Democracy and Freedom, Everyday

I believe that democracy and freedom are not goals to be achieved, but a right that needs to be exercised on a daily basis. I find it amusing when some people say stuff like "I never talk about politics or religion" because most of the time this people think that they are fooling me, they think that my first impression is "Wow! This person doesn't like to hurt other people feelings nor getting into fights", well, life taught me quite the opposite, people that state that say it because they have nothing to say, some out of pure ignorance, some out of fear, but most of them say it out of indifference.

I can agree with ignorance, not all of us have the chance to cultivate our minds, I can deal with fear, not all of us have full confidence on ourselves and what we stand for, but what really pisses me off is people that keep quiet out of indifference, because it is exactly that attitude what allows people like George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jose Maria Aznar to do what they do.

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Defiant Ikurriña

The defiant Ikurriña, it stood up against fascism yesterday, it stands up against fascism today and it will stand up against fascism tomorrow.

Leitza, Nafarroa / December 2003.

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Democracy, Aznar Style

Eventually the English editions of the Basque newspapers Berria and Gara will get to it, but let me tell you what is so bad about what happened today in Spain.

For decades the Basques have been asking to negotiate their self determination, for years the Spanish authorities have refused using as an excuse ETA's violence. The Spanish side says that as long as ETA continues its armed campaign they will not seat down and negotiate with the Basques. If that was the end of the story then is all peachy, but is not.

Democracy is often described as the will of the majority, the press loves to talk about Spain as a young democracy, nevermind that the so called democracy has been around for 25 years now. A democratic state is supposed to heed to the wishes of the majority. It is here where the plot thickens.

ETA is by now an organization of no more of a hundred people, they are isolated from the bulk of Basque society which in its majority rejects any form of violence, may it come from an armed group or may it come from the government in Madrid. Bottom line, the Basque society turned its back on ETA a long time ago, that is why the bulk of the Basque society continues to vote for the moderate pro-independence parties, they want a political and negotiated way out of the conflict. On the past two elections 700,000 Basques voted for these moderate pro-independence parties.

Lets do the math here: 100 Basques want independence from Spain via violent actions while 700,000 able to vote Basques want to negotiate a peaceful and political solution to the conflict. Spain refuses to negotiate because 100 Basques prefer the armed struggle and snubs the wishes of 700,000 Basques. So we have a so called democratic state acting in consequence to the wishes of 100 against the wishes of 700,000. Hardly what you can call a democratic decision.

It does not stop there, as you all know by now the law imposed by Aznar and his neo-Fracoist Popular Party today threatens the Basque Prime Minister Ibarretxe with landing in jail for a few years. The most moronic Spaniards may think the the Basque politician had it coming, they may even be celebrating right now with tapas and wine from La Rioja. But the law is not for Basques only, the law is for all Spaniards, which means that if tomorrow for some reason some other political group in Spain needs to call for a referendum over some topic that irks Madrid, then no matter if that politician is Basque, Catalan, Galizan or Castillian, his ass will end up in jail. To say it clear, there is a process of political involution in Spain, the Partido Popular is going in a full circle back to the dictatorship that spawned it.

I take this opportunity to remind you that in the last few months Aznar and his PP have banned a political party and shut down a newspaper.

Democracy at work.

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Hacking the Basque Plan

The Australian newspaper The Age is the first one to tell the English speaking world about this dark day for democracy on this note: Law passed to curtail Basque plan:

Law passed to curtail Basque plan

Madrid
December 20, 2003

Spain's parliament passed a new law on Thursday giving courts the power to jail the Basque region's Premier if he goes ahead with a plan to call a referendum on greater autonomy from Madrid.

Opposition MPs boycotted the vote in protest but the new law was passed by the centre-right ruling Popular Party, which has an absolute majority, amid angry scenes in the lower chamber.

The legislation aims to stop Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe pursuing a plan to increase Basque home rule by creating a "status of free association" with Spain that would be very near independence. He says that would end decades of violence by separatist guerilla group ETA.

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Muguruza and Whale Rider

I received my two Fermin Muguruza cd's on the mail and I am loving them, the lyrics are amazing and the booklets come with the lyrics in Basque with translation to Spanish, French and English, most excellent.

