraga demonstrated nepotistic tendencies as well. He was the author of one of the oldest documents in euskara, and the motivation behind it is pivotal to understanding his life. In 1537 he wrote a letter to a distant relative in Durango, Bizkaia, his hometown. The letter was fairly long and most of it was written in Castilian. However, about four hundred words are in euskara, where he explained that on his behalf and secretly, some Basque shipmasters were smuggling money into Durango. He did not want any Castilian official to understand these matters in case the letter fell into their hands.

Most immigrants did not return to Europe, but a good number sent money to their relatives regularly. If the amounts were large, the transactions were usually made through banks in London, France, or even Cuba.

A Void

Cultural aspects were almost totally absent from the conference presentations, and this void was deeply felt. Only one speaker mentioned euskara at all. (Sadly, the participant scheduled to talk about Bishop Zumarraga’s letter in the vernacular did not attend the conference). It is clear that the role played by euskara was not as important in Mexico as in the American West.

Two groups received very little attention: women and less-successful Basque immigrants. In part, this was due to the fact that the participant scheduled to discuss Basque women in Mexico did not show up. At least one researcher made it known that she was investigating women-related topics. Mexico City may very well be a good choice for conducting such a study, for it is home to the incomparable Colegio de las Vizcaínas, a school for Basque women. The school is, no doubt, a symbol of what women represent in Basque society. The huge palatial building was inaugurated in 1767 and it is still open for business. Currently, the Colegio is collecting and compiling a Basque library.

During my last day in Mexico I was introduced to yet another aspect of Basque culture in the world. Through the agencies of the Bizkaian Jon Larrucdea, I stayed at the Hotel El Salvador, located a short walk away from El Colegio de las Vizca¡nas. The owner of the hotel, Manolo Ojeda, from Concejo de Llanez (Asturias, Spain), told me that in his hometown people speak xiriga, which is a dialect sprinkled with Basque words. I was intrigued. I vaguely remembered reading about this phenomenon in one of Julio Caro Baroja’s books, but I had never met anyone who actually spoke xiriga.

Here is a short list of the words that Mr. Ojeda graciously shared with me, with the Basque equivalents in bold:

Chacurro/a, zakur = dog (male/female)
Bai, bai = yes
Xagardua, sagardo = apple cider
Araguia, aragi = meat
Oreta, ur = water
Urdiz, urdai = bacon
Belarda, belarri = ear
Idia/idion, idi = oxen (normal size/large)
Uzquia, eguzki = sun (in xiriga means hot weather)
Racha, arrats = late afternoon (in xiriga, night)

I asked Mr. Ojeda if he had any clues regarding the origin of xiriga, but he did not volunteer an answer. I believe Caro Baroja attributed such euskara exports to groups of traveling Basque stone masons and craftsmen that in past centuries obtained contracts in different parts of Spain.

Closing Thoughts

So, generally speaking, how do Mexican scholars view the Basques? For some, they constituted the elite; others believed that the Basques in Mexico comprised a powerful group, marked by influential figures, such as Zumarraga. However, what struck me the most was an assessment put forth by several colleagues. They stated that the Extremadurans had conquered Mexico for Castile, but the Basques had freed it. They were referring to Mexico’s war of independence from Spain in which leaders with Basque surnames appeared in disproportionately high numbers.

The participants of the conference acknowledged that we need to share research methodologies. One obvious example was the lack of consensus in the transcription of so many Basque names that are still misspelled, or spelled differently.

Everyone agreed that the conference was a success and that it should serve as a stepping stone for future seminars. It will certainly advance the quality and quantity of Basque studies around the world.

.... ... .

José Antonio Aguirre's Bio III

You may be thinking that I forgot all about the third part of the Lehendakari Aguirre's bio.

Well, you may be right, but hey, better late than never.

Here you have it:

Jose Antonio Aguirre y Lekube

A Basque Professor at Columbia University

by Prof. Gorka Aulestia, University of Deusto

In America

The Basques owe a great debt to that blessed continent! Venezuela accepted Agirre’s family, a Panamanian consul saved his life, and a North American consul waited for him in the port to offer him a permanent resident visa in New York, plus a position at Columbia University as a professor of contemporary history. The lehendakari continued his journey, and when he arrived in Uruguay he could at last declare his true identity (on October 9, 1941) and leave “Alvarez Lastra” behind forever.

