Mark Hill : Basque Nationalism and Cycling II

Here you have the first chapter of Mark Hill's article published at the Daily Peloton called "The Spokes of Nationalism":

Chapter 1: Nationalism, industrialisation, modernity and cycle sport to 1936

The Establishment of Basque Nationalism 1895-1932

In order to link the development of cycle sport with early Basque nationalism, it is necessary to briefly account for the historical development of the nationalist movement founded by Sabino Arana-Goiri in 1895. Catalan and Basque nationalisms were historically based on periods of uniqueness in culture and language, although after the hegemonic rise of Castile in the late Fifteenth Century, regional autonomy was eroded via political federation and centralisation to Castile.1 The beginning of the Nineteenth Century exposed Spain to liberalism through the Napoleonic Wars and the revived European Romantic movement. Nationalism was partly inspired by this exposure, as historical and cultural myths were reawakened across Europe.2 By the 1890’s, Spain’s belated industrialisation, mostly concentrated in the Basque Country and Catalunya, facilitated the base for popular nationalism and cultural linguistic revivalism, encouraged by regional economic and ethnic concerns.3

Genuine Basque nationalism initially developed during the 1890’s in the Vizcaya province and spread to the other provinces.4 This process was gradual, as during these industrialising years the Basque Country remained largely rural with industry and modernity only affecting the large cities. Furthermore, the region’s deep Roman Catholic religious nature and historical attachment to Carlism seemed paradoxical to the modern philosophy of nationalism. However, the mythical history and unique linguistic tongue of the region, combined with religiosity and notions of purity of race, became the basis for a strident nationalism, reinforced by claims to ancient rights embodied in the fueros.5 These ancient laws and privileges (varying province to province, but including exemption from military service and duty taxes) were recognised by Castile from the Eleventh Century, but were abolished after the Second Carlist War 1873-74.6

The definition of modern Basque nationalism was established in 1895 through the work of Arana. He created a working nationalism, reviving the myths, history, language and claims of racial superiority based upon the fueros notion of a separate nation from Spain. Arana’s ideas drew little initial interest, but the industrialising process brought an influx of immigrants and with them alien ideals such as socialism, trade unionism and anti-clericalism, all of which were considered by Arana a threat to Basque culture and ethnicity. Arana’s claims that the fueros represented a Basque past of moral superiority and of a mythical democracy were exaggerated, as they served the purposes of Castile equally well. Furthermore, there was never a unified Basque Country.7 The basis for Basque nationalism (other than race, which was later discredited by most) was language (Euskera or Euskara). Arana effectively revived Euskera. Previously it had declined dramatically, lacking literary history and was not easily adapted to modern language structures.8 A fact which, conversely further reinforced Basque distinctiveness and today’s debates amongst linguistic experts as to its origins.

Nationalism was more obvious in the form of xenophobia directed at the immigrant workers, especially in 1890’s Vizcaya. In 1890 Arana produced his first work Vizcaya por su Independecia. By 1895 the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV) was established as a political movement. The early PNV was predominated by social, cultural and folklore aspects and appealed to traditionalists threatened by liberalism, socialism and Castile’s ‘immorality’.9 Arana believed that the region had enjoyed a pre-industrial Arcadia and immigration had destroyed this. Beyond this Arana and the early PNV lacked a coherent political programme.10

PNV electoral success occurred in 1896. Five PNV were elected in Bilbao’s municipal elections and in 1898, Arana was elected to the Provincial Council of Vizcaya. The PNV suffered from its Carlist middle class background and from a lack of viable candidates, but crucially it lacked industrial support until 1898. Then the Euskalerico business group led by Ramón de la Sota, a shipping industrialist, merged with the PNV boosting its financial support. This event was the first seed, which would later create the social, political and economic basis upon which Basque cycle sport would find commercial sponsorship and ultimately a nationalist embodiment in the form of equipo Euskadi.

The industrial business sector had grown rapidly to this point and resented the cacique structure dominated by the Chavarri landowners. The PNV was seen as an ideal party machine to challenge this monopoly. Business conservatives were also becoming concerned at PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrera Español) successes in Bilbao in 1899. The El Correo Vasco daily was launched that year and in the municipal elections eight PNV candidates were returned in Bilbao. Across Vizcaya more councillors were elected for the first time, prompting government repression of the right to publication and assembly.11

In 1902, Arana was jailed for his views on Cuban nationalism. Released in 1903, he moderated his autonomy goal, hoping this would allow the PNV to function, but in 1903 Arana died (38 years old). His successor Angel de Zabala remained radical but was forced to share power with de la Sota, until a split proved inevitable on the election of a new national committee in 1906, headed by Luis Arana, president of the PNV; continuing the orthodox doctrine. Any hopes of Cortes success for the business sector were blocked and 1907 saw the effective split of the PNV. The PNV Assembly at Elgoibar (1908) marked a win for the moderate autonomy programme, aiming for Foral restoration and not separatism. The criteria for Basque identity also moderated, no longer requiring two Basque parental names. De la Sota became president in 1909 and supported the protectionist policies of the conservative Prime Minister, Maura.12 Efforts were made to combat socialist influence in the shipyards, hence a Catholic trade union was established on PNV lines (1911), supported by the nationalist employers; SOV (Solidaridad de Obreros Vascos).13

