Trapped in the Past

Scotland and Catalunya are two European nations with a strong sense of identity. Both have very long historic legacy. Their respective populations are very similar. And they share one more trait, their respective societies are not settling down for with the info we just enunciated, they want more, they want for their nations to achieve statehood, just like the English and the Spanish states. Then again, that's when they become really different from each other: while London seems to see as democratic "fair play" the possibility that the Scots make an statement regarding their independence in a referendum set for 2010, when it comes to Spain it takes just a consult that involves no more than 7,000 people for all the red lights to go off, something that includes judiciary vetoes and the Phalanx's street violence.

Yes, Madrid has real reasons to worry about. "El País" reminded its readers just yesterday that the polls in the Generalitat showed an increase of six points for those who support independence since 2005. And "La Vanguadia" stated that the street polls show that the support for independence could easily reach 40% if was actually an option on election day. More so, the pro-independence Catalans gathered yesterday in Arenys de Munt constantly shouted in support of Euskal Herria, where the polls throughout the last few years locate the support for independence above 30%, despite the frustrating fact that such option is not something that will be allowed any time soon.

To the self-determination exercise in Arenys the Spanish state answers by dispatching the Phalanx, a political party that has not been outlawed as opposed to those within the abertzale left (Batasuna, ANV, EHAK, D3M), and with a judicial ban directly inherited from the "Spain one, great and free". We have the very same recipes used almost a century ago on plain sight. A period in which the Spanish state has not only been unable to eliminate the pro-independence camp but has also been unable to offer any democratic alternatives.

Madrid is running out of time. The referendum in Arenys de Munt is undeniable proof that the pro-independence Catalans are more that ready to make Catalunya happen, and perhaps quite soon Euskal Herria too.

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No to Catalonian Self Determination

This note was published at Critics and Monsters:

Spanish court blocks vote on Catalonia independence

Barcelona- A court in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region on Thursday blocked one village's planned referendum on independence for the state, judicial sources said. The vote had been called for September 13 by Arenys de Munt, a village of 8,000 near Barcelona. In a preliminary ruling, the Barcelona court accepted the appeal lodged by lawyers representing the Spanish state, who argued that only the state could stage referendums.

The villagers were to be asked whether Catalonia, a wealthy region of more than 6 million residents, should become an independent state within the European Union.

The referendum plan had sparked a national controversy, with the government fearing that it could become a precedent for other similar votes in the country beset with separatist currents.

Catalan top politicians have not followed the example of former Basque prime minister Juan Jose Ibarretxe, whose attempts to call a Basque vote on self-determination were foiled by the Spanish parliament and Constitutional Court.

¿Separatist currents?

Maybe the people at Monsters and Critics should learn about the international treaties protecting the right to self determination of the nations without statehood signed among others by Madrid and Paris.

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In Gazteiz

Pro independence Basque supporters sign a paper whereby the Basque Government is asking the citizen if they want a referendum on the freedom of the Basque Country, during the 29th anniversary of the Basque Statute, in Gazteiz, Euskal Herria, Saturday, Oct.

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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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Sloppy News Coverage

My goodness!

Talk about some sloppy news coverage regarding the current events in Euskal Herria.

I would like for you to start by reading this article published at Monsters & Critics:

Police clash with Basque protesters in northern Spain

Europe News
Sep 14, 2008, 14:46 GMT

Madrid - Police clashed with Basque separatists during a protest march in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian on Sunday, media reports said.

Police fired rubber bullets after some of the marchers pelted the officers with stones, the reports said. Two people were arrested.

The clashes erupted after police tried to stop the march, which was called by an organization seeking an amnesty for jailed members of the Basque separatist movement ETA.

Authorities had earlier banned the march.

On Thursday, Spain's top court ruled that a plan by the Basque regional government to stage a referendum-like vote on the self- determination for the northern region was unconstitutional.

The Basque parliament had approved holding the vote on October 25, but the Spanish government and opposition conservatives lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

Anyone that reads the article would think that all the events described in the article are related when in reality they are two diametrically separated incidents.

The police force mentioned in the first part of the article is the Ertzaintza, the Basque regional police. The Basque regional police acted on orders of an authoritarian individual by the name of Javier Balza who is the mastermind behind a campaign of repression by the government of the Basque Autonomous Community against the part of the Basque society generally associated with the pro-independence left.