Professor and Lecturer in the USA

In December of 1941, the Agirre-Zabala family left Uruguay and headed for New York where they were received as honored guests by huge crowds of people. This simple man, symbol of a small defeated nation, spoke next to the Statue of Liberty, head held high, “in the name of man whom God created to be free and not a slave.” The Basques of New York congregated at the mythical Valentín Agirre’s restaurant Jai-Alai, and later 1,500 Americans gathered by the American Committee of the Nobel Prize in the Astoria Hotel listened with feeling to the words of the Basque fighter: “We do not want to die. We do not have to die. A people does not die except by its own ignominy.”

In New York Agirre gave classes at Columbia and prepared his book Escape Via Berlin, published in May 1942. He also wrote an unfinished History of the Basque Country, 520 typewritten pages with 120 more in longhand. In his courses he spoke of democracy, freedom, justice, peace and tolerance. He focused especially on a new European political order based on freedom, a precursor of the Common Market and the idea of Christian democracy. He energetically unmasked the European mega-nations that trod upon the rights of the smaller nations. Agirre was a man of peace, a fervent admirer of Ghandi, who was forced by circumstances beyond his control to take up arms in an unjust and unequal war.

The Basque Diaspora

The Basque diaspora was one of Agirre’s main priorities. From his New York apartment or his exiled government base in Paris, he was like a shepherd tending his flock. He made repeated visits to the most important Basque communities throughout the American continent, trying to mobilize and organize the scattered community. He was well received everywhere and could always count on the support of democratic circles in South America. His hope and optimism were summed up in his famous phrase: “Next year, at home.”

At the Centro Vasco in Buenos Aires the old Basque liberties echoed. “We will not quit until the Tree of Gernika casts a shadow on free land.” In the Laurak Bat society of Montevideo he inaugurated the Día del Euskera, or Day of the Basque Language, while demanding that Basques unite. In Chile he presided over the First International Conference on Christian Democracy in Latin America and took part in the Día del Euskera, speaking Basque, of course.

The Return to Europe

In 1946 Agirre returned to Europe for good. In Paris he participated in the creation of the International League of Friends of the Basques. It attracted more than 50,000 members including churchmen (Cardinals Verdìer and Griffin), politicians (E. Herriot, M. Shumann, G. Bidault), and writers (F. Mauriac, J. Maritain).

In 1949 he took part in the European Congress in Brussels in the capacity of honorary Vice-President along with his friend A. de Gasperi and Winston Churchill, honorary presidents of that meeting.

The year 1959 was one of the worst for Agirre, for the French forced the Basque government to relinquish its space on Marceau Avenue, accusing them of buying it with money taken from Spain. Once more the lehendakari turned to the American communities with whose help he was able to buy a house to live in. He expressed his sadness: “How few understand us!” But he continued the fight with the same hope and enthusiasm.

The First Worldwide Basque Conference

The first Worldwide Basque Conference began in September, 1956. Agirre opened the conference with a memorable speech that examined his twenty years in the Basque Government (one year in power and nineteen in exile). He humbly recognized his mistakes and his failures, one of which he felt was not being able to stop Franco from entering international organizations. The following year he could no longer contain his sadness, and he exclaimed, “The strongest reason supporting the regime that oppresses the people of the peninsula is the bayonet, and the dollars that the North Americans give him [Franco].”

His Death

From that time on Agirre continued to live with dignity, but he felt deceived and politically abandoned by the treason of the Allies. Once more, force proved superior to reason. Jose Antonio Agirre y Lekube, first lehendakaria of Euskadi, died on March 22, 1960 of a heart attack. The news of his death was a great blow to Basques and democratic friends around the world. His body was shipped from Paris to Donibane Lohitzun where it spent a night in the Monzón house. He was buried on March 28 after a funeral mass at the Donibane parish church. In spite of warnings and prohibitions by Franco’s government, all levels of Basque society gathered there to bid farewell to a great ambassador of Basque values, a great fighter who was dignified in the face of defeat, a loyal friend whose only adversaries were enemies of liberty.