The First World War brought enormous profits to the Basque Country. The industrial base was ideal and the ending of competition until 1918 benefited the supply and internal markets. Liberal attempts to impose a war profits tax marked a unified response between Basque and Catalan nationalists. De la Sota resisted the taxation of the Minister of Economy, Santiago Alba and proved the effective nature of conservative alliance. Consequently, the PNV polled well in both the provincial and national elections of 1917. PNV policy seemed justified in 1918 with the election of 7 deputies to the Cortes.14 The First World War period also increased the internal divides between the Aranistas of Luis and the Sotistas. De la Sota supported the Allies with whom his enterprise had business dealings, whilst Luis favoured the Germans. Religious unity prevented serious fracture, but by 1921 Luis formed an extremist breakaway movement. This group became the orthodox Aranistas.15

The anti-regionalist policies of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930) effectively pushed nationalist activity underground. Illegality conversely encouraged unity with the result that by the fall of the dictatorship in 1930, the movement reunited at the Vergara Conference (November 1930), behind an orthodox ideology influenced by the failure of the bourgeois alliance to deliver autonomy from its central government colleagues. Solidity was still not clear, however, as a new breakaway group formed, the ANV (Acción Nacionalista Vasca). Their programme was non-confessional, with an urban middle class complexion attempting to adapt nationalism to urban society, without the old Aranista racism. The ANV’s main objective was to establish an Euskadi as a centralised state, not just a federation of provinces with Foral rights.16

The 1931 collapse of the monarchy did not witness PNV participation in the San Sabastian Pact of the Republicans and Catalan nationalists, but the potential for autonomy was recognised. The new younger leadership were more united. The PNV formed an electoral slate with the Carlists and the conservative Roman Catholics with success in the April 1931 municipal elections. In June a meeting at Estalla drafted an autonomy statute whilst parliamentary elections returned 14 PNV/Carlist alliance candidates to the Cortes. The Republican Left initially feared the reactionary complexion of the PNV with its religious affiliations, yet much of the decision upon how to approach this was decided by the Carlist and Roman Catholic rejection of secularist elements in the Republican Constitution of 1931.

Navarra had long enjoyed a privileged position within the Spanish State and was different to the other provinces. Separated geographically by mountains and with a less industrialised, more rural, pro-Carlist and Roman Catholic population, Navarra thus remained outside of the Euskadi grouping in 1932.17 This historical event has subsequently fuelled the nationalist sporting debate between the modern Madrid based press and Basque nationalists, as to whether the legendary Miguel Indurain is a Basque, a Spaniard or indeed a Navarran.

Industrialisation, Modernity and Cycling

The emergence of Vizcayan industrialisation began in the 1860’s, but by 1900, the Basque industrial centres, extensively port towns and cities, benefited from Western European demands for non-phosphoric ores, which were used in the Bessemer process. The industries that developed extensively by the turn of the century, were predominantly based around the supply of iron-ore and steel production, in addition to other metallurgical industries (especially in Bilbao) and associated industries such as shipping.18 The Basque Country and Catalunya developed as Spain’s only true examples of modernity in an industrialising Europe, most of the rest of Spain being predominantly agricultural. Basque concentration on heavy industries set it apart from Catalunya which was comparatively more merchant trade based at the turn of the century.19

The very nature of Basque industrialisation was entirely compatible with the emergence of cycle sport. Steel related industries provided the raw materials, whilst cycling itself was seen as symbolic of modernity in an era pre-dating the car. Politically, national claims to modernity were significant in turn of the century Europe, particularly in terms of sport. Interestingly, Russia and Spain have been popularly perceived to be examples of economic backwardness in industrial terms, compared to Britain, Belgium, France and Germany, but both Russia and Spain as nation states promoted national cycling teams as symbols of national superiority. Czarist Russia was keen to build national cycle teams capable of winning Olympic medals at the games of 1908 and 1912, having already won a major European cycling title in 1898.20

It would be misleading to suggest that cycling was the only sport with a nationalist agenda, but only cycling was perceived as exclusively symbolic of national modernity. In France, cycling was the only sport capable of national unification after the ruptures of the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906), so providing the impetus for the establishment of the Tour de France in 1903.21 Consequently, Spain and more specifically the Basque Country became the centre of modern sport in Iberia. The extent of cycle sport in the Basque Country was revealed by the establishment of numerous local races and regional races in the early Twentieth Century, amongst them the Tour of the Basque Country founded in 1924, pre-dating the establishment of the Vuelta a España in 1935.22

Table 1: Establishment of National Cycle Federations

(Source: Spanish Cycle Federation ‘Federe Ciclismo’ and Tribal Identities p167)

USA Britain Germany Russia Italy Spain
1878 1880 1884 1884 1894 1902

The above table demonstrates well the link between industrialisation and the establishment of national cycling federations. In all cases industrialisation had begun to some extent at least in the major cities or in specific regions, as in the Spanish, Russian and Italian examples and in general the dates of establishment reflect the national order of industrial development. However, the establishment of the Spanish federation does not entirely reflect the penetration of the sport in the Basque Country. By 1920, the number of cycle clubs in the region was disproportionate to that in Spain as a whole. This reflected the industrial and infrastructure development of the Basque Country with respect to communications and furthermore, the external links with other European nations brought about by trade. Before the outbreak of Civil War in 1936, three regional cycling federations were already established in the Basque Country.23

Cycle Sport, Capitalism, Early Nationalism to Franco

Lenin once remarked that, "a nation cannot be strong, unless it is strong in sports".24 However, the ideals and motivations of Arana and later the nationalist Basque business leaders, such as de la Sota, were far from revolutionary. War profits accrued from Spain’s neutrality during World War One, lasted until a deep post war economic and social crisis took hold in 1920, undermining the support for the bourgeois wing of the PNV.25 Between 1918 and December 1920, the PNV electoral successes were reversed with only one candidate re-elected to the Cortes. PNV attempts to present an autonomy statute for Alava, Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa were disrupted in the Cortes between January and April 1919. On 14 April 1919 the Cortes was dissolved. Problematically for the movement, economic crisis forced the prioritisation of business before nationalism.26

