Recently three successful meetings were held on the Irish and Basque
Peace Processes in Belfast, Strabane and Derry (25-27 October). The
meetings were organised by the International Left Solidarity Committee,
a group composed of republicans socialists and Marxists, dedicated to
looking at issues of international significance for the working classes.
Ibon Artola, (Editor of Euskal Herria Sozialista, http://www.euskalherriasozialista.net/
) gave a detailed examination of the current state of the struggle for
Basque independence from a Marxist perspective and his analysis of the
so-called Basque Peace process. For his Irish audiences Ibon gave a
brief history of the Basque struggle.
The
Basque Country is made up of seven provinces, Labourd, Basse Navarre,
and Soule all located in an area governed by France, and Viscaya,
Guipuzcoa, Alava and Navarre all under the control of Spain.
Following the overthrow of the Spanish Republic by a military coup led
by Franco and supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany the ancient
and unique Basque language was banned. The Spanish state refused
funding for the Basque language and culture, workers were denied their
right to use the language and even the graves of Basque martyrs were
interfered with to replace the Basque language on tombstones with
Spanish inscriptions. Also under the Franco dictatorship Communists,
Socialists but also Basques, were executed for their resistance to the
regime.
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA (Basque for "Basque Homeland and Freedom"
) was formed in 1959 originally as a cultural response to the
dictatorship’s attempts to impose Spanish language and cultural values
on the Basque people. From painting slogans on walls and buildings, ETA
eventually became an armed Basque nationalist organisation.
Ibon pointed out that at the beginning of the 20th century there were
those socialists who claimed that the rise of capitalism would solve
the national question. The reality has been different. The Irish
national question still has not been resolved. In Belgium national
differences are once more coming to the fore. In essence capitalism is
incapable of solving the national question. On the contrary Capitalism
uses the national question and the existence of minorities to divide
and thus weaken all sections of the working class regardless of their
nationality. Imperialism wishes to impose itself on small countries and
the fight to overcome this was essential.
The fall of the Franco dictatorship did not solve the national question
in Spain. After the death of Franco a new constitution gave limited
autonomy to three of the Spanish controlled Basque provinces called the
Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) while Navarre was not allowed to opt
into the BAC but made into a separate autonomous region. By 1983 the
BAC had limited autonomous powers including its own elected parliament,
its own police force, its own school system and control over taxation.
(It is worth noting that all of these except most notably the control
over taxation have all been granted to the current Stormont
administration.)
Theses changes while accepted and worked by the more conservative
nationalists in the PNC Partido Nacionalista Vasco , a
Christian-Democrat political party and which has been the dominant
power in the BAC, was rejected by the Abertzale Left because it did not
satisfy the national aspirations of many Basques, nor did they bring
peace to the Basque Country.
Spain still exerts extensive influence over Basque life, some spheres
of which, such as harbour authorities, customs, employment, the armed
forces and foreign relations, remain entirely under jurisdiction of the
central government. The central state apparatus, including politicians,
police including the local Basque police, army and prisons, have
continued to persecute members and sympathizers of the Abertzale
movement and to obstruct Basques’ attempts to construct their own
political structures and to articulate and defend a national
sovereignty project.
The Spanish and the Basque ruling class, in the form of the PNV, showed
their reactionary nature by supporting the 2002 coup against Hugo
Chavez in Venezuela. They also endorsed the electoral fraud perpetrated
by the Mexican ruling class aided and abetted by USA Imperialism.
The rise of ETA and a broadening of its support base in the beginning
was because of the failure of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) to do
anything. It was not in their interests because the Basque bourgeoisie
was and still is firmly bound with the Spanish bourgeoisie. This is
similar to the way the Irish bourgeoisie despite its so-called formal
freedom is intrinsically tied in with the British ruling class and also
subservient to USA Imperialism.
Ibon pointed out that 65% of the population of Spain is in favour of a
solution to the situation in the Basque country. In March 2006 ETA
declared a ceasefire. Hopes were raised for a settlement and not only
was there comparisons with the so-called Irish Peace Process but clergy
involved in facilitating the IRA ceasefires became involved in delicate
negotiations in the Basque Country. Sinn Fein leaders including Gerry
Adams also visited the Basque Country encouraging militants to follow
the Sinn Fein(P) example.