More than 30 years have passed and yet Agirre’s absence is still felt within the Basque nationalist family. Lehendakari, Joseba Andoni, Goian Bego!

.... ... .

Nafarroa Behera

Nafarroa Beherea (or Behe-Nafarroa) is a province of Euskal Herria located in Iparralde. The province is bordered by Lapurdi to the NW, the Landas to the N, Zuberoa to the SE and Nafarroa to the S.

Along with Nafarroa, it was once ruled by the Kings of Navarre. Nafarroa Behera was historically part of the kingdom of Navarre. Its capital cities were Donibane Garazi and Donapaleu in Basque. In the extreme north there was the little sovereign principality of Bidache.

Its extent is of 1,284 sq.km., and has a decreasing population.

Although this denomination is not completely correct from the historical point of view, it is also known as Merindad de Ultrapuertos ("the regions beyond the mountain passes") by the southerners, and Deça-ports ("this side of the mountain passes") by the gascon-speakers.

Geography

Nafarroa Behera is a collection of valleys in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The Aldudes valley, around the town of Baigorri in the south of Nafarroa Behera, preserves many old traditions, with houses of pink sandstone and contests of Force Basque, the games of strength. The Irulegi (Irouléguy) wines are produced in the are around the town of Irulegi.

The river Errobi rises in Nafarroa Behera and flows through the province and on to Baiona, where it meets the Aturri. Beyond Donibane Garazi itself, the Errobi enters the Ortzaitze valley, with many beautiful old houses with carved lintels in the villages of Ortzaitzae Irizarri and Bidarrai. A reserve for the pottok, the wild Basque Pyrennean pony, in the valley conserves this rare breed.

North of Doninabe Garazi is the Mixe region around the town of Donapaleu, a former Navarrese capital. Although close to Béarn, Basque influence and traditions are strong. Lower Navarrese is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the region. Just south of Donapaleu, the three principal routes to Santiago de Compostela on the Way of St James met at the hamlet of Izura Azme, bringing much wealth and trade to the area in medieval times.

The Way of St James headed south from Donibane Garazi towards the mountain pass above Orreaga. Pilgrims travelled across the Cixe region of Nafarroa Behera on their way to Nafarroa across the mountains. In these rolling hills, ewes' milk cheese, pur brebis, is commonly made, including Istara (Ossau-Iraty) cheese. Villages like Ezterenzubi and Lekunberri are popular for agro-tourism and the Irati beech forest on the border with Hegoalde is known for its views and history. Dolmens and other neolithic monuments dot the landscape, including the Tour d'Urculu high in the mountains at 1,149m—a 2,000-year-old circular platform of huge stone blocks.

So now you have basic information about the provinces of Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Lapurdi, Nafarroa and Nafarroa Behera. There is only one more to go, Zuberoa.

.... ... .

Wales and Euskal Herria

The Guardian published this article that reflects the lessons that can be shared between the Basques and the Welsh:

Basque in glory

Wales has much to learn from successes of the Basque country , writes the Plaid Cymru president, Ieuan Wyn Jones

Thursday June 13 2002 10:53 BST

My visit to the Basque country came 20 years after its people had secured a high degree of autonomy within the Spanish state. In the early 1980s they established a parliament with legislative powers, they had the ability to raise their own taxes and expectations were high that self-government would restore their confidence as a nation.

I wanted to gauge the extent to which those expectations had been met. They must have been doing something right; the nationalist parties have been in power for all this period. I was also visiting at an important time in the Welsh electoral calendar, 12 months before the next election to the Welsh assembly.

Currently, the Basque government is run by a coalition of three parties, with the nationalist PNV being the senior partner. Their partners are the EA, a smaller nationalist party and an even smaller left wing/green group. I also wanted to see how the nationalist parties worked in government, how coalition government worked and what tensions existed after the Spanish parties - the PP and socialists - made a massive effort to unseat them in the 2001 elections.

The Basques seem to be at ease with their identity, and the confidence they exude as a nation is everywhere. They know exactly who they are, and are proud of the fact that Franco's terrible regime failed to extinguish their sense of nationhood or their love of their language. And there is very little support for violence or terrorism. The vast majority of Basques see constitutional politics as the only way forward.