The creation and co-ordination of mountaineering, women’s’ groups and other cultural societies was largely the work of the orthodox section led by Luis Arana. General Primo de Rivera’s 1923 military coup and its subsequent suppression of regionalist claims ensured that the role of cultural and especially sporting sections of the PNV, would become a core element of clandestine nationalist survival. Cycling clubs, although not popularly cited as PNV organisations, inevitably played their role as a continued base for nationalist discourse and organisation, without being repressed by the regime. The non-suppression of Basque cycle tours and races is best demonstrated by the establishment of the Tour of the Basque Country, just one year into Primo’s dictatorship (1924). Conversely, Franco later recognised the nationalist potential of a race demarcating ‘Euskadi’, preventing its re-establishment at the end of the Spanish Civil War until 1969.27

The nationalist potential of the Tour of the Basque Country, was in the first place well realised by its organisers, the Excelsior newspaper. Previously, the Tour de France known in France as ‘La Grande Boucle’ (the big loop), had been established by Henri Desgranges in 1903, as an indirect result of the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906), which divided significant sections of the population into Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards. When the cycling newspaper Le Velo published a pro-Dreyfus article, its main financial backer, the bicycle builder Baron de Dion, pulled out and started a rival paper, L’Auto Velo. Its editor, Desgranges organised the Tour de France to generate support for the paper, whilst hoping that a race looping all of the French ‘departments’, would unify the French through a sporting event into one national identity.28 Similarly, the establishment of the Giro d’Italia in 1908 by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, was in part motivated by the very national sporting challenge represented by the French Tour.29 Thus, the owners of Excelsior claimed that the Tour of the Basque Country would rival both the Giro and the Tour, projecting a nationalist challenge to the French and Italians, but equally demonstrating cycling’s popularity in the region.

Ironically, Excelsior was bankrupted by a printing strike in 1930, after which only one more edition of the race occurred prior to the outbreak of Civil War on 18 July 1936. The hopes of the Vuelta a España, established in 1935 during the Second Republic’s last full year, to unite Spain’s regions and dissolve political polarisation, as had been the intent of the French Tour, was thus dashed. Conversely, the outbreak of Civil War itself confirmed Spanish international status as a cycling nation when British Labour organisations co-operated in an international cycle ride from Glasgow to Barcelona during 1936, to raise awareness against the insurgent Fascist threat and funds for the Republican war effort. The same year, the British Labour newspaper The Clarion, authorised its cycle club to pledge funds to the Spanish Medical Aid Committee, the National Youth Food-ship Committee and the International Brigade, which a number of its members subsequently joined.30 However, the Republic’s defeat ultimately stalled any regional nationalism and seriously curtailed the overt partisan nature of regional sports clubs, as Franco attempted to impose Spanish nationalism and thwart regional expression and culture. In the spring of 1941, Franco, the sports fanatic, revived the Vuelta, undoubtedly precisely because of its Spanish nationalist potential.31

Footnotes:

1. J. Harrison, "The Regenerationist Movement in Spain After the Disaster of 1898", European Studies Review, vol 9, Number 1, January 1979. p2
2. B. Anderson, Imagined Communities, London, Verso, 1983.
3. S.G. Payne, "Catalan and Basque Nationalism", Journal of Contemporary History, Vol 6, No 1, 1971. p16
4. Heiberg, Making of the Basque Nation. p11
5. S.G. Payne, Basque Nationalism, University of Nevada Press, USA, 1975. p5
6. Ibid. p5
7. J. Sullivan, ETA and Basque Nationalism: The Fight for Euskadi 1890-1986, Routledge, London and New York, 1988. p3
8. Heiberg, The Making of the Basque Nation. p50
9. Ibid. p7
10. R. Carr, Modern Spain, Opus, OUP, Hong-Kong, 1980. p68
11. Sullivan, ETA and Basque Nationalism. pp7-8
12. Heiberg, The Making of the Basque Nation. p66
13. Ibid. p71
14. Carr, Modern Spain. p69
15. Sullivan, ETA and Basque Nationalism. p11
16. Payne, Basque Nationalism. p131
17. Sullivan, ETA and Basque Nationalism. p12
18. J. Harrison, "Big Business and the Rise of Basque Nationalism", European Studies Review, no 7, 1977. p372
19. Payne, "Catalan and Basque Nationalism".p23
20. Mangan, Tribal Identities. p173
21. Ibid. p42
22.Euskadi Cycle Team Foundation information booklet, 1996.p2
23. Ibid. p61
24. S.G. Jones, The European Workers’ Sports Movement", European History Quarterly, vol 18, 1988.p6
25. "Big Business and the Rise of Basque Nationalism".p379
26. Ibid. p386
27. Cycle Sport, UK, May 1995.p72
28. Mangan, Tribal Identities.p46
29. J. Evans, The Guiness Book of Cycling Facts and Feats, Guiness Publishing & IPC Magazines, 1996. London. p49
30. S. Jones, "European Workers’ Sports Movement". p21
31. Federe Ciclismo,Vuelta information leaflet. 1994

Here you have the link to the introduction of this article.

.... ... .

Mark Hill : Basque Nationalism and Cycling I

Honestly, the last thing you expect to find at a sports web page is a deep essay about an issue, any issue.

Well, I was gladly surprised when a dear friend of mine directed me to this essay (is way more than an article) by Mark Hill published at the Daily Peloton called "The Spokes of Nationalism". By reading eat you will learn about little known facts regarding Basque nationalism, you will learn about that thrilling sport called cycling and you will find out when those two worlds meet in Euskal Herria.