Which takes us to the second part of the article, it is that same government of the Basque Autonomous Community the one that got its proposal rejected by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

You get it now? The bully in the first part of the article and the victim in the second part of the article are one and the same, the government of the Basque Autonomous Community.

So, while Madrid supresses the rights of the entire Basque people, some Basque politicians supress the rights of a certain sector of the Basque people.

This is why a peace process is needed, but one in which the international community will make sure that Spain will not resort to its old tricks and that a true disposition to a peaceful resolution of the conflict will be the driving force so once and for all the Basque people can enter the international arena as a free and sovereign nation.

As for the article, Monsters & Critis should know better than to depend on the Spanish Ministry of Propaganda to get its information about what is going on in Euskal Herria.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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"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.

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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).

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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.

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Spain's Fascist Measures Anger Basques

This note appeared at Yahoo News:

Spain hurts ETA but crackdown angers Basques

By Ben HardingMon Mar 3, 8:23 AM ET

The mayor of the Basque town of Hernani is defiant. She will not be voting in Sunday's election because her party has been banned, but she says Spain cannot ignore separatists' calls for independence.

Marian Beitialarrangoitia enraged many Spaniards when she publicly applauded two suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA, who had been accused of bombing Madrid's airport in a 2006 attack that killed two people.

Her views are more extreme than most in Spain's northern Basque Country, but even moderate nationalists here are angered by what they see as bullying by the Socialist government as it struggles to court voters in Spain's heartland ahead of the March 9 poll.

Beitialarrangoitia described her actions, repeatedly broadcast on television in January, as an act of solidarity with men she said were tortured, and who should be innocent until proven guilty.

"You can ban us for centuries, you can persecute and jail people but the ideology of 200,000 people is not going to disappear tomorrow," she said in her office, a few kms inland from the chic resort of San Sebastian.

Pictures of imprisoned members of ETA hang from balconies in the pretty square opposite the town hall where she works.

The status of the Basque Country -- a region of green hills falling to a coastline of coves and inlets near the French border -- is the most venomous issue in Spanish politics.

Many Spaniards believe Basque demands for greater autonomy threaten the nation's unity. Millions have marched across the country to condemn ETA guerrillas, who have killed 821 people over four decades in a violent campaign for independence.

Under fire from the opposition for going soft on ETA, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero launched a crackdown on the guerrillas and their allies after peace talks broke down following the Madrid bombing.

This month, Beitialarrangoitia's Basque Nationalist Action party and another group were banned because of their links to ETA. Strikes were called by the radical left, buses were torched and dozens of people were arrested in the region.

"Why don't they just leave the Basque Country in peace?" said retired Bilbao resident Roberto, who declined to give his last name. "We are more than capable of surviving on our own."

Political football

Zapatero won power in 2004 because of widespread indignation that the conservative Popular Party (PP) government falsely blamed ETA for bomb attacks on Madrid trains in which 191 people were killed. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

Now, Zapatero's government is leading the polls ahead of the PP, which has focused its campaign on the weakening economy and on calls for more controls on immigration. It has also accused Zapatero of talking to ETA and then lying about it.

Zapatero says the PP's criticism is political opportunism and damaging to the creation of a united front against ETA.

If he wins the election by a narrow margin, he may have to strike deals with moderate nationalist parties in the Basque region and nearby Catalonia in order to form a government.

Inigo Urkullu, president of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), says both sides are playing political football with the region, and using ETA's violence as an excuse to avoid the deeper issue of Basque demands for self-determination.

"There is a deliberate effort to confuse ETA's aims with those pursued by democratic Basque nationalism," said Urkullu.

The PNV, which runs the regional government, does not explicitly call for independence but wants Basques to vote in October on whether to start a debate about the status of a region that has its own language, traditions and culture.

Zapatero has said such a vote would be illegal.

"Why is it possible for Kosovo to be independent, or Estonia or Lithuania -- countries the same size as the Basque Country -- and not the Basque Country?" Urkullu said.

The more separatist tone from the PNV in recent years comes as ETA's strength and influence declines.

"ETA have had a bad year operationally ... but in the political sphere they could say 'look, moderate nationalism is adopting our position,"' said journalist Florencio Dominguez.