Their self-belief and confidence is best exemplified by their audacious - and ultimately successful - bid to secure a new Guggenheim museum. The magnificent Frank O. Gehry building in the heart of Bilbao is a 21st-century architectural icon, and attracts visitors from all over the world. Bilbao, once a city in decline following the collapse of its shipbuilding industry, is now a modern, prosperous city which regularly appears on the must-see lists of wealthy tourists.

In 20 years of autonomy, the Basques have seen their economy grow to being the most successful in the Spanish state. The current growth rate of 5.3% compares favourably with any country in Europe, twice the UK rate, and almost four times as much as Wales. The Welsh are falling behind the rest of the UK, while the Basques are striding way ahead the rest of Spain.

The Basques' success is based on sound economics, and this has enabled them to improve their public services. I was particularly impressed with their commitment to education. We have a lot to learn from them in the strategic and focused way their system of education and training meets the needs of their growing economy.

When the Basque parliament was first established, the Basque language faced the same crisis as that which faces the Welsh language today. About 25% of the Basques spoke their language then, a figure which compares to the 20% who speak Welsh. They also faced a similar situation, in that Basque speakers were largely concentrated in parts of the country. In Wales, most areas where Welsh is spoken by a majority of the population are in the north and west of our country.

But the Basques have made determined efforts, largely through education, to substantially increase the number of Basque speakers. They have made significant progress, and some people we spoke to said that up to 50% of the population has some grasp of the language. This is extraordinary, given that the language was banned during the Franco period.

There are clear differences between Wales and the Basque country, and it would be foolish to think that what they have done could be slavishly replicated in Wales. But one lesson that I took away from my visit was that we have to raise our game in Wales.

The first term of the national assembly in Cardiff Bay has been characterised by awful timidity, caution and petty squabbling. No wonder people think it is a glorified county council, under the current Labour-led coalition it acts like one. Wales deserves better than this.

With leadership, a bit of audacity, clear vision, determination and strategic thought, Wales' fortunes can be turned round. But we have to think big. I want a Plaid Cymru government in the national assembly to give the people of Wales a reason to be proud of our nation, and to improve our flagging economic fortunes.

Although we could not replicate precise policy initiatives, we can match the Basque's spirit and confidence. Wales can and must replicate their success.

.... ... .

José Antonio Aguirre's Bio II

As promised, here you have the second installment on José Antonio Aguirre's bio:

Jose Antonio Aguirre y Lekube

A Basque Professor at Columbia University

by Prof. Gorka Aulestia, University of Deusto

Mayor and Parliamentarian

Jose Antonio followed those events with concern but with optimism for the future. He was at the time mayor of Getxo. He missed no occasion to speak publicly. He wanted young Basques to be studious. He spoke to workers of their rights. He tried to make women see their role in the future of Euskadi.

Primo de Rivera’s Spanish dictatorship finally fell in January of 1930. On the morning of April 14, 1931, Eibar proclaimed the Spanish Republic and our young mayor of Getxo did the same hours later in the name of his party.

Agirre was a born organizer. Within the PNV, almost continually in conflict, he stanched wounds and united personal wills. On July 14, 1931, the Cortes Constituyentes (Constituent Courts) were formed and Agirre took part as a parliamentarian within the small Basque minority group.

Those were convulsive years during which religion was offended even in the Cortes. The Basques were insulted and jeered, their language euskara was mocked, and little by little what started out as a breath of liberating air became a disappointment for Agirre and many Basques. Faced with parliamentarians of more advanced years armed with science, like Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, Besteiro, Alcala Zamora, Azaña, Prieto, and Gil Robles, 27-year-old Agirre broke the mold of the two irreconcilable Spains by speaking of a New Spain of autonomous nations. He declared himself Catholic and nationalist, and developed a reputation as an able parliamentary negotiator.

But in response to his political demands, the Republic sent the Guardia Civil to break up the meeting between parliamentarians and Basques beneath the Tree of Gernika. In 1932 the Jesuits were expelled from Spain, as were the Jews and the Moors centuries before, thereby incurring more disfavor. Jose Antonio opposed Madrid in this matter.