Like I said, the essay is quite complete and thorough, so I will present it to you in subsequent deliveries, here you have the first one:

The Spokes of Nationalism

Mark A. Hill

The introduction and first chapter of The Spokes of Nationalism were published on the original The Daily Peloton, and by popular demand, Mark's entire essay series is now available here.

The Daily Peloton thanks Mark for providing this excellent study.

University of London – Queen Mary & Westfield College Department of History

Note to readers:

The following text is the introductory section of an initial study of the connexions between Basque nationalism and cycling. It is by no means definitive and focuses on road racing only. This study is currently being expanded upon and updated by the author.

I feel that the hypothesis set out here is valid and that events since 1996, where this particular study ends, have continued to demonstrate the Basque passion for cycling. The evolution of Equipo Euskaltel-Euskadi is an obvious example, as is the continued predominance of Basque cyclists in the Spanish peloton.

Since completing this first study I have collected much more primary source information. The intention is to produce a more in depth chapter focusing on events since Indurain’s retirement. I would welcome any comments and contributions from interested parties, which will be appropriately credited.

The History & Importance of Cycle Sport to the Assertion of the Basque National Identity

(A study of nationalism in sport).

Introduction

In recent years the historical and political study of sport has received increased attention with respect to its role in Twentieth Century culture and particularly with regards to its use and adoption as a nationalist tool.1 This study is an exploratory analysis of the historical development of cycle sport in the Basque Country (defined as Euskadi in the Basque language) and primarily aims to reveal links between the sport and the Basque nationalist movement, from the 1890’s to the 1990’s.

The Basque population is concentrated in the four provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, Alava and Navarra. Across the Spanish-French national border, three smaller ‘departments’, with significant Basque populations also exist, however, this study will concentrate on the Basque provinces within the Spanish state boundary. Nationalism in the Basque Country embodies all major elements of its definition, expression through traditional cultural means, historical claims, ethnic exclusivity, myth, religion, national boundary and crucially language. The historical development of Basque nationalism is reflected in all these factors at different points in its history. Nonetheless, it is necessary to explain how and why cycle sport developed in the Basque Country, into a mass participation phenomenon in performance and support terms and to account for its transformation into a means of nationalist expression, in opposition to the Spanish State.2

This study is designed to demonstrate this through its chronological chapters. Chapter one encompasses the historical development of Basque nationalism in relation to industrialisation and emerging Basque nationalist capitalism 1895 to 1936.3 The early divide of Basque nationalism into ‘orthodox’ and ‘moderate’ factions is discussed. The chapter places cycle sport within historical context by identifying initially its value as a symbol of modernity and then by demonstrating its early potential as a vehicle for nationalist organisation and mobilisation.4 Chapter two examines cycle sport during General Franco’s dictatorship. Here Franco’s suppression of the Basque national identity is discussed. Observation is made of the manner in which Franco identified the value of sport for nationalist purposes during his regime’s transitions. This chapter will demonstrate that Basque nationalism was not effectively crushed, noting the 1960’s emergence of the Basque terrorist separatist organisation ETA (Euskadi ta’ Askatasuna), whilst showing that sports and cultural bodies were crucial to the maintenance of a nationalist dialogue. Chapter three examines, largely through primary sources, the unique nature in which cycle sport and moderate nationalist capitalism has served to promote and assert Basque national identity, often in conflict with Castillian Spanish nationalism.

Cycling is the second most popular sport in Spain, rivalling football, in terms of financial input, television coverage, fan base, club numbers and national heroes. During the 1996 edition of the Spanish equivalent of the Tour de France - the Vuelta a España, on each day of the three week race, two in five of the available television audience for day time ‘live’ TV tuned in to coverage of the race; a figure of six million.5 The regional popularity of the sport is well demonstrated by the existence of over 290 clubs in the Basque Country alone, for a population of 3 million:6 compared to only 62 clubs in Wales with its similar population.7

Curiously, cycling has received little attention from authors interested in Spanish history and political development. Football has been discussed by both Raymond Carr and Paul Preston, in terms of the dictator General Francisco Franco’s development of a nationalist, "Spain, united, free and great" (1939-75).8 Franco was ardently passionate about sports, even participating in the national football pools (quiniela) every week.9 In 1988, D.R Shaw’s University of London Phd thesis, "The political instrumentalisation of football in Francoist Spain, 1939-75", included a chapter on football and regionalism, in which the nationalist significance of other sports was considered again without mention of cycling.10 As the first study of cycle sport and nationalism, this study seeks to address this oversight and to prove that cycle sport is inextricably linked to the Basque nationalist cause.

Since the death of Franco in 1975, Basque cyclists have been at the top of international cycle sport. The established the Tour de France in 1903, was intended to unify the French people under one patriotic identity after the Dreyfus affair. By contrast in Spain, cycle sport sets the Basques apart.11 Whilst ETA have attacked international cycling events in the Basque Country and across the French border (most notably during the 1992 Tour de France when British Channel 4 vehicles were blown up in San Sabastian),12 to highlight their separatist cause internationally. The moderate methods of the business sector, have used the sport to promote the region and nationalist politics in a more subtle fashion. Culminating in the 1992 establishment of the unique ‘Euskadi’ cycle team. Its team colours until 1996 were that of the Basque flag (Ikurriñ a), demonstrating symbolically the sense of national unity, status and pride that underlines Basque cycle sport.13

Designed by Arana (and based on his liking of the British Union Flag), the distinctive red, white and green flag has become a potent symbol of Basque nationalism in sport. This is particularly so in cycle sport, as demonstrated by Miguel Indurain’s fanatical fans between 1991 and 1996 and more recently during the 2001 Tour de France during Roberto Laiseka's emphatic stage win at Luz Ardiden.

