Dream Soccer Match

Basque leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe addresses Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) supporters in September. Ibarretxe says he dreams of a future World Cup rivalry between his region and Catalonia.(AFP/File/Rafas Rivas)

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Mission to Belfast

From left to right, Reverend Harold Good, who acted as an independent clerical witness to IRA decommissioning, Jon Landa, Director of Human Rights for the Basque Government and Joseba Azcarraga, Basque Minister for Justice walk in Belfast city centre Thursday Oct. 5, 2006. A delegation from the Basque region are in Belfast to meet politicians, police and Government officals on a fact finding mission to understand the Northern Ireland peace process. During a 24-hour visit on Tuesday to Madrid British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Spain to be patient and determined as it seeks peace with separatists in the Basque region, drawing on his experience in dealing with the IRA. (AP Photo/Paul Faith/PA)

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SNP Supports the Process

Well, this is good news.

The SNP has lended its support to the Basque peace process.

But what is the SNP?

This is what you can find at their web site:

The SNP is a democratic left-of-centre political party committed to Scottish Independence. It aims to create a just, caring and enterprising society by releasing Scotland's full potential as an independent nation in the mainstream of modern Europe.

The SNP was founded in 1934, and has had continuous parliamentary representation since 1967. Currently in the Scottish Parliament we have 25 MSPs and are the Official Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. At Westminster we have six MPs, two MEPs within the European Parliament, and 181 local councillors throughout Scotland.

The party has been at the forefront of the campaign for Scottish self-determination for almost seventy years. The evolution of the SNP has been paralleled by the political evolution of Scotland herself — from an almost totally unionist country to a nation on the brink of independence.

The Scottish people have invested a lot in their Parliament but there is a growing realisation that, although devolution was a job worth doing, it is a job half done.

The SNP exists to argue the case for completing the powers of the Scottish Parliament and returning Scotland to the normal status of an independent country. Independence means Scotland will have a direct voice in Europe and the international community, and the power to tackle Scotland’s social and economic problems by making Scotland’s wealth work for Scotland’s people.

And this is the note they posted at their site:

SNP call for progress on Basque Peace talks

europe

SNP Europe Spokesman Alyn Smith has today called on all parties in the peace process in the Basque Country to begin substantive talks as soon as possible and warned that the peace process risks losing what little momentum has been built up.

Mr Smith is in the Basque Country meeting with Ministers of the Basque government and representatives of the Basque Parliament, as well as other parties. Mr Smith is a founder member of the international "Parliamentarian Friendship Group" established to monitor events and support progress in the peace process where appropriate.

Speaking from Vitoria, Mr Smith said: "I have been struck by just how positive an example Scotland is for the Basque Country. We have achieved the establishment of the Parliament in Edinburgh and set our country on a sure path to change without recourse to violence. As the SNP prepares for government I have been here to stress our support for progress in the Basque Country and to learn from their experience of government.

"The Basque Country has a historic opportunity to make progress. That opportunity must not be missed. Just last week ETA threatened a return to violence, a move that would be heartbreaking when the peace process might be gaining ground. "As a friendly outsider I would not suggest how the Basques should solve their problems, but it is clear to me that the problems of the Basque Country are political in nature, and can only be solved by dialogue.

"The SNP has always been an outward looking internationalist party. Next week Scotland will host a further round of talks in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Taking the parties to conflict out of their home environment will inspire a more constructive outcome. I look at the positive influence that small northern European states have had, like Norway in the Middle East and Sri Lanka as peace makers. As we look towards an SNP government in 2007 I want to see Scotland join those countries who are able to offer others the support and space needed to reach a peaceful deal and to and play our proper role in the world.

"The Basque Country has, despite the political problems, achieved levels of economic growth and a standard of living for their people that I look at with envy. Scotland has a lot to learn from the world as well as a lot to give, I have been proud to be here to demonstrate the interest and support of the SNP for peaceful dialogue."

Mr Smith also discussed issues to be debated at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 25th when the Basque Peace Process will be discussed.