ETA on its knees

Sources in the security services say ETA or "Euskadi Ta Askatasuna" -- Basque Homeland and Freedom -- has never been so weak.

Hundreds of "etarras" have been arrested in the last decade, reducing most fighters' experience to months rather than years, and a crackdown in France's southwestern Basque country has deprived the group of a base to hide and practice bomb-making.

"A terrorist cannot exist on his own," says Dominguez, who has studied ETA for 30 years and written several books on the group. "He needs a supply of weapons, financing and contact with other members. There are many now who can't even make a bomb."

Despite its vow to "attack on all fronts" after it ended a ceasefire last June, police restricted ETA attacks last year to their lowest level, outside a ceasefire. It is a shadow of the group that killed 234 people between 1978 and 1980.

As attacks have diminished in number and strength, so ETA's ability to intimidate people in the Basque Country has faded, said Pello Salaburu, a former rector at the University of the Basque Country, outside the region's biggest city, Bilbao.

The guerrillas lost much local support after they kidnapped councilor Miguel Angel Blanco in 1997. He was shot dead after two days despite huge protests demanding his safe release.

"Before, there was a very strong sector behind them and another, larger, group of people who didn't disagree with what they were doing, or at least turned a blind eye," said Salaburu.

"This has changed completely," he said. ETA's Marxist brand of nationalism was also increasingly at odds with the wealthier Basque society, he added.

The strength of Basque nationalism and pride in the region's history, language, even genetic differences, should not be confused with an urge to break with Spain, he said.

"If you put the question (to Basques) directly: 'do you want independence?' I believe, with absolute certainty, the answer would be 'no."'

(Additional reporting by Vincent West and Marco Trujillo; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile)

Funny how "reporters" like Ben Harding always stick to the drivel spurted out by Madrid's Propaganda Ministry. They always remind the readers about the death tally by ETA but they never quote the thousands of Basques murdered by Madrid over the last decades. They have no ethics, they are not professionals, they are fakes.

One more proof of this is how Ben Harding dismisses the torture suffered by Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola but right afterwards he states that EHAK and ANV have ties to ETA, something the Spanish High Court is yest to prove, that is why both parties were prevented from the present electoral process but not banned. Innocent until proven guilty.

Regarding Salaburu's last sentence, then why does Madrid opposes a referendum with such venomous attitude? Let the Basques say no to independence, but let THEM say it.

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Role Model?

Kosovo is in the news, and is not all cheers and flag waving anymore.

Here you have an excerpt from an article appeared at Spiegel:

Breakaway Role Model

Separatist Movements Seek Inspiration in Kosovo

By Stephan Orth, Nadine Michel and Maike Jansen

Kosovo is turning out to be a huge source of conflict, both in the Balkans and across Europe. Six EU member states are against recognizing Kosovo's independence, because they fear it could lead to problems with their own ethnic minorities.

It was probably the most important day of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's term in office. After issuing the new country's declaration of independence on Sunday, Thaci announced in the capital, Pristina, that his country is now an official member of the "European family."

But in the excitement of that historic moment, it probably didn't occur to him that it is sometimes a rather moody and divided family. Only a few hours later, Europe's lack of unanimity over recognizing Kosovo revealed what a heterogeneous entity Europe still is.

It also raises the question of whether such a divided Europe will ever be capable of conducting an effective joint common foreign policy. Serbia withdrew its ambassadors from Germany and Austria Wednesday, after Berlin and Vienna recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. Then, on Thursday, Serbian protesters rioted in Belgrade, setting fire to the US Embassy.

While Denmark, Austria, France and Great Britain hold similar positions on Kosovo's independence, the EU countries that have minority conflicts of their own are opposed to Kosovo's secession from Serbia. They fear that their separatist groups could choose to emulate developments in the Balkans.

But what are these conflicts, and why has resolving them proved to be so difficult? SPIEGEL ONLINE profiles six countries that are refusing to toe the EU line.

Spain: The Basques and the Catalans

The Spanish central government in Madrid fears that Basque separatists could see Kosovo's declaration of independence as a precedent and as new fuel for their cause. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Spain was one of the first EU countries to announce that it would not recognize the independence of the small Serbian province.