However, the People’s Party (PP) in Spain began arguing that the
Spanish ruling class was granting too many concessions to ETA. Its
leader Rajoy called on the government to continue, "fighting terrorism"
and reject negotiations. Zapatero, the Spanish prime Minister in fact
stepped up repression. Despite the calls from left Nationalists for
round table talks there was little movement from the Spanish
Government. ETA militants were still being harassed and detained and
there was no movement on the issue of the prisoners. It is the policy
of the Spanish government to imprison political prisoners at least 600
kilometres from their homes and some as far as the Salto del Negro
prison in the Canary Islands . So prisoners’ families often travel
hundreds of kilometres to prisons to visit them, either in Spain or
France. This has resulted in a great financial burden being placed on
many families. Many have been killed in road accidents travelling the
long distances.
Much to the astonishment of his Irish audiences Ibon pointed out that
the oppression included political prisoners not being released as
planned, with some having their sentences increased. Following the
Barajas bombing when ETA attacked an airport the Spanish Government
banned the Basque left nationalist youth organisation Segi, declaring
it to be a terrorist organisation because both Segi and ETA have the
same stated goals of independence and socialism. ETA had bombed the
airport in an attempt to put pressure on the Spanish government. This
had the adverse effect and resulted in a series of repressive measures
by the Spanish ruling class including a widespread propaganda campaign
aimed at undermining ETA. Batasuna leader Ortegui summed up the new
departure of Batasuna when he said "How can we have a peace process
with bombs going off?"
There are some on the left, as Ibon pointed out, who argue that the
problem in the Basque Country is "terrorism". They do so from the
safety of their well-paid parliamentary jobs without any understanding
of national oppression. The Basque problem is the interference of the
Spanish government in the affairs of the Basque Country.
Ibon pointed to the example of Russia prior to the 1917 October. There
had existed a group called the Narodniks. The Narodniks believed the
peasantry was the revolutionary class that would overthrow the monarchy
and they regarded the village commune as the embryo of socialism.
However, they believed that the peasantry would not achieve revolution
on their own, but instead that history could only be made by heroes,
outstanding personalities, who would lead an otherwise passive
peasantry to revolution. They hoped that their acts of violence would
lead to spontaneous uprisings and social upheaval. Despite their
assassination of the Tsar, for which Lenin’s brother was executed, no
such uprisings took place. Instead it was the building of a
revolutionary party with mass support that eventually saw off feudal
Russia.
There are also some militant youth who have launched attacks against
the offices of Spanish trade unions. Ibon pointed out the importance of
winning over the Spanish and French working classes to support and
solidarity with the Basque people and therefore it is wrong to
antagonise them by attacks on the organisations that the workers regard
as theirs. It is of the greatest importance that these young people are
won over to genuine Marxist politics. As revolutionaries we cannot turn
our backs on the militant youth.
Ibon then went on to point out something that should be a salutary
lesson for Irish republicans. Every September there is a demonstration
in favour of the prisoners. This year it was banned with little
explanation. Basque policemen were sent to deal with the demonstration
and over 100 people were injured. Having Basques in the police force ‑
or Catholics in the PSNI ‑ is no victory when these same forces are
used to protect the status quo.
The PNV defend their own interests which are the interests of the
ruling Class. They may talk about independence but the bottom line is
that the PNV in the Basque Country, have no interest in independence
for the Basque country. They share the same interests as the Spanish
ruling classes have. Only the working class can solve the national
questions, whether it’s in the Basque country, Ireland, the Balkans or
anywhere else.
During the Russian revolution the Bolsheviks managed to overthrow the
old order, despite Russia being a country with dozens of different
nationalities.
When Ibon Artola had finished his presentation in all three venues
there were discussions and questions and answer sessions. Naturally
some of these questions focussed on the issue of prisoners, their
actual conditions in jail and if they had any input into the Basque
Peace Process. Other questions included if the prisoners or their
organisations had tried to use the denial of human rights and torture
used by the Spanish government to take Spain to European courts. It was
pointed out that those who tried to see comparisons between the peace
processes in Ireland and the Basque Country failed to see that the
Republican struggle in Ireland had been defeated and that in accepting
both the Good Friday Agreement and the St Andrews Agreement republicans
settled for less than the Basque Country had achieved years ago.
A prominent feature of the meeting was that unlike many other meetings
on international issues organised by other groups the audience at these
meetings were overwhelmingly working class and had an instinctive grasp
of the class issues thrown up by the struggle in the Basque Country.
[Originally published in The Plough, E-mail newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, (Web site http://www.theplough.netfirms.com/ ) Vol. 4- No 24, Saturday, 3rd November 2007]