On the personal level, Agirre married on July 8, 1933 in the Basilica of Begoña. With his wife María Zabala, he had three children, Aintzane, Joseba, and Iñaki, born in Bilbao, Paris, and New York respectively.

Agirre’s health deteriorated greatly during 1932 and 1933, so much so that on July 4, 1933 he stepped down as mayor of Getxo. In 1934, in spite of his parliamentary immunity, he was imprisoned at Larriñaga, but he was not cowed by the experience. His people beaten, slandered, persecuted, and imprisoned, the young representative began to demand the Statute [of Autonomy] and to speak of Euskadi’s aspirations for sovereignty. In 1935 he spoke in euskara before an international forum at a Conference on Nationalities in Geneva. That same year he published his book Entre la libertad y la revolución in which he told of his political experiences during the five years of the Spanish Republic.

The Civil War

The Spanish Civil War broke out on July 18, 1936. Agirre acquitted himself well during the conflict. On October 1, 1936 the Spanish Cortes approved the Basque Country’s Statute of Autonomy. On October 7 Agirre offered his life to the service of Euskadi in the Basilica of Begoña, and in Gernika he was elected President of the Basque Autonomous Government, with three-quarters of his territory in the hands of Franco’s troops.

The new lehendakari and his government, composed of a group of young politicians, were obliged to take on three dangerous and nearly impossible tasks: maintaining resistance in an unevenly matched war; being the leaders of all Basques with a multicolor government that did not skimp in its efforts or sacrifices to unite all the Basque political forces; and organizing a small nation with its own army, passports, and money.

The war was lost, and thus began the exile and exodus of more than 150,000 Basques. The lehendakari was forced to flee Euskadi in July of 1937, only one year into the war. He would never set foot on his native soil again. From Trucios, the last little village in Bizkaia, Agirre wrote these heartfelt lines full of confidence and hope: “The territory may have been conquered; but the soul of the Basque People has not; nor will it ever be.”

In Exile

An enormous task awaited Agirre in France. He had to organize the Basques in exile, regroup families, create children’s colonies, maintain contact with the Basque diaspora, escape the Gestapo and assure his own survival. The Gestapo had arrested his friend Companys, president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, in France, to send him to Spain to be executed in Barcelona. On May 8, 1940, Agirre moved from France to Belgium. There he found his mother who had been fined 3 million pesetas by the Franco authorities. Two days later Hitler’s troops invaded the Low Countries and surprised the lehendakari in Belgium. Misfortune piled upon misfortune, and his sister Encarna was killed in the Nazi bombing of La Panne. The Falangists of the Spanish consulate rubbed their hands in anticipation of capturing a big fish, the president of the Basques. Thus began the great odyssey described by Agirre in his book Escape Via Berlin, a chronicle of his fight for freedom. In it he says, “Our entire history is nothing but our people's most constant, persistent struggle for freedom.”

From the beginning of the Second World War (October 1939) Agirre urged free Basques to support the Allied cause. “We are fighters in this war.” He was the best symbol of a man fighting for freedom. He crossed the German front lines and hid in the Jesuit school St. Francis Xavier in Brussels. When the Gestapo began to register the convents in Brussels, he fled to Antwerp. Thanks to a false passport provided by the Panamanian consul, Agirre became “Dr. Alvarez Lastra,” citizen of Panama, completing his transformation with eyeglasses and a beautiful moustache. Later, he decided the best way to throw the Gestapo off his track was to hide in the wolf’s den, so he traveled to Berlin on January 7, 1941, and lived close by the Chancellery of the Reich for more than four months. After being reunited with his family, he managed to travel to Sweden on April 30.

New problems awaited “Alvarez” in the Swedish port of Göteborg because there were not enough ships leaving for America to accommodate all the people fleeing the war and the Nazi concentration camps. At last, after revealing his true identity to the Swedish customs officer, he obtained four tickets for passage on the Brazilian cargo ship Vasaholm that sailed on July 31, 1941. It arrived in Río de Janeiro on August 27.

.... ... .