As predicted, the Winter (politically correct term for Christmas) present from my work place is a DVD, and nothing else but "Whale Rider", one of the best movies of the year.

For those of you that have not seen it, let me try to explain why I just love this movie. As you know I am involved in the preservation of the Basque culture for it is the culture of my ancestors. The obstacles we face are huge, since there is politics involved, the two countries occupying the Basque Country show little or no interest in preserving Europe's oldest cultural identity. The new-agey European Union can care less about it obviously since they also do little or nothing in the way of demanding from France and Spain to provide enough room were Basque culture can bloom.

Today in the Basque Country the only pre-Indo European language is spoken, the only other three non-Indo European languages spoken in Europe arrived after the Indo European migrations from Asia which makes Euskara unique even among the non-Indo European languages of Europe which should be more than enough reason for Europe to do something to preserve it and allow the Basque society to continue to work towards projects aimed at strenghtening the use of the language.

Measures like the one by the Spanish regime to call the Ikastolas where Basque children get their education in their own language by the term of "hotbeds of terrorrism" should be severely criticized not only by European organisms like the European Union but by every single human rights organizations like Amnesty International and worldwide organizations like the United Nations.

"Whale Rider" tells us about the struggle of the Maori people of New Zealand to revive their cultural heritage. It is hard for people that has never been robbed of their land and their ways to understand the sense of loss that can get in the hearts and minds of people that has been colonized. But there is always those who love their identity and culture so much that will do anything to preserve it, and that is what the movie is all about.

The main conflict in the movie is between Koro, the leader of a Maori community and his grand daughter Paikea. Koro has been the keeper of the old ways in a community were the youth is lost to the lack of opportunities and the easy access to drugs and alcohol. Koro wants to change that, he knows his people need a new leader but Koro has his own character flaws, to certain degree Koro is a prisoner of his own love for his culture and the problems that arise from wanting to stick to rigid rules.

Paikea is the opposite, she wants to learn, she loves her culture and most of all, she loves her grand father, and she is a free spirit that will of course put her on collision course with Koro, she just won't give up to Koro's idea that the leader most be a male.

The scene before the climax of the movie is electrifying, Keisha Castle-Hugues who plays Paikea gives a riveting performance on a school speech that is supposed to be directed to her grand father, who is absent. Then it comes the magical moment in the movie when Paikea raises to prove that she is indeed, the leader the community needs.

An amazing movie with no costly special effects that depends on two things, honest story telling and from the heart performances by the Maori cast.

Don't miss it!

And by the way, soon I will be talking about "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", that post will contain spoilers, beware.

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Negotiating with Spain

Today at Berria:

Single electoral list proposed to negotiate with Spain

The aim is for the nationalists and forces favouring self-determination to join together and stand in the March elections

Eider Goenaga BERGARA (Gipuzkoa)

Yesterday morning the Basque nationalist left proposed that a unified electoral list be formed "from among the nationalists and forces in favour of self-determination" to stand in the Spanish general elections scheduled for March, in order to negotiate on the Basque Country's behalf with the Spanish State. The proposal was made in Bergara at the "Olaso Dorrea" house, once the home of Telesforo Monzon, by present and past members of the Basque nationalist left: Arantxa Arruti, Jose Luis Elkoro, Arnaldo Otegi, Rafa Diez, Jon Idigoras, Koldo Ormaetxea, Pernando Barrena, Emilie Laplacette and Xabi Larralde.

What the Basque nationalist left wants to do is draw up a single electoral list "that would represent the Basque Country before the Spanish State", and it has called on political, social and trade union organisations to work towards this. The aim of the candidates in the electoral list "would be to achieve the recognition of the Basque Country through a process of relations and negotiations with Spain." The day before yesterday they announced that they would be putting forward a proposal to present a unified electoral list for the March elections and this created heightened expectations, because the announcement was to be made at the house of Telesforo Monzon, who at one time made the same proposal. He was a Minister in the Basque Government of Jose Antonio Agirre [in 1936] and was one of the founders of HB, the main political group of the Basque nationalist left.