Footnotes:
1. J.A. Mangan, Tribal Identities: Nationalism, Europe, Sport, Frank Cass, London. 1996. p1
2. J. Breuilly, Nationalism and the State, Manchester University Press, GB, 1993. p373
3. Heiberg, Making of the Basque Nation, CUP, GB, 1989. P49
4. José Luis de la Granja Sainz, El Nacionalisimo Vasco: Un Siglo de Historia, Madrid, 1995. p145
5. Marca, Spanish national sports daily newspaper, 19 September, 1996.
6. Cycle Sport, November, IPC Magazines, UK, 1995. p50
7. Marianne Heiberg, The Making of the Basque Nation, CUP, GB, 1989. p90
8. P. Preston, Franco, Fontana, London, 1995. p700
9. D.R. Shaw, unpublished Phd thesis, University of London, 1988.
10. Mangan, Tribal Identities. p42
11. Marca, July 1992.
12. Cycle Sport, IPC, UK, November 1995. p50

.... ... .

The US Basque Petition

Sometimes I wish I could deliver a speech as efective as the one that Mel Gibson utters in the movie "Braveheart", I can only wish.

For the last couple of years I have been working with a dedicated group of Basques and all kinds of other people friendly to the Basque dream of self determination, it has been an unforgettable experience, for the longest time I thought I was alone, I thought the only one that saw that were there is a will there is a way and my will was to find ways to end the violence that has engulfed so many generations of Basques and give my people a chance to be known around the world, to be understood. All we want is to be what we are, to contribute to the greatness of humankind as what we are, Basques.

Finally I met the right people, folks that reject violence in all its forms, folks willing to give peace a chance. We are now working on the finishing touches of an organization that will work with the media and other human rights organizations to present to them and to the international community what the Basque nation is all about, without the curtain of missinformation, bias and ethnic hatrage in which our identity is maipulated and denied.

Is a giant task, but no one said it was going to be easy, on our side are the statutes of many international treaties that protect the rights of any people to their self determination, on our side is also the Basque commitment to democracy and the will to find a peaceful way to end Spain and France's occupation of our land.

Here is the first step, a petition to the US State Department to look into the situation and broker a meeting to resolve the so called Basque issue, please, if is in your heart, go to the site and sign the petition, some of you already did and I will be forever grateful to you.

The US Basque Petition

.... ... .

Brokering a Ceasefire

If there is something that defines the Basque spirit is their commitment to democracy and their will to negotiate. After the Basque independentist victory at the polls last Sunday, here is a note of the good things that come up from defeating fascism with votes, read on:

IRA truce priest helps broker Eta ceasefire
By Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid
(Filed: 29/05/2003)

An Irish Roman Catholic priest has been summoned to Spain by Basque nationalists to negotiate a ceasefire between the Spanish government and the separatist terrorist group Eta.

Fr Alec Reid, who helped to broker the IRA ceasefire, flew to Spain after local elections there last weekend.

The Spanish conservative newspaper ABC said he was trying to forge a consensus among Eta, its banned political wing, Batasuna, and the mainstream Basque Nationalist Party, which governs the region. If successful, he is expected to mediate between the Basques and the Madrid government in an attempt to bring about an Eta ceasefire.

Fr Reid is reported to believe that Eta could call a halt to terror attacks if the authorities agree to go further towards independence than the current plan to hold a referendum on establishing a Basque "free state associated with Spain".

The presence of a "meddling priest" has irritated many Spanish politicians, who see no similarities between the Basque region and Northern Ireland. Fr Reid was at the heart of negotiations on the IRA's ceasefire that led to the Good Friday Agreement.

His sympathies for the Basque nationalist movement are well known. He has written a treatise on the Basque struggle that was greeted enthusiastically by nationalist politicians.

Recent reports in the Spanish press have speculated that Eta is on the point of declaring a ceasefire. After numerous arrests of terrorists over the past two years and the possible defection of two senior members, the group is said to be on the ropes.

Last Sunday's elections were the first in which Batasuna was not permitted to stand. ABC suggested that Fr Reid's presence in Spain was prompted by a crisis among radical Basque nationalists who now have no official representation or funding.

Responding to the reports of a possible ceasefire the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, said his government was interested only in one piece of news about Eta - "its extinction".

His hardline stance partly stems from the bitter memory of Eta's 14-month ceasefire in 1999-2000. Eta later admitted it was a ruse to win time.

Now, about that last line, well, the reporter wants to make brownie points with the fascist spanish regime, ETA's truce came to an end due to Madrid's intransigence to seat down and negotiate, Aznar's hardline's stand comes from his hate to everything Basque. He is so stupid that he does not understand that if ETA decides to call it quits and disolves, then that is the end of it. Aznar wants extinction and we have to wonder if he knows what that word means, just in case, lets send him to the Galizan coast where a whole ecosystem is on the brink of extinction thanks to Aznar's moronic decisions when dealing with the oil tanker Prestige.

.... ... .

Votes in Favor of Self-Determination

I went to the dentist this morning and there was quite an improvement, they have to pull out my three remaining wisdom teeth and they have to work on a molar that appears to be cracked, other than that everything is peachy.

Now, it is time I talk about politics, and guess what, I am a happy camper!

Last week there was elections in Spain, and the Spanish junta did all they could do to defeat the independentist movement in the Basque Country, well, they failed, again.

They outlawed a political party for alleged ties to the pro-independence group known as ETA (nevermind that England deals with Sinn Fein who openly claims to be the IRA's politicial arm). The candidates of the banned party presented themselves as independents in each of their towns but just a couple of weeks ago the Spanish courts banned them also.