Back To Franco's Times

In this article published by The Guardian you will learn about the authoritarian measures that the Spanish government is implementing in its attempt to suffocate the Basque right to self determination. Counting with the complicity of the PSOE (after all, they are grateful Felipe Gonzalez was spared from facing a court of law for creating and deploying the state sponsored terrorist group GAL) the ruling party PP has been able to pass a new "Law of Political Parties", a law that allows the Spanish government to ban any political party that goes against their designs.

Here you have it:

Spanish MPs vote to ban pro-Eta party

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Guardian

Thursday June 6, 2002

The radical Basque political party Batasuna, which is seen as the Basque equivalent of Sinn Fein and wins up to 200,000 votes, was on the road to being banned yesterday after the Spanish lower house overwhelmingly backed a controversial bill controlling political parties.

The bill, tailor-made to ban Batasuna, was the personal project of the conservative Popular party prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, who won the backing of the Socialist opposition. It is expected to get final approval by the senate later this month.

Both parties accused Batasuna, whose representation in the 75-seat Basque regional parliament fell from 14 to seven last year, of acting as a front for the armed separatist group Eta.

The party historically takes 10-20% of the Basque vote. It boycotted the last general election to the Spanish parliament, where it had two deputies. It also has one euro MP.

The law, carried by 304 to 16, was criticised by moderate Basque nationalists and by the Basque bishops council. The bishops of Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria said at the weekend that it would bring increased confrontation.

Mr Aznar accused them of "serious moral and intellectual perversion". The Papal Nuncio in Madrid was called in by the foreign minister, Josep Pique, yesterday to be told of the government's "disgust and unease".

Mr Aznar congratulated parliament on backing the law. "It was a properly democratic expression of support and something indispensable in the fight against terrorism," he said.

But Basque nationalists and the hard left accused him of further dividing the Basques and said the law would help push radicals into clandestine activity. "This just adds fuel to the fire," Luis Carlos Rejon of the communist-led United Left party said.

Josu Erkoreka, of the moderate Basque Nationalist party, said: "A democracy that distinguishes between first-class, second-class and third- class democrats has a one-way ticket to nowhere."

Batasuna denies that it is part of Eta, and that it takes orders from the group, fighting for an independent state made up of four Spanish provinces and part of south-west France.

"Batasuna will keep on working because it has good proposals that will bring solutions," one of its regional deputies, Jone Goirzelaia, said.

Batasuna's leaders routinely refuse to condemn Eta killings and, occasionally, openly express sympathy for the organisation: for example, Eta prisoners receive homage at the party's rallies.

"The armed fight of Eta is not an attempt to impose ideas but to defend the legitimate rights of the Basque people," another deputy, Jon Salaberria, told the regional assembly in Vitoria recently.

An attempt to prosecute its leader, Arnaldo Otegi, in Madrid for allegedly shouting his support for Eta during a rally in France failed this week.

But Mr Otegi has been banned from France, where Batasuna and a number of other Basque groups have bases.

In recent years the Basque radicals' daily newspaper, Egin, has been closed and its youth wing, Segi, and prisoners support group, Gestoras Pro Amnistia, declared illegal.

The bill will enable parliament to ask a special court of 16 senior supreme court judges to ban the party for giving "tacit" support to terrorism, "fomenting civil confrontation", "paying homage" to terrorists or having too many ex-terrorists on its electoral lists.

The Basque regional parliament, of which Mr Aznar's Popular party failed to win control in last year's elections, says it will refuse to kick out the Batasuna deputies, who have already changed their official name to Socialist Nationalists.

"It would take tanks," its president, Juan Mari Atutxa of the Basque Nationalists, said.

Another bill is being prepared to withdraw public funds from parties which refuse to back municipal council or regional assembly motions condemning terrorism.

Now, the author Giles Tremlett needs to learn about a principle in law called "presumption of innocence". Aznar and his underlings are accusing Batasuna of being ETA's political wing, therefore, it is the Spanish government the one that has to prove it, until then, Batasuna is innocent of any charges.

The measures taken by Spain against the Basques amount to what can be compared to the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

.... ... .

