15 April 1999 Edition
Desire for peace overflows in Bilbo
By Teresa Toda
Once more, last Saturday, the main streets of the biggest Basque city, Bilbo, overflowed with people from all parts of Euskal Herria (the Basque Country) demonstrating a common wish for a new political situation recognising the rights of the Basque people and bringing peace.
A wide spectrum of the political and social forces of Euskal Herria, allied through the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and representing the country's electoral and social majority, are working hard to build up the conditions that will make it possible. They have succeeded in creating hopes and expectations but also in creating new ideas and proposals for Euskal Herria.
Although what becomes of Euskal Herria in the near and distant future depends mainly on the Basque people, there are many difficulties in the way, in the form of the Spanish and French governments and the political parties that support them. In Hego Euskal Herria ( the part of the Basque Country under Spanish domain), the Spanish parties PP and PSOE, together with UA, a tiny local group in the province of Araba, represent the State's absolute stagnation and its insistence on repression as the ``real'' way to peace. That stubbornness has led to a litany of arrests, searches of homes and the premises of left-wing independent organisations as well as the death of ETA volunteer Joselu Geresta in suspicious circumstances.
Against a situation that risks stagnation because of the attitude of PP, PSOE and the Spanish government, the Lizarra-Garazi forces called a series of demonstrations to support Basque society's claim for the new way opened towards justice and peace by the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and ETA's ceasefire.
The first of those demonstrations was the gathering of thousands of Basques outside town halls all over the Basque Country on 26 March under the banner: ``Building peace, Euskal Herria has its say''. The rallies were jointly called by nationalist parties PNV, EA and HB.
Then, the huge demonstration last Saturday in Bilbo brought together close to 90,000 people under the same slogan.
Last Monday at midday, many thousands of Basque women and men responded to the call for a one-hour strike supporting the Lizarra-Garazi way to peace. Even the Basque government broke for five minutes, causing outrage to the Spanish government.
It is difficult to assess how many people stopped working, but the fact is that the rallies of March 26, the demonstration in Bilbo and the strike have helped to spread the real meaning of the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and to bring to the fore the intense desire of the Basque people to work together towards sovereignty and peace.
Basque political prisoner, Esteban Esteban Nieto arrived in his home town of Tolosa towards midnight on Wednesday, 7 April. He hasd been finally released from prison due to his serious and terminal illness - a widespread cancer.
Esteban Nieto was arrested in 1987 in Madrid and sentenced to an incredible amount of years in jail (over 2,500) by the special `anti-terrorist' court, the Audiencia Nacional.
Over the last 12 years, he has been in six different prisons, one of them in the Canary Islands, where he spent over a year in total isolation. He could not hug or touch his daughter, born while he was in jail, until the little girl was five years old.
Prison authorities and Guardia Civil officers have been especially cruel to Esteban Nieto, who was a member of ETA's Commando Madrid (Madrid unit). The conditions he was forced to live in as well as the hunger-strikes he undertook to protest against them, have undoubtedly contributed to damaging his health. He was finally diagnosed of cancer about two weeks ago, but he has been complaining of pains for over a year, and every time he managed to obtain permission for different hospital tests he was transferred to another prison and the tests were never carried out.
Once his terminal condition was known, a myriad of protests and demonstrations of solidarity sprung up all over the Basque Country, while Nieto's lawyers asked the authorities to release him, as Spanish law states that prisoners suffering from serious or incurable illnesses must be released.
The prosecutor of the Audiencia Nacional, however, opposed the measure and Nieto decided he would go on hunger strike to mount pressure for his release.
Finally, the Audiencia Nacional and prison authorities gave in and Esteban Nieto was released. His case is an extreme demonstration of what the Spanish policy of scattering Basque prisoners can do, and of the strength of the prisoners themselves.
Canada has changed its inner borders for the first time in the last 50 years to create a new autonomous territory, Nunavut.
Nunavut (`Our Land' in Inuktitut language) will be the first territory legally granted to the Inuit, a nation with a population of over 100,000 people that inhabits Canada, East Siberia, the north of Alaska, and Greenland. The autonomous territory is of similar size to Greenland and its capital is Iqaluit.
Demands for an autonomous Inuit government started.in the 1970s. The Canadian Government decided to group the Inuit population in makeshift houses, but it did not solve the problem, as the Inuit were not represented in any government body.
Disputes in relation to lands situated north of Parallel 60 opened the door to negotiations between the Inuit of Nunavut and the Canadian government. In the agreement of Nunavut - reached in 1992 after 30 years of negotiation- the Canadian Government committed itself to transfer responsibilities in Health, Education, Justice, Environment, Natural Resources and Culture to the autonomous government in the area. An Executive, Assembly and a Justice body in which Inuits will be always be in a majority are also in the process of being formed.
The organisation Inuit Tapirisat tried to reconcile the indigenous traditions and the conditions of the modern Canadian State. A referendum in 1982 initiated the negotiations for the creation of a new administrative entity, separated from the main Canadian institutions. The main difficulty now was to agree on the territories that would be included in the new autonomous territory.
Finally, more than 69% of the Inuit population in the area voted in support of the Nunavut Agreement, in which the Inuit people concede 82% of their territory in exchange for an autonomy of 353,000 square kilometers. The final transfer of competencies will take place in 2009.