A like these words even more today: "They can take away your life, but they will never take, your freedom!"

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Euskadi and the Spanish "Civil War"

This note comes to us thanks to EITb:

READY IN 2008

Basque Government preparing guide on Civil War

10/04/2006

The Direction of Cultural Heritage of the Culture Department of the Basque Government will publish a Guide of Documentary and Bibliographic Sources of the Civil War in the Basque Country in 2008. The project is within the plan of the Interdepartmental Commission to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Civil War.

The Culture, Youth and Sports vice-councillor, Gurutz Larrañaga, and the vice-president of Basque Studies Association, Jon Kortazar, have presented this initiative today in Bilbao. Professor José Luis de la Granja Sainz directs the project, which is being elaborated in the History-Geography section of the Basque Studies Association by six Civil War experts who have worked with archives, bibliographies and documents very often.

This source guide covers the whole period of the Civil War, from July 18, 1936 until April 1, 1939 and includes the territories of Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. However, documentary sources are not limited to these provinces, they also include those in the Spanish State and abroad.

As the managers noted, this publication is "pioneering" since "it hardly has precedents of the Civil War" and "there is no similar guide, so wide, in any autonomous region."

The Guide of Documentary and Bibliographic Sources was designed as "an essential tool" for all historical investigations of this period and facilitates the search of information on Civil War victims, necessary for survivors and their descendants, who requested the compensation passed by a Basque Government Decree.

The calendar designed contemplates the definitive writing of the guide for 2008, with an introduction and several indexes, and the preparation of its edition as a book.

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Blair and Rodríguez

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, listens at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after a meeting in 'La Quinta' Palace outside Madrid, Tuesday Oct. 3, 2006. Blair arrived Tuesday for talks with Spanish leaders on the Basque conflict, with Madrid hoping to draw on his experience in dealing with the IRA. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

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Blair and the Process

One can never tell if this is good news or bad news.

Lets cut to the chase, Tony Blair is today's Benito Mussolini. He hitched his wagon to the world wide punitive campaign by Herr George W. Bush. He misses the old glories when England was an empire where the sun would never set. All that came crashing down in Dunkirk when the Nazi military spared thousands of English troops trapped in that port.

So, Blair got England to support the US invation of Afghanistan and Iraq. Let us remember here that it is in great part the responsability of England for the present day regional disputes in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Who can forget tha the first aerial attacks with biological weapons (what today is called weapons of mass destruction') against civilian populations were ordered by the bulldog butcher by the name of Winston Churchill.

But that was not enough, in the recent rape of Lebanon where hundreds of innocent civilians were murdered by the terrorist Israeli offense forces, it was Blair who supported Bush on his push for a delay in the international demand for a cease fire.

Therefore, to have Blair supporting Rodríguez during the peace process in the Basque Country is a bit worrying, despite the way London has been dealing with the IRA over the issue of the English occupation of Northern Ireland.

Here you have the note that appeared at Yahoo News:

Blair lends support to Zapatero's Basque peace drive

Tue Oct 3, 3:45 PM ET

British Prime Minister Tony Blair passed on tips gleaned from his experience brokering an uneasy peace in Northern Ireland as he backed Spain's current drive for peace in its troubled Basque country.

Blair said the oft-drawn parallel between Northern Ireland and the Basque conflict was on his mind after the watchdog monitoring disarmament of paramilitary groups in the British-ruled province sent a key report to London and Dublin on Monday ahead of key peace talks next week.

"If the report is positive it is a serious demonstration that the conflict is genuinely over," said Blair at the start of a two-day Spanish visit.

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC)'s disarmanent report, whose contents were scheduled to be disclosed on Wednesday, will be central to multiparty talks in Scotland on October 11-13 aimed at restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland, nine years after multiparty talks started in 1997.

Those talks eventually culminated in the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998 which set out a plan for devolved government.

Blair cited the "many ups and downs and difficulties" of seeking peace.