José Antonio Aguirre's Bio I

This is the first part of the bio on one of the most iconic characters in Basque history, the Lehendakari of the Basque Republic (1936-1937) José Antonio Aguirre.

You can find it at the web site for the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada in Reno.

Here it is:

Jose Antonio Aguirre y Lekube

A Basque Professor at Columbia University

by Prof. Gorka Aulestia, University of Deusto

It is not an easy task to describe perhaps the most charismatic of all the Basque nationalist politicians born in this century. I am speaking of Jose Antonio Agirre, standard-bearer and implementer of the political plans of his teacher and guide, Sabino Arana. Both were born in Bilbao (Bizkaia), both studied in the same school in Orduña, and both made a great effort to learn Basque. They were both in Larriñaga prison and in exile, and they both filled glorious pages in the history and culture of Euskal Herria. This article is about Agirre, who had so much in common with his hero.

His Childhood

Agirre was born, on March 6, 1904, in Bilbao one hundred days after Arana, the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party, died in Sukarrieta (Bizkaia). He was the oldest of ten children. His parents, Teodoro and Bernardina, were Gipuzkoan. His father, a lawyer, was born in Bergara and his mother in Mutriku. Jose Antonio was baptized in Santos Juanes (Bilbao). From earliest childhood he attended the first Bilbao ikastola located in the Plaza Nueva. He spent a great deal of time in Bergara where he improved his Basque and was a soprano in the acolyte choir of the parish church of San Pedro. Later he studied music and the violin. His love of music would last all his life.

His Studies

Agirre attended high school with the Jesuit Fathers in Orduña where he forgot almost all of his Basque, but with perseverance he recovered it later. His father died in 1920 when Jose Antonio was finishing high school, and he promised his pregnant mother that he would be a father to his ten siblings, a promise he kept throughout his life.

In 1925 he earned his degree in Law at the University of Deusto, and in 1926 he fulfilled his military service in the Garellano Regiment. Jose Antonio was not a brilliant student, but he did well enough in the subjects that interested him. However he stood out because of his human qualities and his love of sports, especially soccer. He played inside right for Athletic of Bilbao and helped the team become the champions of Spain.

When his studies ended he had to give up his sports activities and went to work as an attorney for the family-owned factory, Chocolates Bilbainos, where he made a name for himself because of his concern for the workers. He introduced a series of social and salary reforms in the workplace.

A Man of Commitment

Working for a factory was not what Agirre wanted to do with his life, however, and he opened a law office in Bilbao where he dealt with labor problems, union matters, and political questions. A devout Christian, he combined this work with responsibilities as president of the Catholic Action Group of Bizkaia and director of a study group in Las Arenas. He was one of the founders of AVASC (Agrupación Vasca de Acción Social Cristiana: Basque Group for Christian Social Action). Through this group he met men who were important to Basque culture and nationalism, such as “Aitzol” and Alberto Onaindia. He also took part in the creation of the Basque cultural societies Elai-Alai, Saski-Naski, Euskerea, and Txistulari.

Along with Jesús María Leizaola who would later become his right hand man, he entered politics, affiliating himself with the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party). He soon had a reputation as a likeable man of integrity, simplicity and responsibility and as a convincing orator.

Those were difficult years for democracy in Europe. The Nazi movement was advancing in Hitler’s Germany, and Benito Mussolini ruled as a tyrant after 1922. In Euskal Herria life was hard under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) who rejected Basque nationalism and the statutory dreams of the Basque people.

.... ... .

A Vegetarian Basque Recipe

Here you have your first Basque recipe at this blog:

Cherries in Red Wine Soup
Source: Burt Wolf's Local Flavors, San Sebastian

Serves 6

Basque-native Gerald Hirigoyen is executive chef and owner of the restaurants Fringale and Pastis in San Francisco.

2 1/2 cups dry red wine
1/2 cup port
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2 star anise
Zest of 1/2 lemon, cut with a lemon Zester into long thin spirals, or finely julienned
Zest of 1/2 orange, cut with a lemon Zester into long thin spirals, or finely julienned
2 cloves
2 pounds black cherries, freshly pitted (or unsweetened frozen)

Combine all of the ingredients except the black cherries in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cherries and cook for 2 minutes longer.