Once more, last Saturday, the main streets of the biggest Basque city, Bilbo, overflowed with people from all parts of Euskal Herria (the Basque Country) demonstrating a common wish for a new political situation recognising the rights of the Basque people and bringing peace.
A wide spectrum of the political and social forces of Euskal Herria, allied through the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and representing the country's electoral and social majority, are working hard to build up the conditions that will make it possible. They have succeeded in creating hopes and expectations but also in creating new ideas and proposals for Euskal Herria.
Although what becomes of Euskal Herria in the near and distant future depends mainly on the Basque people, there are many difficulties in the way, in the form of the Spanish and French governments and the political parties that support them. In Hego Euskal Herria ( the part of the Basque Country under Spanish domain), the Spanish parties PP and PSOE, together with UA, a tiny local group in the province of Araba, represent the State's absolute stagnation and its insistence on repression as the ``real'' way to peace. That stubbornness has led to a litany of arrests, searches of homes and the premises of left-wing independent organisations as well as the death of ETA volunteer Joselu Geresta in suspicious circumstances.
Against a situation that risks stagnation because of the attitude of PP, PSOE and the Spanish government, the Lizarra-Garazi forces called a series of demonstrations to support Basque society's claim for the new way opened towards justice and peace by the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and ETA's ceasefire.
The first of those demonstrations was the gathering of thousands of Basques outside town halls all over the Basque Country on 26 March under the banner: ``Building peace, Euskal Herria has its say''. The rallies were jointly called by nationalist parties PNV, EA and HB.
Then, the huge demonstration last Saturday in Bilbo brought together close to 90,000 people under the same slogan.
Last Monday at midday, many thousands of Basque women and men responded to the call for a one-hour strike supporting the Lizarra-Garazi way to peace. Even the Basque government broke for five minutes, causing outrage to the Spanish government.
It is difficult to assess how many people stopped working, but the fact is that the rallies of March 26, the demonstration in Bilbo and the strike have helped to spread the real meaning of the Lizarra-Garazi Agreement and to bring to the fore the intense desire of the Basque people to work together towards sovereignty and peace.
Released to die
Basque political prisoner, Esteban Esteban Nieto arrived in his home town of Tolosa towards midnight on Wednesday, 7 April. He hasd been finally released from prison due to his serious and terminal illness - a widespread cancer.
Esteban Nieto was arrested in 1987 in Madrid and sentenced to an incredible amount of years in jail (over 2,500) by the special `anti-terrorist' court, the Audiencia Nacional.
Over the last 12 years, he has been in six different prisons, one of them in the Canary Islands, where he spent over a year in total isolation. He could not hug or touch his daughter, born while he was in jail, until the little girl was five years old.
Prison authorities and Guardia Civil officers have been especially cruel to Esteban Nieto, who was a member of ETA's Commando Madrid (Madrid unit). The conditions he was forced to live in as well as the hunger-strikes he undertook to protest against them, have undoubtedly contributed to damaging his health. He was finally diagnosed of cancer about two weeks ago, but he has been complaining of pains for over a year, and every time he managed to obtain permission for different hospital tests he was transferred to another prison and the tests were never carried out.
Once his terminal condition was known, a myriad of protests and demonstrations of solidarity sprung up all over the Basque Country, while Nieto's lawyers asked the authorities to release him, as Spanish law states that prisoners suffering from serious or incurable illnesses must be released.
The prosecutor of the Audiencia Nacional, however, opposed the measure and Nieto decided he would go on hunger strike to mount pressure for his release.
Finally, the Audiencia Nacional and prison authorities gave in and Esteban Nieto was released. His case is an extreme demonstration of what the Spanish policy of scattering Basque prisoners can do, and of the strength of the prisoners themselves.
Nunavut nation is born
Canada has changed its inner borders for the first time in the last 50 years to create a new autonomous territory, Nunavut.
Nunavut (`Our Land' in Inuktitut language) will be the first territory legally granted to the Inuit, a nation with a population of over 100,000 people that inhabits Canada, East Siberia, the north of Alaska, and Greenland. The autonomous territory is of similar size to Greenland and its capital is Iqaluit.
Demands for an autonomous Inuit government started.in the 1970s. The Canadian Government decided to group the Inuit population in makeshift houses, but it did not solve the problem, as the Inuit were not represented in any government body.
Disputes in relation to lands situated north of Parallel 60 opened the door to negotiations between the Inuit of Nunavut and the Canadian government. In the agreement of Nunavut - reached in 1992 after 30 years of negotiation- the Canadian Government committed itself to transfer responsibilities in Health, Education, Justice, Environment, Natural Resources and Culture to the autonomous government in the area. An Executive, Assembly and a Justice body in which Inuits will be always be in a majority are also in the process of being formed.
The organisation Inuit Tapirisat tried to reconcile the indigenous traditions and the conditions of the modern Canadian State. A referendum in 1982 initiated the negotiations for the creation of a new administrative entity, separated from the main Canadian institutions. The main difficulty now was to agree on the territories that would be included in the new autonomous territory.
Finally, more than 69% of the Inuit population in the area voted in support of the Nunavut Agreement, in which the Inuit people concede 82% of their territory in exchange for an autonomy of 353,000 square kilometers. The final transfer of competencies will take place in 2009.