The fascist Prime Minister thought everything was ready for his party to take over thinking that the Basques would not be able to pull together.

Wrong!

The Basques retaliated by voting for the moderate independentist parties. Basque parties once again dominate the Basque Autonomous Community. To make matters worst to the fascists up to 150,000 voters casted nule votes, that amount is the people that was going to vote for the outlawed candidates, on the last elections it was only 10,000 of them.

The message is clear, the Basques long for self determination, and the international community does a disservice to justice by turning their back on the issue, ironically enough, Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio (who is a Basque that changed her name from Jauregi to the Spanish translation of Palacio) is in Palestine brokering a peace deal between the Palestines and the Israelis. She met with Yasser Arafat who is accused by the West of harboring terrorists (somehow they keep quiet about the truly terrorist actions conducted by the Israeli military againt Palestinian civilians), but at home she belongs to the only remnant of Hitler's political and military meddling in Europe and as part of the Francoist party Partido Popular she refuses to acknowledge the Basque struggle for self determination and takes the same blind position that Madrid has towards the independentist dreams of Basques, Catalonyans and Galizans.

That on my dictionary is called hypocrisy.

.... ... .

Another Day, Another Coward

Do you remember that article about Tolosa I published a couple of days ago? The one with all the slant against the Basque society?

Well, believe it or not, a member of the Spanish establishment found it to be equidistant and therefore repulsive. I am talking about the openly Francoist Spanish Ambassador to the USA, Javier Ruperez.

This is his letter published by The New York Times:

Terrorists in Spain

Published: May 25, 2003

To the Editor:

I take exception to the views expressed in ''Politics in a Perilous Place: The Basque Country'' (Tolosa Journal, May 22) concerning the Basque region, its people and its politics. You show surprising equidistance between the terrorists and their followers and those who, because of their anti-nationalistic ideology, fear for their lives every day.

I have to confess once again to feelings of moral repugnance, which are shared by the vast majority of my fellow citizens, when reading about E.T.A. and Batasuna as if their followers were heroes of democracy.

JAVIER RUPÉREZ
Ambassador of Spain
Washington, May 22, 2003

How does he dare to call any Basque a terrorist in the midst of this all out attack against Basque society?

The situation is a terrible as it was under Felipe Gonzalez and his GAL mercenaries, as dangerous as Franco's four decades reign of terror.

To you Javier Ruperez, the only terrorists in Spain are Juan Carlos Borbon and his family, the members of both the PP and the PSOE, the rabid dogs at the Audiencia Nacional and the murderous apes at the Guardia Civil, plus some others whom I forgot to mention. All of you are simply revolting.

All and each one of you should be tried the way they did with the Nazis (your allies) in Nuremberg.

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Mounting Attack on Udalbiltza

With his boss Jose Maria Aznar in excellent stance with the big dogs the inquisidor Baltasar Garzon is free to do as he pleases when it comes to strengthening the political Apartheid stance against Basque society.

Five more members of Udalbiltza have been abducted by Spain's repressive forces deployed in Euskal Herria. Here you have an article regarding this new attack against democracy in the Basque Country:

Spanish Judge Orders Jail for 5 Basque Politicians

Fri May 23, 7:48 PM ET

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon has sent to prison five leaders of a Basque local government association who he accuses of links to armed separatist group ETA, judicial sources said.

Garzon ordered the five, several of whom are town councillors, held without bail pending trial after questioning them Friday, the sources said.

The five are leaders of Udalbiltza, an association of Basque Country town halls created by nationalist parties, including radical groups such as Batasuna which was banned in March for not condemning ETA violence.

The five are accused of cooperating with an armed group.

Garzon described Udalbiltza in court documents as "a platform under the direct and exclusive control of ETA through ... Batasuna."

Garzon's move is the latest step in a wide-ranging crackdown by Spain's government and courts on ETA and people accused of being its political allies.

It came on the last day of campaigning for Sunday's local elections throughout Spain.

The five sent to jail include the mayor of the Basque town of Ondarroa, Loren Arkotxa, and town councillors Miren Josu Aramburu and Imanol Esnaola. The two other Udalbiltza leaders ordered held were Xabier Alegria and Joseba Mikel Garmendia.

Garzon released another politician on bail of 50,000 euro ($58,910) -- the mayor of the Basque town of Oyarzun, Xabier Iragorri.

All six denied any link to ETA, according to news reports.

Wednesday, a Spanish court ordered a radical seven-member group in the Basque regional parliament to be broken up, a step aimed at denying them powers that could aid ETA.

Batasuna attempted to run more than 1,000 candidates in Sunday's local elections under the party name AuB but had almost all of them struck down by the courts. Batasuna, which won 10 percent of the vote in the Basque Country in the last elections in 2001, denies it is part of ETA.

Since Spain is an openly fascist state the amount of money they demand for the political prisoners to be freed can not be called a bail, it is actually a ransom.

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Report From Tolosa

In the article you are about to read you will soon notice two things:

a) Emma Daly from The New York Times is a poor excuse of a journalist, going to great extent to reflect the venomous Spanish propaganda against the Basque people every time she is able to do so.

b) The Spaniards, invaders in a foreign land, always manage to present themselves as victims, knowing that reporters like Emma Daly are being paid to ensure that the violence dished out by Madrid to the Basques never makes it to the public.

I went ahead and highlighted the most blatant examples of Spanish propaganda, here you have it:

Tolosa Journal; Politics in a Perilous Place: The Basque Country

By EMMA DALY
Published: May 22, 2003

In virtual secrecy and certain of defeat, the mayor of this small, prosperous town in Guipúzcoa Province in Spain's Basque country, is campaigning for a second term.

