Amidst the worldwide media coverage of Gaddafi’s death, a historic development in another conflict went largely unnoticed – after over 40 years of a military campaign against the Spanish state, the Basque armed group ETA announced a permanent end to it’s use of violence in the struggle for an independent and socialist Basque state. This follows on from previous announcements from the group, declaring a desire to pursue Basque independence through peaceful measures.

Naturally the Spanish PM has spoke of ETA’s declaration as a victory over terror and a  rebuke to radical Basque nationalists. In reality, the use of shootings and bombings by a group the size of ETA is unable to bring independence to the Basque country, and skews the coverage of the conflict as one between the Spanish state and a small armed organisation. This totally ignores the strength of the Basque radical pro-independence movement, and acts in the interests of the Spanish state by making the dispute about a conflict against terrorism that the Basques cannot win by military means.

The position of the Basque independence left is one the untold success stories of the Socialist movement in Europe. In almost every town and city, the left pro-independence movement – known as the Abertzale or patriotic left – controls youth centres, pubs and social clubs. These community facilities are considered such a threat to the Spanish state that one of them was recently demolished, despite public opposition. The Basque Left can also wield a significant section of the popular vote in the Basque country – almost certainly larger than anywhere else for the Socialist Left in Europe.

In the recent municipal elections in the Spanish State, the Basque Left party Bildu stood and took a whopping 25% of the vote – the largest ever vote recieved by the pro-independence left, who historically took between 10% and 20%. This makes Bildu the opposition party in the Basque country, to the pro-independence moderate party the PNV which took 30% of the vote. This combined vote shows there is a solid majority in favour of independence for the Basque country.

The vote for the pro-independence left was even more impressive giving the Spanish State had tried to ban Bildu from standing – claiming that it was a front for ETA and Batasuna, a radical Basque party the Spanish state previously banned that took between 15 – 20%. This ban was ridiculous considering that Bildu declared it did not support ETA attacks to bring about independence, and that ETA itself had declared it’s intention to end it’s campaign.

Despite ETA’s repeated attempts to engage with the Spanish State in a peace process, both the right-wing Popular Party and the New Labouresque Spanish Socialist Workers Party refused to enter into any meaningful negotiation to end the conflict. Unreported from the majority of the world’s media is the ongoing political repression in the Basque country – in which political parties like Batasuna were banned, Basque newspapers were shut down, prisoners are tortured, youth organisations are prohibited and radical Basque politicians jailed for insulting the monarchy. This repression hasn’t all come from the right wing of Spanish politics either – it was the “Socialist” Workers Party who set up death squads to assassinate and torture ETA members and Basque radical politicans, with the authorization and support of Government ministers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDbxuh_1beY

Banned Basque pro-Independence Left group SEGI

The Spanish State refuses to enter a peace process because it knows what the result inevitably will be – almost every single election since the overthrow of Franco in Spain has produced a majority nationalist administration in the Basque autonomous region. Spain has refused any discussion on Independence for the Basque country – with the Spanish Parliament vetoing even unofficial referendums on the Basque country’s future, fearing the inevitable yes vote for Independence.

The modern Spanish state never really decisively broke with it’s fascist past – there were no trials or truth and reconciliation commissions for those who tortured and murdered leftists, trade unionists and Basque and Catalan nationalists under Franco. Instead an agreement was struck between the conservative and centre-left parties not to pursue justice for these people, and to enshrine in the Spanish constitution the illegality of any form of independence for nations that are currently part of the Spanish State. The so-called democratic post-Franco constitution made it illegal for the Basque country to become independent without the sanction of the central Spanish Government. It was for this reason that the majority of Basque voters abstained and voted against accepting this new constitution – and why despite the overthrow of Franco, ETA continued an armed campaign.

Basque political prisoners are dispersed - this poster demands their return.

Now it’s become clear the Basque independence movement has stronger weapons in it’s arsenal than bombs or bullets, weapons the Spanish State cannot easily quash. With the support of a third of the population, and dozens of community facilities across the Basque country the pro-Independence left is ready to wage a war of the people against the Spanish State.

