New hope in Basque Country

from the Scottish Socialist Voice

As the sun slowly went down over Bilbao on Saturday 21 January, and as police helicopters circled overhead, Arnaldo Otegi, spokesperson for Batasuna, stood alone on a giant stage and delivered a passionate speech proclaiming that, “the doors to hope, freedom and justice are being opened right here today.”

To Otegi’s left the doors to the huge Basque Exhibition Centre were firmly closed. This was the venue booked for Batasuna’s National Congress: the event I’d flown over to the Basque Country to attend, along with fellow SSP member, Lloyd Quinan.

The day before we left Scotland the Spanish state had taken the draconian and fascistic decision to ban Batasuna (by far the largest and most militant component of the pro-independence left of the Basque Country) for two further years. The Spanish state also declared the Batasuna National Congress banned; use of the BEC building an illegal act; and military police ensured it stayed shut that weekend.

Faced with the choice of either backing down or a potentially violent confrontation with the fascist Spanish state many other political movements (Batasuna has explicitly declared it is a political movement and NOT a political party) would have backed down. But Batasuna is not only made of sterner stuff but has a tactically astute collective leadership and a movement with deep roots among the Basque people.

The National Congress was postponed but Batasuna members assisted in building for an impromptu Civil Rights protest adjacent to the empty BEC building.

Forty-eight hours after the ban was imposed on Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi may have stood alone on stage but in front of him - and all around the empty square beside the BEC - were 15,000 Basques who had rallied to defend Batasuna and their own civil rights.

Before Arnaldo had taken to the stage to deliver a keynote message of continued resistance, myself and Lloyd had taken to the stage along with an international delegation of observers to open the event with a rousing rendition of Avante Popolo and The Internationale.

The view in front of us was awe-inspiring. A sea of people (and Ikurrinas) stretched all the way back as far as the eye could see. Chants of “Independence! Socialism!” and “Batasuna Lives” (in Basque obviously!) could be heard loud and defi ant.

Behind us the Scottish Saltire flew proudly along with the national flags of dozens of stateless nations represented on the stage. (Aengus O Snodaigh, Sinn Fein TD, delivered a message of solidarity on behalf of all of the international observers.)

After the international delegation were introduced to the rally, leading figures from the Basque pro-independence left, the trade union movement, and the social movement took to the stage.

Groups who would not normally have been expected on a stage with Arnaldo Otegi and Pernando Berra (the leadership of Batasuna) were represented. Representatives of political parties stood shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of trade unions.

This was an extraordinarily powerful and timely show of strength and unity among the Basque pro-independence left. After the unforeseen two year ban on Batasuna spirits were lifted and confidence has now gone sky high among all layers of the movement. Not for the first time the repressive Spanish state miscalculated the resilience and determination of the Basque left.

This was one of the sharpest learning curves any activist in Scotland’s pro-independence left could ever hope for. Seeing the way the Basque left swung into action and experiencing the depth of its grassroots support was inspirational.

It was good to discover that the SSP and the Scottish independence movement has so many international friends and good will directed towards us. We got loads of encouragement that we can deliver a majority for independence in the May 2007 election. All of the people we met understood the historic window of opportunity that will open for us here on that date and urged us to unite and make it happen.