In early 2008, the Basque terrorist organization ETA announced that it would make its future actions dependent on the situation in Kosovo. ETA's goal is to liberate the Basque region from what it calls Spanish "occupiers" and to establish an independent, socialist Basque nation. It was established in 1959 as a military resistance group against Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who had banned the use of the Basque language and done everything in his power to suppress the Basque minority. There are 3 million Basques today, 2.5 million of them living in the northwest Spanish Basque region and the rest in the southwestern tip of France. The conflict, however, has transpired mainly on Spanish soil.

In 1979, after the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Basques were granted substantial autonomy. But this wasn't enough for ETA, which continues to fight for complete independence using bombings and intimidation campaigns as its preferred tools. The group's struggle has already claimed more than 800 lives.

Another minority group in Spain, the Catalans, also wants more than the autonomous status it was granted in 1978. About 7.2 million people live in the Catalan region in northeast Spain, which has the country's strongest economy. Catalonia has had autonomous status since the 18th century. It wasn't long ago that Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, the head of the Republican Left party and the deputy of regional President Jose Montilla, demanded a referendum on independence by 2014.

But the difference between the Basque country and Catalonia, on the one hand, and Kosovo, on the other, is that these regions, despite their continued efforts to gain independence, already enjoy substantial rights of autonomy.

In Madrid, the government's decision not to recognize Kosovo could also affect domestic politics -- general elections will take place in Spain on March 9.

Continues...

One thing though, Spain's real fear is to finally having to let go of their colonialist past. If Euskal Herria, Catalonia, Galiza and the Canaries are today longing for independence is because the Spaniards have refused to keep up with times. Yesterday it was cool to show to the world that you were able to conquer other nations, today is not so cool, you come across as an aggresive state unable to establish even level relationships with your neighbors.

Now, what is new about this article is the usage of the term "ethnic" never before applied to the Basques. Personally, I don't like it, Euskal Herria is a plural society and you do not need to have a certain DNA composition to be a Basque.

The author also misses the points when he applies the label "separatists" to the Basques. As it happens, today the Basques are separated, they live in three different political entities and two different states. If anything, the Basques are unionists, they all want to live together in the same independent and sovereign country, one that includes the seven provinces today identified as their historic territory. They never willingly joined Spain nor France, so you can not separate anything that was never part of something else by own accord.

Regarding the autonomy, let us remember that the reason why Kosovo declared independence unilaterally was because they did not accept the Serbian offer of more autonomy. So why suddenly it is so bad that the Basques do not want to settle for Spain's offer of autonomy? Remember, what you bestow you are always allowed to take away, so the Basques can not put all their hopes on an autonomy that could be removed by Madrid in the future. Remember, Aznar already threatened with such measure not too long ago.

The article misleads the readers, it tries to tell them that the conflict started when ETA decided to say enough to Franco's crimes in Euskal Herria (Franco's crimes were very similar to those of Milosevic in Kosovo by the way). That is a complete lie, the truth is that the Basques have been fighting to regain their full sovereignty for the last five hundred years.

And by the way, why does the article mentions the deaths caused by ETA but not the ones caused by Franco? Or the ones caused by the KLA/NLA?

Maybe because the violence generated by the UCK was something Washington needed to play it geopolitical games in the region and end up with complete control of the region surrounding their Bondsteel military base?

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Tough Questions

500 hundred years ago Europe plunged into a maelstrom of violence against nations around the world. The colonialist powers deprived others of their sovereignty up and down Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Well, the time has come for those colonialist powers to shed what stops them from being true democratic states, and that can only take place when they finally let go of their remaining colonies.

This is why, surrounding Kosovo's push for independence, tough questions are being asked.

Check out this note appeared at the International Herald Tribune:

Kosovo's looming independence raises question: Why not Scotland or Vermont?

The Associated Press
Friday, February 15, 2008

Sean Connery thinks a Scottish nation is a bonnie notion. How about Spain's Basque country becoming a REAL country? And what's wrong with a People's Republic of Vermont?

Kosovo's looming independence raises all those questions and more. For starters: Why is statehood OK for some people but frowned on for others? After all, isn't the right to self-determination the essence of democracy itself?

There are at least two dozen secessionist movements active in Europe alone, and scores of others agitating for sovereignty around the globe. All of them, experts warn, will be emboldened by Sunday's expected proclamation of the Republic of Kosovo.