SSY was proud to host a group of Basque Abertzale youth at our camp last year. One of the motivations they had in coming to Scotland was to observe the possible referendum on Independence here. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to vote for Independence in 2010 because the Unionist parties blocked it. However as you’ve probably noticed, the recent SNP landslide means there will be a definite referendum in the next 4 years. This isn’t just important for Scotland – it’s a message to the Spanish State and the Basque people as well. If Scots are allowed to vote in a free vote on our future, without being blocked by the Spanish Government, tortured, shot by death squads, having our political parties banned, our newspapers closed down, community centres demolished – why shouldn’t the Basque Country have that choice as well?

FREEDOM FOR THE BASQUE COUNTRY – GORA EUSKAL HERRIA!

5000 Basques march in Bilbao against "Hispanity day" in Solidarity with massacred American indians.

Naismith stoops to head home and complete a great move

3-2. Another game, another glorious failure for Scotland’s national football team. Losing bravely seems to be what we do best. Well, some of the time at least. The less said about the recent dismal defeat in Prague, the better.

Of course there is no shame in losing by such a narrow margin to the reigning European and World champions. Before the match, Scotland manager Craig Levein had described this Spanish side as “the toughest opponents we’ve ever faced” in Scotland’s history. It would be silly of me to mention the much tougher historical battles and wars fought against English invaders, because he was obviously just talking about football.

No-one apart from the most deluded of optimists could really have expected much more from the game. At kick-off, I had decided I was going to remain emotionally detached and just try to enjoy watching masters such as David Villa and Andrés Iniesta at work. You can compare and contrast my mood then compared with the moment when Gerard Piqué put through his own net to level the scores at 2-2. I was absolutely elated. It’s a real shame that we were unable to hold out for a draw, but the performance will be more important than the result, by restoring some belief and hopefully encouraging Levein to confine his 4-6-0 formation to the dustbin of history.

Prior to the match, I joined with several other members of the Basque Solidarity Campaign to help raise awareness of the dark side of the Spanish state. We also had the objective of building support for the Basque independence movement in general and the plight of political prisoners in particular. We were able to hand out hundreds of leaflets and engage with many members of the public. Hopefully this activity will be the launchpad for a continuous program of solidarity actions throughout the year.

This is really important because, at a time when sporting triumphs have brought Spain international attention, many people in Europe are seemingly unaware of the situation in Euskal Herria (the Basque-language name for their 7-province homeland). While there has been a concerted effort to promote the concept of a New Spain – where all the constituent regions and nations are able to celebrate their identity and enjoy equality under the rojigualda – the Francoist policies of internment, torture and extraordinary rendition remain in place.

Scottish-Basque solidarity

Despite ETA’s ceasefire announcement, which declared an end to armed struggle and commitment to peaceful methods (confirming in words what has been happening in practice for a good while now), the Spanish PSOE government continues to use a false terrorist threat as an excuse for arresting pro-independence activists, often detaining them in the south of Spain or even North Africa. Their ‘crime’ is to campaign for an independent socialist republic. The punishment is often long periods in jail, under conditions which have changed little since Spain’s transition from fascism to democracy.

Sporting events can sometimes be difficult places to raise awareness of international problems. A lot of fans don’t want to be distracted from simply supporting their team and enjoying the occasion with friends and family. Despite this, we received some really positive responses. Many people seemed supportive or interested. When I said “stop Spanish oppression against the Basques”, there was a lot of “quite right” and “aye mate, definitely”. One guy, sticking his thumb up, shouted back at me “…and the Catalans!” There was a crowd of young Celtic fans hanging around the ground (I suspect they were looking for a way to sneak in!) who all happily took leaflets from us and seemed to have some prior knowledge of the Basque liberation struggle.

However, to leave it there would not tell the full story. Apart from the standard number of people who aren’t interested in any politics, there seemed to be a significant amount of people who just did not know what we were referring to. I think some people deemed us misguided for printing pictures of Spanish police wielding huge coshes, masked up in balaclavas. After all, surely democratic EU-member states don’t do that kind of thing. But this one does. “The Basques?” some asked, apparently genuinely not knowing that these people even existed.

