taking the gun out of basque politics

international | crime and justice | news report

Monday October 03, 2005 15:31

by -

It has been exactly one year since the arrest on October 3 2004 of "Mikel Antza" (Mikel Albizu born 1961), a writer attributed with leading the organisation ETA since 1992, thought to be directly responsible for 120 deaths.
He was arrested with his partner "anboto" (Soledad Iparagirre - born 1961) who is blamed for 14 deaths.

They were detained in a villa at Salíes-de-Béarn with 17 other presumed members of ETA, a quantity of arms, 1,300 kilograms of explosive and two SAM7 rocket launchers (supplied by irish dissident republicans).

This morning the succesors to that couple were arrested (also in France) along with a quantity of arms in the 6th joint operation between Spain and France aimed at the total disarticulation of the terrorist group.

Harriet Aguirre, (suspected lieutenant to ETA leader Garikoitz Aspiazu who succeeded Mikel Antza) and Idoia Mendizábal and one un-named person were arrested today in France.

Amongst the crimes they are suspected of was the murder of a young socialist militant in the Basque,
Eduardo Madina in 2002 who had taken part in the "basque forum" an opportunity for all sides to the conflict within the basque to search for a solution.

In 40 years the terrorist group have killed over 850 people.

In the last year ETA has carried out several small attacks indicative of its weakness, all came with warnings indicative of its awareness of public opinion in the basque after march 11 on a variety of targets :-

* madrid motorway service stations on the first day of weekend holidays.

* an ESB partner electricity station.

* various tourist resorts.
_______________________________________

The basque parliament is currently preparing a constitutional reform document which will be debated between its coalition of centre nationalists, left wing parties and the local varient of the spanish socialist party. That reform will address the continued revitalisation of the language, the recuperation of identity and renewed financial investment in the industrial heartland of the Bay of Biscay where the basques live.

"Bake" is the basque for peace.

Most people there know that, their beautiful language is heard ever more frequently as it "de-politicises" and most basques are waiting for "bake" and many of them have a fair idea of how to achieve it, given half the chance, and almost none of them believe the gun is going to get it or has helped much in getting it so far.
Instead the rhetoric and myth of "national liberation" and /or "national oppression" has spawned a fascistic group of murderers who distort the reality of the historic repression and attempt to monopolise the realities of cultural or economic inequality .

For those who know little about the history or contemporary culture of the Basque people or their contribution to Europe and the world, the continued presence of the terrorists has made it lamentably more difficult for those who are committed to solely peaceful political and cultural development to find space in international media.

All-too-often only certain types of basque political activists are heard. "the basques have terrorists".

The basques are just the same as anyone else.

They have the same worries, and the same problems with jobs, housing, health, precarity.
They protest the same way as we do.
they have critical mass, they have rts! they do some of the best graffiti on the continent. They're worried about nuclear power and pollution.

That didn't end last year nor does it end today.

But only when the gun is taken from their politics will the real story be heard.

Do yourself a favour find a basque (they're diasporic just like the Irish) and talk to them about their home and try not to mention the "national question". Imagine you had just met an irish boy or girl and tried not to start the conversation on what its like to be alive today in the globalised world that affords you both shoes, and avoid the "which part of ireland are you from?" or "are you kathurlick or protestant?".
Talk about Sub Sahara instead. Ask what basques and irish can do about that.

save preference

Comments (2 of 2)

where's the mistake in the info?

by ?

Fri Oct 07, 2005 18:27

October 3 2004 of "Mikel Antza" (Mikel Albizu born 1961), responsible for 120 deaths was arrested with his partner "anboto" (Soledad Iparagirre - born 1961) blamed for 14 deaths.
Their child is in Cuba.

They were detained in france with 17 convicted members of ETA, a quantity of arms, 1,300 kilograms of explosive and two SAM7 rocket launchers (supplied by irish dissident republicans).

October 3 2005
Harriet Aguirre, (suspected lieutenant to ETA leader Garikoitz Aspiazu who succeeded Mikel Antza) and Idoia Mendizábal and one un-named person were arrested in France.

Amongst the crimes they are suspected of was the murder of a young socialist militant in the Basque,
Eduardo Madina in 2002 who had taken part in the "basque forum" an opportunity for all sides to the conflict within the basque to search for a solution.

He was quite a revolutionary socialist wasn't he?
You know about his case of course.

In 40 years the terrorist group have killed over 850 people.

* madrid motorway service stations on the first day of weekend holidays. the 3rd of the December2004

* an ESB partner electricity station.
on July 12th 2005 which some saw as an attempt to associate of ETA to associate itself with a popular cause which had earlier caused a petition and a referendum in the municipal area.
Their attempts to curry favour were laughable.
Others believe the bombing had nothing to do with either the ESB or energy policy ongoing domestic debate in the Basque region, and was a response to the London bombings of July 7th, honed for psychological and propaganda effect. This is the second time that eta have carried out multi-bombing attempts with warnings and without injuries on the "12th" of the month.

Last December ETA played with both a long weekend and the combination 3/12 to attack all motorway exit routes from Madrid. The bombings have needless to say been condemned by all sides except HB on the basque political stage and will be archived after the news that several key members of the ETA command structure in the 1980s have been "expelled" from the current organisation for arguing a cessation of conflict and complete ceasefire to move with the political parties and institutes of the basque and spain to settlement based on dialogue, concensus and normalisation, which basques want, so that Africans aren't dumped in the desert to be found by NGOs.

NOW WHERE is the information that needs to be checked?

put it through the search engine either here indymedia ireland or berria.info (pro-independence english language) but guess what? indymedia eukal herria can't be arsed reporting the antics of eta. Maybe they worry about paying their rent instead of keeping ahead of the property register or finding the mythic bookshop.

Check your information

by reabhloid-iraultza

Fri Oct 07, 2005 18:08

It's really disapointing to read such an article in Indymedia where, in theory, the people who takes part is in the left and revolutionary field, very close to the anti-capitalist globalitation movement.

I would ask to "by" to search and check his/her information because if he/she does it he/she will realise what all the Basque struggle is about wich is the struggle for the survival of the oldest nation in Europe, the last of the "European Indians", to contribute to a multicultural and rich world and is the struggle to build a new society, making their own way to socialism. This is the best way to fight this evil machine called capitalism that destroy al different nations in order to achieve a monocultural world where their corporations can continue exploiting, robbing and killing.

I would apreciate critics to the Basque struggl efrom a revolutinoary and constructive point of view. It's what I expect from Indymedia readers.

There is indeed a lot to learn about the Basque struggle so we can translate it to Ireland.

"By"'s article unfortunately sounds like the pro-capitalist medias "news".

Websites to check:
www.berria.info (english edition"
www.behatokia.info

Here you are an example of an independent point of view:
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=4819.

Less NGO's and more revolution!

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taking the gun out of basque politics

Comments (2 of 2)