''We call this the macramé class,'' Mayor Antton Izagirre said with a grin. Away from prying eyes, a dozen volunteers were stuffing thousands of illegal ballot papers into envelopes for distribution to potential voters. In municipal elections on Sunday, voters will drop their favored party's papers in the ballot box.

The scene appeared to echo stories of Franco's Spain, when political opposition to the dictatorship was banned along with the Basque and Catalan languages. But these volunteers were sitting in Tolosa's tastefully renovated Town Hall, working for a party outlawed by a democratically elected government.

Mr. Izagirre, an affable man of moderate tone, is a member of Batasuna, the radical separatist party recently named a terrorist group by the United States government because of its close ties to the violent separatist group E.T.A.

He ran for mayor four years ago during a 15-month truce called by E.T.A., and ''to the surprise of everyone, including myself,'' was elected, he recalled in an interview today.

But any prospect for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Basque separatists and those who see themselves as both Basque and Spanish were dashed when E.T.A. returned to its campaign of violence, much of it aimed at local council members loyal to the governing Popular Party of the prime minister, José María Aznar, and the opposition Socialists.

The ensuing police crackdown on E.T.A. activists was accompanied by a judicial assault on political and civilian groups said by the government to be acting on behalf of E.T.A., leading to the formal ban of Batasuna and its offshoots.

In Tolosa, as in dozens of Basque towns, Batasuna supporters formed new, local parties -- in this case, Tolosa Bizirik, which means Tolosa Alive. But two weeks ago, virtually all were ruled illegal by Spain's highest court. The Town Hall was ordered to destroy ballot papers listing Bizirik candidates. The mayor promised to do so, then hid them.

Now, with the help of the envelope-stuffing volunteers, the mayor is ready to distribute the ballots to voters among Tolosa's population of 18,000. The hope is that supporters will cast the ballots anyway and that, although void, they will be counted unofficially and reveal the strength of popular support for Batasuna.

The man who appears assured of victory in Tolosa is Jokin Bildarratz of the nonviolent Basque Nationalist Party, which came in second in 1999. He and his party oppose the banning of Batasuna as antidemocratic. Even so, he said, ''In previous elections neither the Popular Party nor the Socialists have been able to join in freely.''

The Socialist candidate, Óscar Renedo, who has spent 10 years as Tolosa's only Socialist councilor, sees a sharp difference between the difficulties he and Mr. Izagirre face. ''I would prefer the civic death they say they face than the physical death we confront,'' he said.

At a town council meeting tonight, Mr. Renedo left early to paste up posters in the center of town. He was attended by six party activists and his three bodyguards, who stand at a distance, scanning passers-by. In July 2000, Juan María Jáuregui, a former Socialist politician from Tolosa, was shot dead while vacationing in the town.

No one stopped to greet Mr. Renedo as he walked the streets. Many here feel it is dangerous to be seen talking to him or to Ángel Yáñez, another council member and the local candidate of the Popular Party.

''Fear runs so deep here it is a sickness,'' said Mr. Yáñez, gazing around the crowded Cafetería Frontón, where Mr. Jáuregui had a drink before an E.T.A. gunman walked up and shot him in the head.

Mr. Yáñez, 67, who calls his bodyguards umbrellas because ''they shield me from danger instead of rain,'' went to great lengths to fill his party's list of candidates, holding a 40-hour hunger strike and persuading 10 fellow citizens to put their names on the ballot with little hope of being elected.

Mr. Yáñez, unlike his Basque Nationalist Party rival, rejects the notion that banning Batasuna is anti-democratic. ''I'm all for defending ideas,'' he said, ''but we should put a stop to those that endanger society.''

At tonight's council meeting, Mr. Yáñez, sitting alone, faced insults and veiled threats from Batasuna supporters, though not from the mayor, who says he tries to keep such proceedings civil.

Mr. Izagirre said that he opposed the use of violence and that he believed E.T.A.'s armed struggle had not worked. But he said he would rather return to his job as a schoolteacher than quit his party.

''The government is not criminalizing a political grouping but a series of ideas,'' he argued. ''The excuse is that while E.T.A. exists, anyone who defends similar goals, such as the creation of a state, self-determination or the use of a language -- anyone who shares those ideas -- is part of E.T.A.''

The volunteers stuffing envelopes said they wanted to show their support for the party, even if it had no legal weight.

''They tell Bush we are terrorists simply because we are struggling for the independence of the Basque country,'' one man said. ''We are not terrorists, we are Basque fighters.''

Moments later, he added in Basque, ''Long live military E.T.A.!''

No one said hello to Mr. Renedo because unlike other places, Basque towns are so small that the locals can tell when someone is an outsider, specially an outsider trying to perpetuate the genocidal occupation of their country.

Yes Mrs. Daly, if this was 1776 and instead of Tolosa you happened to be in say, Washington, the Colonials would have been called "terrorists" by the English. Got it?

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Turmoil on Election Eve

The recipe for disaster that Aznar has been cooking for the last couple of months is being covered by this article published at ABC News:

Turmoil Hits Basque Areas on Election Eve

Wed May 21, 2:41 PM ET

By ED McCULLOUGH, Associated Press Writer

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain - A policeman is murdered. A newspaper is shut down. A political party is banned and then - just days ahead of municipal elections this weekend - hundreds of candidates are barred by court order from seeking public office.

Unusual events, even in politically turbulent Basque country, where half the population wants independence and the armed separartists pursue their goal with bombings and assassinations.