"You need perseverence... patient determination," he told reporters, adding he had enjoyed a good and constructive meeting with his host, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"Resolving these very long-standing issues is very difficult work," said Blair, who noted that in Northern Ireland as in the Basque country "there can sometimes appear to be a blockage or you can get diverted off the path -- but this is a natural part of the process."

But he added that if the will existed on all sides to progress then peace was achieveable.

"It does happen if you do your best to move forward," said Blair, adding that in Northern Ireland progress had been made once "there was leadership prepared to take risks," a sense among people they want peace and a feeling that in the modern world this type of conflict was "alien to the 21st century."

Zapatero was keen to enlist Blair's support after a planned first meeting this summer between government officials and ETA representatives was postponed prompting further tension amongst Basque nationalists.

The Spanish leader, under pressure from opposition conservatives opposed to any dealings with ETA, said a Basque peace process had become reality six months ago when ETA announced a permanent ceasefire. Zapatero thanked Blair for his input.

"I received much information on the peace process in Northern Ireland and it was very useful to have heard his experiences," he said.

Blair noted the "positive" development of the ceasefire which has held notwithstanding low-level urban unrest since its announcement and also noted the last fatality in the conflict was in mid-2003.

But he warned that ending both conflicts was a "still difficult and complicated process".

On a positive note, today's Francisco Franco, blood thirsty José María Aznar, is not the one calling the shots from La Moncloa.

Besides, one has to wonder what Blair thinks about being a Basque descendant.

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Venezuela's Basque Topic

Some news outlets have been covering the story about an ETA militant being employed by Hugo Chávez.

Here you have the note from The Herald Tribune:

Venezuelan official says no ETA member employed by Chavez's government

The Associated Press

Published: October 2, 2006

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela's justice minister on Monday denied that the government of President Hugo Chavez is employing any member of the Basque separatist group ETA.

Jesse Chacon's comments came after opposition candidate Manuel Rosales accused Chavez of flirting with terrorist groups, citing Spain's announcement last week that it was investigating reports that Arturo Cubillas — an alleged former ETA militant — has been working at Venezuela's agriculture ministry since October 2005.

"No member of ETA exists in the government," Chacon said Monday.

The justice minister told reporters that Cubillas has lived in Venezuela since 1989 with his Venezuelan-born wife, who works for the government.

He said Cubillas came to the country along with 10 other "people linked to the Basque problem that existed at that moment in Spain" as part of a diplomatic agreement that year between Venezuela, Spain and Algeria.

"They remade their lives here, and they don't have any arrest warrants out (for them) by any government," he said.

Chacon did not say whether Cubillas was employed by the government, however, adding that he doesn't "know who the agriculture ministry hires."

Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said last week that officials were investigating whether any criminal charges are still pending against Cubillas.

Earlier Monday, Rosales, used the revelation to attack Chavez, who he faces in Dec. 3 presidential elections.

"It's not right that we have a terrorist in the government," Rosales told a news conference. "We shouldn't be forging ties with groups that are identified with terrorism."

Chavez has rejected previous accusations that he sympathizes with terrorist groups and has strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Spain, the United States and elsewhere.

Cubillas is wanted by Spanish police for allegedly having belonged to an ETA commando unit blamed for three murders in 1984-85, according to the Spanish newspapers ABC and El Mundo. He was arrested in France in 1987, deported to Algeria and sent from there to Venezuela in 1989, along with 10 other ETA members, ABC said.

Cubillas was detained by Venezuelan police in 2002 but released when they determined that his name was not on a list of ETA members sought by Spain's National Court, the papers said.

Not much to add to what the venezuelan official already stated, only the little irony of Chavez getting this accusation even after he extradited three Basque political refugees right after he occupied the presidential office. And he did so knowing that there is torture in Spain and that Aznar was allegedly one of this sworn enemies.

Rome does not pay traitors Hugo!

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University of Ulster and the Basque Peace Process

This news release comes to us straight from the University of Ulster website:

UU Expert Helps Push for Peace in Basque Region

A University of Ulster academic is helping the search for peace in Spain’s Basque region.

