Batasuna and Ibarretxe

Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe (R) smiles during a meeting with representatives of outlawed pro-independence party Batasuna Arnaldo Otegi (C) and Pernando Barrena in Vitoria, Spain April 19, 2006. Ibarretxe finished a round of contacts maintained with political parties to study peace prospects following the declaration of a permanent ceasefire by armed separatists ETA with the meeting. Spain's leading opposition party, the Partido Popular, refused to meet Ibarretxe. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Aberri Eguna in Iruñea

Basques hold up their EHNA (Basque Identification Card) during Basque Day celebrations in Pamplona April 16, 2006. Basque separatists hold the idea of using an alternative ID card different to the Spanish official card. Nationalists celebrated the Aberri Eguna (Day of the Basque Nation) on Easter Sunday, reflecting the movement's Catholic roots and coinciding with Ireland's 1916 'Easter Rising' against English occupation. REUTERS/Pablo Sanchez

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Aberri Eguna in Bilbo

Basque Nationalist Party supporters listen to a speech by regional premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe in Bilbao, Spain April 16, 2006. Nationalists celebrated the Aberri Eguna (Day of the Basque Nation) on Easter Sunday, reflecting the movement's Catholic roots and coinciding with Ireland's 1916 'Easter Rising', against English occupation. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Happy Aberri Eguna!

Gora Euskal Herria Askatuta!

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Reid in Iruñea

Northern Irish priest Alec Reid (L) shakes hands with former Basque premier Carlos Garaikoetxea during the presentation of a proposal to conform a table for peace in the Basque Country in Pamplona, Spain April 15, 2006. Armed separatists ETA declared a permanent ceasefire on March 23. REUTERS/Pablo Sanchez

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Young Basque Artist

A Basque child Laida Elorra paints at the CaixaForum museum in central Barcelona, Spain April 14, 2006. New content is constantly being added to the museum's list of activities. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

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Documentary : Torture Against Basque People

This is the kind of information the Spanish government do not wants you to find about.

Don't miss the chance to watch this documentary that points a finger on Spain's worst public policy, the torture of Basque political prisoners.

Here it is:



It is priceless to see the reaction by the Spanish politicians to the report by Theo Van Boven.

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Five Out of Six

Men whom the Spanish government allege to be members of the Basque separatist group ETA, (L-R) Jose Maria Urquijo Borde, Ernesto Alberdi Elejalde, Asier Arronategui, Juan Carlos Artola Diaz and Felix Salustiano Garcia Rivera speak to the press in a Mexico City jail April 12, 2006. The five men have lost all their legal appeals against extradition to Spain after being arrested almost three years ago on an extradition request by Spain. The five, and one woman who is in another jail, are expected to be extradited within the next month. REUTERS/Alejandro Juarez

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Europe the Ally

Ibarretxe asked of Europe (for whatever that means) to become an ally in the Basque peace process.

We certainly hope that the states and nations of Europe are willing to listen.

Because up until today, besides Ireland and a few other exceptions, the silence has been defeaning.

The note appeared at EITb:

Basque premier asks Europe to be "an ally" in the peace process

The Basque premier, Juan José Ibarretxe, has requested today in the inauguration of the conferences "Europe in the 21st Century," that Europe support and be "an ally" in Euskadi's peace process as well as in the search for political agreements.

Furthermore, he has described as "stubborn" the decision to "withdraw the countries without state" from the Constitutional Treaty and, after affirming that including them in the European project will make it "bigger," he has claimed for the participation of nations without state in the Unions' institution.

Ibarretxe, who has inaugurated the conferences "Europe in the 21st Century: Values, Borders and European Citizenship" at the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, has assured that "in an illusion moment" Euskadi aims at contributing to "Europe and the European project" with the peace in the Basque Country.

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Speed Bumps Ahead

According to Reuters, ETA made it clear that the peace process initiated by their ceasefire declaration will be slow.

ETA says Basque peace process may be long - report

Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:09 PM BST

MADRID (Reuters) - Basque guerrilla group ETA, who announced a permanent cease-fire last month, believe any peace process will be long and tough, according to an internal bulletin quoted by a Basque television station on Tuesday.

The separatist group said it was willing to carry the political process "to the very end" although there would be "ups and downs and moments in which things break down", Basque media group EiTB reported.

ETA, classed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and United States, declared a truce on March 22, raising hopes of an end to the armed group's near four-decade campaign which has killed around 850 people.

The bulletin, which sought to explain the reasons for the cease-fire, said it was aimed at driving a democratic process which would change the political status of the Basque region.

It said it was seeking agreement about the way in which the right to self-determination materialised, the report said.

"If concrete steps and brave decisions are not taken, it will ruin the process (and) it cannot go ahead," the group was quoted as saying.

The government has said it would like to present a plan for negotiations with ETA by the summer if the cease-fire holds.

And well, we all know that the PP and all the other Francoist morons in Spain will make sure to attempt to derail the process at every single chanche they get.

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