Remove from the heat.

Remove and discard the vanilla bean. A garnish is not necessary; however, a dollop of crème fraîche or a small scoop of ice cream would be a nice accompaniment.

Bon Appetit!

.... ... .

Nafarroa

We are back in Hegoalde after stops in Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Lapurdi. It is time we learn about Nafarroa. 

 

Nafarroa is the largest province of Euskal Herria.

  

History 

 

During the time of the Roman Empire, the territory of the province was inhabited by the Vascones, a pre-Roman tribe who peopled the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. The Vascones managed to maintain their separate Basque language and traditions even under the Roman rule. The area was never fully subjugated either by the Visigoths or by the Arabs. In 778, the Basques defeated a Frankish army in the Battle of Orreaga (Roncevaux Pass.) Two generations later, in 824, the chieftain Eneko Arista was chosen King of Pamplona, laying a foundation for the later Kingdom of Navarre. That kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of Santxo III of Navarre and covered the area of the present-day Euskal Herria and Errioxa (La Rioja), together with parts of modern Kantabria (Cantabria), Castile and León, and Aragoia (Aragon). After Santxo III died, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided between his sons and never fully recovered its importance. The army of Nafarroa fought beside other Christian Iberian kingdoms in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, after which the Muslim presence of more than 800 years on the Iberian Peninsula were slowly reduced to a small territory in the south. In 1515, the bulk of Nafarroa below the Pyrenees—Upper Nafarroa—was at last defeated after a long war against Castile and Aragon but retained some rights specific to it. The small portion of Nafarroa lying north of the Pyrenees—Lower Nafarroa—later came under French rule when its Huguenot sovereign became King Henri IV of France; with the declaration of the French Republic and execution of Louis XVI, the last King of France and Navarre, the kingdom was merged into a unitary French state.  

 

Community and geography 

 

Situated in the northeast of the Iberian peninsula, Nafarroa is bordered by Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa to the north, Aragón to the east, La Rioja to the southwest, Gipuzkoa and Araba to the west. The territory includes an enclave, Petilla de Aragón, which is completely surrounded by Aragón. It is made up of 272 municipalities and of its total population approximately one-third live in the capital, Iruñea, and one-half in the capital’s metropolitan area. There are no other large municipalities in the region. The next largest are Tudela , Barañain, Burlada, Lizarra, Zizurkil, Tafalla, Atarrabia, and Ansoain. Despite its relatively small size, Nafarroa features stark contrasts in geography, from the Pyrenees mountain range that dominates the territory to the plains of the Ebro river valley in the south.  

 

Climate 

 

The climate of Nafarroa mixes influences from the Pyrenees mountains and Ebro river valley, creating a great difference between the climates of the north (much more humid and with frequent rainfall) and of the south (more Mediterranean with higher temperatures and more sporadic precipitation). One can pass from the humid Cantabrian valleys in the north to the arid, steppe-like Bardenas Reales on the banks of the Ebro river in just a few kilometers. Cultural heritage Nafarroa is a mixture of its ancient Basque tradition and culture with Mediterranean influences coming from the Ebro. The Ebro valley is amenable to wheat, vegetables, wine, and even olive trees as in Aragon and La Rioja. It was a part of the Roman Empire, and in the Middle Ages it became the taifa kingdom of Tudela. In the Middle Ages, Iruñea was a crossroads for Gascons from beyond the Pyrenees and Romance speakers. 

 

Culture 

 

Euskera (Basque) is the official language in Nafarroa, together with Spanish which was imposed through violent means to the indigenous population. The north-western part of the community is largely Basque-speaking while the southern part is almost completely Spanish-speaking. The capital Iruñea is in the mixed region. Nafarroa therefore is divided into three parts linguistically: regions where Basque is widespread (the Basque-speaking area), regions where Basque is present (the mixed region), and regions where Basque is absent (the Spanish-speaking area), a real tragedy for it means the original culture has been wiped out by the invaders. Since Nafarroa was an independent state in Europe for over 800 years the excuse presented by some scholars insisting that there was never an independent Basque state is not only preposterous but a lie designed to deny the Basque people its right to self determination. 

 

 

 

 

.... ... .