"It's a scandal," says Xabier Arzalluz, longtime head of the Basque National Party, which runs the three-province Basque region extending from the Pyrenees mountain border with France west along the Bay of Biscay and south to the famous Rioja wine district.

"Everything that's happening, shouldn't," Arzalluz said last week at party headquarters in nearby Bilbao. "Here there is no (real) separation of powers."

Sunday's vote is mostly for mayors and other municipal posts, not national or regional. But the unrelenting drive for Basque autonomy - and Spain's resolute opposition to that - is a leading campaign issue, along the violence of the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

The pro-Basque independence party Batasuna was outlawed for its alleged ties to ETA, and at Spain's request, Batasuna this month was added to the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups.

"They're going to rob 1,000 representatives from us," fumed Batasuna representative Joseba Alvarez Forcada.

The ruling Popular Party and the Socialists, Spain's two main political groups, are pressing hard to win the mayor's office in each Basque provincial capital: San Sebastian, Bilbao and Vitoria.

Reportedly that's never happened.

Nationwide, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar hopes that positioning his Popular Party as a bulwark against Basque independence and ETA terrorism will offset Spaniards' overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which he supported.

During the past year, a number of alleged ETA militants have been arrested, and planned ETA attacks discovered and averted. The separatist group may be on the defensive, as the government claims, but it has been extraordinarily quiet, staging few bombings or fatal assaults.

Last week, though, ETA urged Basque voters to cast blank ballots Sunday to protest the government's crackdown.

"These will be the first elections in Spain in which ETA will have neither votes nor representation," Justice Minister Jose Maria Michavila said in a recent interview with El Mundo newspaper.

Political and legal developments have tumbled one after the other with surprising - some say suspicious - speed.

On Feb. 8, a policeman noted for his anti-Basque independence views was shot and killed at point-blank range.

On Feb. 21, the only Basque-language newspaper, Egunkaria, was shut down for its alleged ETA connections. Editor Martxelo Otamendi denied any such link and claims police tortured him during his five days in detention. The Interior Ministry denied that. Otamendi and six others were freed on bail but, as of last week, three journalists remained in jail.

The Supreme Court outlawed Batasuna on March 17, making it the first party banned since 1975, when longtime dictator Gen. Francisco Franco died and democracy flourished anew.

Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court, Spain's highest, barred about 1,200 nationalist candidates from running, calling them disguised members of Batasuna. In 1999, Batasuna won about 10 percent of the municipal vote and about 50 mayor slots, mostly in rural towns.

"It's a steamroller. They don't waste time even trying to hide it," said Marivi Ugarteburu, mayor of Amoroto, a picturesque village in a green valley cutting through steep hillsides, dotted with traditional Basque stone houses with red tile roofs. She called herself a political independent who supports Basque freedom.

Despite all the drama, little of the Basque conundrum will be resolved Sunday. Neither side is strong enough to impose its view, nor weak enough to be overcome. The approximately 2 million residents of Basque Country split almost 50-50 on the issue of independence - and the impasse seems likely to continue for years.

The question is, why would an alleged democratic leader such as Aznar have any interest on creating such an unstable atmosphere previous to an electoral process?

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HWR On Spain

Here you have the most recent report by Human Rights Watch on Spain:

Spain

In the aftermath of September 11, Spain applied its existing strict counter-terrorism regime to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of suspected al-Qaeda operatives. The climate created by the international campaign against terrorism provided the Spanish authorities with a further pretext to crackdown on Basque separatists and supporters of the pro-independence movement.

Spanish authorities were also quick to issue public statements equating stricter controls on immigration with the war against terrorism, contributing to a climate of fear and suspicion toward migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.

Spain's anti-terror laws permit the use of incommunicado detention, secret legal proceedings, and pre-trial detention for up to four years. The proceedings governing the detentions of suspected al-Qaeda operatives apprehended in Spain in November 2001, July 2002, and January 2003, among others, have been declared secret (causa secreta). The investigating magistrate of the Audiencia Nacional, a special court that oversees terrorist cases, can request causa secreta for thirty days, consecutively renewable for the duration of the four-year pre-trial detention period. Secret proceedings bar the defense access to the prosecutor's evidence, except for information contained in the initial detention order. Without access to this evidence, detainees are severely hampered in mounting an adequate defense.

In November 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed serious concern about incommunicado detention under Spain's criminal laws. A suspect can be held incommunicado for up to five days, without access to an attorney, family notification, services such as access to health care, or contact with the outside world. The CAT concluded that incommunicado detention under these circumstances can facilitate acts of torture and ill-treatment. In Spain, most suspected terrorist detainees are held incommunicado for at least the first forty-eight hours in custody.

The global anti-terror climate hardened the Spanish government's resolve in the ongoing conflict with armed Basque separatists, Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the non-violent pro-independence movement. ETA uses violent means to seek the creation of an independent Basque state in parts of northern Spain and southern France. The group has been responsible for over 800 deaths since the 1960s. In recent years, it has targeted civilians, including academics and journalists.

Since September 11, over fifty suspected ETA members have been detained and held under Spain's anti-terror laws. Casualties of the government's hard-line approach, however, have included Gestoras pro Amnistía, an organization that provided support to families of ETA detainees, which was banned in December 2001. In August 2002, the Batasuna Party, widely regarded as the political arm of ETA, was banned for three years. In February 2003, Euskaldunon Egunkaria-the sole remaining newspaper written entirely in the Basque language-was closed down, and ten people associated with the paper were arrested and held incommunicado. These actions give rise to serious concerns that Spain's counter-terrorism measures breach the rights to freedom of association and expression. Human rights organizations have also documented instances of alleged torture and ill-treatment of ETA members and pro-independence supporters detained by Spanish authorities.

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