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A Real Blog: Peoria Pundit

Bill Dennis, one of my co-workers has a blog, a real one.

Go check it out, it is called "Peoria Pundit".

Hope you like politics because politics are the main topic at his blog, he also likes Star Trek but that is ok, we Star Wars fans accept our friends for what they are.

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No More Maná

I just removed the link to the rock group Maná, it will not be back nor I will listen to their music until the singer Fher apologizes to the Subcomandante Marcos and to the Basque society for his ill conceived comments.

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Mexican Solidarity With Basque Refugees

Mexican President Vicente Fox is little more than a mercenary for Aznar. He's destroying Mexico's prestige before the international community as a country that opposes totalitarian regimes and also as a safe haven for political refugees and exiles.

But there is a lot of Mexicans willing to restore Mexico's name and dignity, this is their most recent effort, this time in support of the six Basque refugees. This note comes via Gara:

Mexican Humanitarian Activists position themselves against the extraditions

Rosario Ibarra de Piedra meets basque citizens inprisoned in Mexico

Rosario Ibarra de Piedra -president of the Eureka committee, a human rights organisation made up of relatives of the disappeared in Mexico- and the actress Ofelia Medina- representative of the organisation Fideicomiso para la Infancia (Fideo), a humanitarian group working in Chiapas- got first hand knowledge of the situation of the six Basque prisoners being held in Reclusorio Norte prison in Mexico city with a visit there last Tuesday.

After listening to the stories of the detainees, the two human rights activists denounced the irregularities in the extradition process against them being carried out in the Second Court of the District.

Ibarra de Piedra called the protocol of the extradition treaty a "legal aberration", which obliges the Mexican Government to "hand over any citizen of Spanish nationality even if Madrid does not present evidence of their supposed guilt".

Ofelia Medina, for her part, pointed out that "the Government is swapping prisoners for business. In exchange for contracts for Mexican companies in Spain, the authorities are willing to hand over anyone, even if its against the law".

Accompanied by Begonia Lecumberri, also from the organisation Fideo, the actress and pro human rights activist committed themselves to observe the verdict of the case and to promote solidarity actions to prevent their eventual extradition.

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Letter to the Journal Star: Guernica

Sunday at the Journal Star:

Well, it is a little late, I just found out yesterday and I couldn't post before, but here it is, the letter that I sent to the Journal Star a couple of weeks ago, which by the way, was the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor:

Nazi bombing destroyed cities, killed innocents

December 7, 2003

In the Nov. 30 edition of the Journal Star there was a very interesting Op-Ed piece by Michael Bellesiles, "The limits of shock and awe," in which it is detailed that no matter how superior your war machinery is over that of your enemy, sooner or later you have to meet him face to face. Michael Bellesiles tells us about Italian air power advocate Giulio Douchet, who spoke about the concept of carpet bombing during the 1930s.

Oddly enough, the author goes on to describe how the bombing of Germany by the Allies did nothing to diminish the willingness of Germany to fight the war. I say oddly enough, because it was the Germans who first used carpet bombing against defenseless civilian targets. On April 26, 1937, the German Kondor Legion under the command of Von Richthofen bombed the Basque town of Gernika. The attack lasted over three hours and the Luftwaffe used that opportunity to try its new incendiary bombs and the soon to be infamous Stukas.

At the end of the day the most sacred Basque city was completely destroyed, and 1,600 people had lost their lives, mostly women and children, since the men were on the front lines facing the Spanish, Italian and German troops fighting on behalf of Hitler's forgotten ally, General Francisco Franco. The events were first reported by English journalist George Steer, and soon the international community was outraged by what happened that day in Gernika. Let's not forget that the Nazi war machinery would go on to show a complete lack of tolerance toward other ethnic groups.

This is the background that inspired one of Pablo Picasso's most famous paintings, the "Guernica" (for its spelling in Spanish). Ironically, during the buildup to the war in Iraq, a copy of the "Guernica" on display at United Nations headquarters in New York was concealed behind a blue curtain. Let's not forget the atrocities committed against civilian populations during war time. Gernika would be the first city on a list that today includes Dresden and Hiroshima.

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