Professor Alan Smith, UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy was among a group of international experts invited by the Basque Regional President, Juan José Ibarretxe, to analyse and contribute to a peace plan for the region.

The Peace and Coexistence Plan was approved in April and sent to the Basque Parliament for consultation with interest groups.

It has five key points – promotion of human rights; solidarity with victims of terrorism; reparation for the victims of Franco’s regime; defence of civil and political rights; and, prevention of torture and defence of prisoners’ rights.

Each of the group has a particular field of expertise and Professor Smith along with Pamela Aall, vice president of the US Institute of Peace and Ann Hope, a member of the NI Human Rights Commission, studied the part of the plan dealing with the defence of human rights and the role of education in reconciliation.

Brandon Hamber, a clinical psychologist amd honary INCORE Fellow, who helped in the work of transition and reconciliation in South Africa and Northern Ireland, examined the section dealing with terrorism victims.

Pierre Hazan, former correspondent with French daily newspaper, Liberation, and a researcher with the Swiss National Foundation on Human Rights in Geneva, made recommendations on recovering historic memory and reparation for Franco’s regime victims.

Andrea Bartoli, director of the International Conflict Resolution Programme at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and advisor to the UN Secretary General on the prevention of genocide and conflict, analysed the section of the plan dealing with defence of liberties and civil and political rights.

Ciaran O’Maolain, of the NI Human Rights Commission, contributed to the section on torture and respect of prisoners’ rights.

During their visit to the region the group met with the Political Council of the Basque Government to analyse and make recommendations on the plan.

Ends


For further information, please contact:

Press Office, Department of Public Affairs
Tel: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk

Now, if they could all stop calling it a region, the Basque Country is exactly that, a country, a nation occupied by two foreign powers. Doing so would put everything into the right context.

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Talks and More Talks

This note comes to us thanks to EITb:

BASQUE PEACE PROCESS

Basque PM says talks among political parties underway

10/02/2006

Basque Premier Juan José Ibarretxe said that "official talks" between the armed Basque band ETA and the Spanish Government are underway as well as the talks among all the political parties, so he is optimistic about the Basque peace process.

In an appearance at the IV Meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Bilbao in the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Ibarretxe stressed the importance of "sending a message of optimism" on the Basque peace process to the Basques. The Basque president also urged the politicians to be "well-balanced" because "it is not right to send a message of optimism in the morning and a message of pessimism at night."

Ibarretxe said he understands Basques are worried about the peace process but he added he was optimistic as, on the one hand, the "official talks between ETA" and the Spanish Government are underway, and , on the other hand, the talks among all the political parties.

The Basque premier said he is confident the political parties are currently "more mature than ever to deal with the Basque peace process" and, therefore, "make the dream of peace and of political agreements come true."

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Kilometroak in Oiartzun

Oiartzun was one of the places I was lucky enough to visit during my trip to Euskal Herria at the end of the summer.

So, I was glad to read this note at EITb:

KILOMETROAK 2006

Oiartzun celebrates Basque schools' day of Gipuzkoa

10/01/2006

Kilometroak 2006, the Basque schools’ day of Gipuzkoa, is been celebrated in Oiartzun in a festive atmosphere. The event is been accompanied by a wonderful weather. This year’s edition has been organised by the local school Haurtzaroa Ikastola.

The commitment to the Basque language and to the Ikastolas (Basque schools) is so rooted in the Basque society that thousands of people are awaited in the festival in order to enjoy the day and to pay tribute to the ikastolas.

The day will be packed with music and dance performances, as well as sports activities and other kind of attractions.

Organisers aim at getting enough funding to be able to guarantee a wide teaching offer. The takings from this event will go towards the restoration of the school’s facilities and the construction of a new building.

The opening of the festival took place at 09:00 am with the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Principal Arantxa Manterola welcome the attendants, including Basque government’s spokesperson Miren Azkarate.

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