Freedom for the Basque people!

For this, I do not blame the fans. The Spanish state propaganda machine has been at pains to suppress information getting out about their repressive practices, and to stop people from knowing about the mass struggle for an independent Basque homeland. They have cynically taken advantage of the post-9/11 ‘War On Terror’ to ratchet up repression against the pro-independence Left. For such practices, they have even been critcised by Amnesty International, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the media in Spain or allied states such as France (which currently controls 3 of the Basque provinces) and Britain. With our media collaborating in covering-up the crimes of the Spanish state, it becomes all the more important for those of us in Scotland who are for human rights, peace, independence and socialism to break the media embargo and let people know what’s going on.

Watch this space for further updates on what’s happening over there and what we’re doing over here. Meanwhile, I hope we can build on our recent success in establishing deeper links between the movements for self-determination and socialism in Euskal Herria and Scotland. Let’s not be divided just because it was a Basque striker who killed our hopes last night!

Union map of where there were strikes and protests yesterday

You might not have noticed yesterday, what with the UK news much more concerned about what high paid cushy job David Miliband will be getting next, but across Europe millions of people were on strike and in the streets to protest the austerity policies of the EU governments.

Just like the ConDem government here, governments all across the European Union are making massive attacks on the working class, such cutting spending on vital services, taking away workers’ rights, throwing people out of work and generally making Europe a much more shite place to live.

Around 100,000 people took part in a Europe-wide demo in Brussels demanding an end to austerity policies. Delegations from 30 different countries are thought to have taken part. There’s some footage of it below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upouT9DsTBA

There’s some great photos from the Brussels demo here, but a particular favourite of mine is these two who dressed up to take the piss out of right wing French President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni:

Mr and Mrs Sarkozy

Meanwhile, in Spain there was a general strike, with 10 million people refusing to go to work in protest at the supposedly “Socialist” (the Spanish Socialist Party are more like New Labour) government, particularly plans to make it easier to sack workers and reduce the amount of compensation they’re entitled to. Protesters in Madrid went into any workplaces that were still open to hand out pamphlets and call on workers to join them, as well as blocking one of the main shopping streets the Gran Via. Throughout the different countries and regions that make up the Spanish state there were demonstrations taking place, and cops were used to break up picket lines, as you can see in this photo from Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Here’s some footage as well of the protests in Huelva, Andalusia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h88YHK73C4Q

In Barcelona, riot cops attacked and beat protesters, who fought back by torching one of their cars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LmL5T9iNFI

Update from a comrade in Barcelona: “Protesters completely occupied the headquarters of a major bank, and set up 2 huge speakers from the balcony which they used to give a running commentary of events onto the street, and somehow jammed the frequency of a local radio station so that it broadcast their speeches instead, clever stuff.

Nearby, a police car was set on fire.  Riot police responded shortly afterwards by charging into the crowd and lashing out indiscriminately with batons, which I suppose was ‘revenge’ for the burnt car.”

In Ireland protesters gathered in Dublin to mark the return of the Dáil (Irish parliament) into session. The Irish government is hugely unpopular for its austerity plans, and has spent €25 billion on bailing out banks. This morning came the news that the government is saying it will have to spend €35 billion just on bailing out the Anglo Irish bank. In the photo below you can see what people think about that:

The flyer for the protests in Dublin can be seen here. As part of the action, a cement mixer with “Toxic Bank” painted on the side was driven into the gates of the Irish parliament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QaJ3etB7to

In Greece, although the “mainstream” unions hadn’t called for a strike, public transport workers, doctors and dockers came out anyway. This follows on from the ongoing lorry drivers’ strike, which has seen supermarkets start to run short of supplies.

In Portugal 50,000 people marched in Lisbon and another 20,000 in Porto.

