Reason to Be Scared?

Rodriguez Zapatero is in Caracas, right before he got there he said that he was going to tell Chavez how to deal with certain specific problem.

Not too long ago Huguito was arresting Basques in the middle of the night and flying them to Madrid where Aznar and Garzon awaited with a huge smile.

I am a medium, and I can tell you what is going on here:

- Huguito, my friend, I will secure all those funds for you, but I want to be sure we reached an agreement.

- Oh don't worry Zapatito, I will get you all the Basques that you ask for, is not like any Basque have ever done anything nice for Venezuela.

- Sure, that is what that bastard Fox said.

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Sweet Smell of Democracy

Aukera Guztiak is still working hard to make sure thousands of Basque have a voice.

The first news outlet to say something about it was the Taiwan News, guess they are tuned in with the demands of self-determination of other people.

The attorney general's office and a legal advisory panel to the Justice Ministry had filed suits alleging that 15 would-be candidates of the political group Aukera Guztiak - "All Options" in Basque - had close ties to ETA or Batasuna, its alleged political wing.

The group is expected to appeal the ruling before the Constitutional Court within the next two days. That court would then have to make a final decision before April 1.

This note appeared at Berria today:

The Aukera Guztiak association of electors yesterday filed an appeal for legal protection with the Spanish Constitutional Court requesting that the annulment handed down by the Supreme Court be suspended. As the Constitutional Court will have to rule on this before the start of the campaign [for the April 17 elections in the BAC-Basque Autonomous Community], the day after tomorrow, Thursday, is the deadline. As the Aukera Guztiak representatives and Juan Jose Ibarretxe, the Lehendakari (President) of the BAC Government, pointed out after the meeting at the BAC President’s headquarters, they believe that the “political decision” to leave Aukera Guztiak out of the electoral race has already been taken.

Of course, we did not have to wait too long for the Spanish politicos to come up with their usual drivel, as publised at El Pais:

"Ibarrexte is playing the role of ETA's defense attorney rather than demanding that the terrorist organization abandon violence," Socialist spokesman José Blanco declared in a press conference in Madrid.

The PP leader in the Basque Country, María San Gil, went further, accusing Ibarretxe of being "more receptive" to ETA than to victims of the organization's terrorist campaign. "He is closer to the criminals than to the victims," San Gil said in San Sebastian, describing the Basque premier as a "fundamentalist" who has "further divided Basque society."

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Pintada

Posted at Garagoittiko Orakulua.

Bazterketarik

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A Bank of a Poor Region

Bilbo

A general view of the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria BBVA 2005 Shareholders Meeting, 26 February 2005 in the northern Spanish Basque city of Bilbao. The board of BBVA decided to press ahead with a takeover bid for Italian bank BNL, the Spanish news agency EFE reported citing sources close to the bank.(AFP/File/Rafa Rivas)

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Blazquez and Hitler's King

Blazquez

The newly-elected head of Spain's Roman Catholic Bishop's Conference Bishop Ricardo Blazquez (L) is greeted by Spain's King Juan Carlos before their private meeting at Madrid's Zarzuela Palace, Madrid 28, 2005. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

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Rebecca the Basque-phobe

Do you want to know the mind of a Basque-phobe?

Well, take for example Rebecca J. Berfanger who on March 23rd (that is a whole year and a few days after the attacks) stated that the bombings in Madrid were a result of a contribution between Al Quaeda and "the Basques":

On March 11, 2004, terrorists in Madrid with alleged ties to al-Qaida and the Basque Separatists killed 191 people and injured 1,700 others, detonating 10 bombs on four separate commuter trains.

Just like that, Rebecca echoes what Aznar and his Junta wanted the entire world to believe.

This begs a couple of questions.

Is Rebecca really so stupid as to parrot a proven Fascist?

Is she in Aznar's payroll?

Or her hate towards the Basque people is gratuitous just like many others?

What Rebecca doesn't know or doesn't want to know is that Aznar did not blame ETA for the attacks, he blamed the entire Basque society.

He lied, repeatedly, and he ordered his underlings to take any opportunity to blame "the Basques".

For those lies his party was kicked out of the top office. Yes, there is some fake liberals that get upset when you call Aznar a liar, but they suffer of the Ostrich Syndrome.

Rebecca spills her non sense at a news media called (don't laugh) Republican American.

The media in the USA is in a sorry ass state.

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AG Plows Ahead

Basque Premier Juan Jos Ibarretxe (R) meets with Beatrice Ilardia (L), Marije Rodrguez (2L) and Ana Arbulure, representatives of Basque pro-independence party Aukera Guztiak (AG) in Vitoria, northern Spain, March 28, 2005. AG will appeal a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that would erase the group from the April 17 ballot due to its purported ties to armed separatist group ETA. REUTERS/Vincent West

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Aberri Eguna

Five hundred years of struggle.

Five hundred years of resistance.

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"Now the People, Now the Peace"

The Spanish government decided to attack thousands of Basques that wanted to celebrate Aberri Eguna, the Basque national day, under the motto "Now the People, Now the Peace".

Madrid deemed the celebration illegal because it was called by Batasuna, a political party that was banned two years ago accused of not condemning violence. The Holly Inquisition has been unable to prove their case until today.

Seems like for the Spaniards, to ask for peace is not enough condemnation of violence.

If the pictures that you are about to see came from Taipei, Kiev or Beirut, there would be an international outcry for justice.

As it happens, it won't make it to the front page of a single news paper.

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Guilty Until Proven Innocent

That is the way it goes for you in Spain if you happen to be a Basque that wants self determination.

It really did not come as a surprise when the Court decided to ban AG from running, fascistoid people know when to band together.

Spain Supreme Court Bars Basque Party from Ballot

The ruling, which may be appealed to the Constitutional Court, stands to erase Batasuna from the electoral map. The pro-independence party was banned in 2003, and the last of its previously elected officials will soon see their terms expire.

The court agreed with a petition from the government and from the state prosecutor that the new grouping, Aukera Guztiak (AG), was an attempt by ETA and Batasuna to subvert bans on them running for public office. A court spokesman said all 16 justices were unanimous.

AG has denied ties to either group and Batasuna has always denied being part of ETA.

The ruling was the result of a series of measures taken by the Spanish legal and political establishment to deny public office to anyone who refuses to clearly condemn ETA violence.

Of course, just like some self righteous fellas I met before, no one in Spain demands from the PP or the PSOE to condemn the rampant torture against Basque detainees. Seems like they focus on one kind of violence only.

Here is Berria's take on the issue:

Spanish Supreme Court annuls Aukera Guztiak candidatures

The basis and arguments for acting against Aukera Guztiak put forward by the Lawyer of the State and the Spanish Attorney General were the same. The Supreme Court accepted the hypotheses of both: that the association of electors was “a tool of the ETA-Batasuna network”, and that the creation of Aukera Guztiak formed “part of a clear strategy” designed by ETA. According to the theory endorsed by the Supreme Court, ETA had decided to present two sets of lists of candidates at the same time in a bid to be represented in the BAC Parliament: a “dirty list” made up of well-known Batasuna members which would be annulled immediately; and a “clean list” made up of people who had no obvious connection with the Basque nationalist left. To support this theory, the Spanish Police and the Spanish Civil Guard investigated the thousands of citizens who had given their signatures to enable Aukera Guztiak to stand in the elections. At the same time they recorded phone conversations of Rafa Diez, the General Secretary of the trade union LAB, promoters of Aukera Guztiak and Batasuna members.

But hey, the European Union is concerned about the political prisoners, in Cuba.

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