"We live in a world which is based around states," said Florian Bieber, a professor of politics and international relations at England's University of Kent.

"The United Nations is based on states. The European Union is based on states," he said. "It's going to continue to happen. New states will emerge, and states will disappear, like East Germany."

Not all independence movements are created equal.

Some are quirky, such as Second Vermont Republic — Thomas Naylor's small but spirited campaign to break off his corner of northern New England and make it a nation.

With his spectacles, bald spot and long white hair, the retired Duke University economics professor looks like Benjamin Franklin and quotes Thomas Jefferson. He believes that if Kosovo can become a country, so can Vermont, which was independent until it joined the Union in 1791 as the 14th state.

Yet Naylor concedes: "It's a tough sell. This is not kid stuff. Secession is a radical act of rebellion driven by anger and fear."

Thousands have died in long-running quests for statehood mounted by the Palestinians in the occupied territories, and by rebels fighting to gain Kashmir's independence from India and Pakistan.

The Basques have achieved sweeping autonomy from Spain, but militants continue to fight for full independence. On the Mediterranean island of Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon, nationalists still set off bombs to press for independence from France.

There are also many strictly nonviolent movements willing to settle for autonomy rather than secession. And sometimes new states are born by mutual consent, such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic — Czechoslovakia until they split in 1993.

Kosovo formally remains part of Serbia, but it's been run by the U.N. since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop Slobodan Milosevic's brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Although the U.S. and key allies including Britain, France and Germany support its bid, Serbia and Russia fiercely oppose it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin insists that if Kosovo gains independence without U.N. approval, it will set a dangerous precedent for secessionists in Chechnya, Georgia, Azerbaijan and further afield.

Trouble is, there's no internationally accepted standard for independence, said Marc Plattner, co-editor of the Washington-based Journal of Democracy, which analyzes movements worldwide.

You can let the people decide, he says, but first you have to decide: Who are the people?

"This is the great hole in democratic theory," Plattner said. "There isn't a sound theoretical or moral answer. One simply looks at the individual case."

Skeptics say the increasing flow of cash, goods and information across national boundaries has taken the shine off statehood.

Others wonder if the already unwieldy EU and U.N. can handle much more. The 27-nation EU already has 23 official languages, and many doubt it could cope if it had to add Albanian and Welsh to the mix.

"At a time when borders are coming down in the EU, freeing up the markets and trade, it makes no sense to put them up here," said Angus MacGregor, an insurance broker in Scotland, whose nationalist minority government is pressing to break away from Britain.

The Scottish National Party has promised to hold a referendum on independence by 2010. Although a vote looks unlikely, it's not for lack of trying.

After 700 years of struggle dating back to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, Scotland's latest "Braveheart" is Connery.

"All of my life experience tells me that an independent Scotland will be successful," the "James Bond" actor said in TV spots aired last year.

Belgium could be the next country to face a big breakup: A nasty rift between Dutch-speaking Flanders to the north and French-speaking southern Wallonia to the south has raised speculation that the kingdom may split in two.

Other movements have been around for decades.

There's the drive to gain independence for Biafra in Nigeria's oil-rich east, and the fringe Puerto Rican Independence Party, still seeking to wrest back the island the U.S. seized in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War.

The United Kingdom looks pretty disunited, too, and not just because of Scotland.

Some in Northern Ireland still advocate unification with Ireland. The Party of Wales wants an independent Welsh state. And in southwestern England, a boisterous secessionist group is trying to carve a country out of Cornwall.

In the U.S., separatist movements advocate independence for Alaska, Texas and the southern states.

And more obscure groups abound.

Ex-Soviet Moldova, just half the size of West Virginia, already has one breakaway republic, Trans-Dniester. But there's also Gagauzia, an autonomous no man's land. Though it doesn't have a prayer of gaining independence, it still sports a flag featuring a snarling red wolf's head.

Other "stateless nations" range from the Veps — people of Baltic Finn extraction in northwestern Russia — to the Sorbs, a Slavonic people who occupy parts of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland.

"One thing's for sure," said Vermont's Naylor. "We didn't start this. We're just continuing the process."

___

Associated Press Writer Ben McConville in Edinburgh, Scotland, contributed to this report.

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