Here in Scotland the Scottish Trade Union Congress‘ “There is a Better Way” campaign did have a number of events to mark the Europe wide day of action. But what more can we do to try and catch up with our European friends? A good starting point would be getting yourself along to the street rally against the cuts organised in Glasgow this Saturday from trade union groups across the country. It probably won’t be on the scale of some of the protests seen above, but right now all across Europe it’s about kickstarting a movement that will show the governments and capitalists we aren’t going to accept paying the bill for their fuck ups. The rally meets at 12 at Buchanan Street subway.

One aim of the rally against the cuts is to try and build momentum for the all Scotland demonstration called by the STUC for October 23rd in Edinburgh (Facebook event here). It’s really important that both the Scottish and British government see there’s a real mood in Scotland to fight back against the cuts, especially from young people who already are suffering completely disproportionately from unemployment and the effects of the capitalist crisis.

On Saturday, over a million people marched through the streets of the Catalan capital of Barcelona, led by a large banner proclaiming, “We are a nation, we decide ourselves”. The demonstration, which has been widely reported as the largest in the history of Catalonia, was a response to the sentence issued by the Spanish Constitutional Court on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (the charter for Catalan self-rule).

A regressive sentence amid a manipulated decision-making process

Around 2005, in the context of Spain’s system of regional devolution, some in Catalonia felt that it was necessary to revise the earlier Catalan Statute, dating from 1979, and set out a draft for a new charter. Eventually, in 2006, the Statute was passed by both the Catalan and Spanish Parliaments, and it was endorsed in 2006 by a popular referendum in Catalonia. However, the Popular Party (PP) (the main right-wing opposition party in Spain) and the Spanish ombudsman (a holdover from the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) [read: the Spanish version of the Labour Party, who are currently in government – Ed.]) appealed the renewed Statute to the Constitutional Court.

The decision-making process of the Constitutional Court (CC) during the issuing of its ruling was not free from controversy: the mandates of three of its twelve members expired nearly two years ago and have not been renewed, and another judge died during his term and has still not been replaced. Despite all the legal abnormalities, and the fact that the CC is a political body whose members are handpicked by the two major parties in Spain, the response to the PP’s and the Spanish ombudsman’s appeal was eventually published one week ago. It briefly concludes:

1)    There is no legal basis to recognise Catalonia as a nation. As the Court obsessively makes sure to state twelve times in the text of the sentence, “the only nation within Spain is the Spanish one”.

2)    The Catalan language should not be prioritised over Spanish in Catalan administrations, public media and in schools, despite the marginalisation it suffered for centuries and the minority use of Catalan in public spaces.

3)    The Catalan people are recognised as “a people” but without any political or juridical powers. The Court aims, with this decision, to underline that the only sovereign people are the “Spanish” people.

4)    Although Catalonia has a recognised deficit of investment from the Spanish Government, it cannot ask for similar levels of fiscal autonomy to the Basque tax system, comparable to that of any EU Member State.

5)    The judiciary power will remain centralised in Madrid.

A Constitutional sentence above Catalans’ will

While the two main parties in the Spanish Parliament (PP- PSOE) have accepted the sentence with all its legal irregularities, all Catalan parties, except for the Popular Party (PP) in Catalonia and the small Anti-Catalan Nationalism Party (Ciudadanos), are unanimous in their analysis. They argue for respect for Catalonia’s identity and for what the Catalan people have voted for in a binding referendum, which the Spanish Constitutional Court has undermined. However, Catalan leaders differ in their suggestions as to how to come out from this political cul-de-sac. On the one hand, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and the Catalan Eco-Socialist Party (ICV) in office, and the centre-right Catalan Nationalist Party (CiU) insist on re-negotiating with the Spanish Government a new agreement regarding Catalonia’s national ambitions into the Spanish Constitution. On the other hand, the left-wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) (also in office), and the ex-Barcelona Football Club president, Joan Laporta, who has just created a new party, Democràcia Catalana, advocate for Catalonia’s secession from Spain. In this sense, Saturday‘s demonstration was clearly dominated by pro-independence sentiments and positions, and it is probable that the upcoming Catalan elections in November this year will also be framed around the issue of independence.

The CC’s 2010 sentence: the latest (and last!) frustrated attempt for a federal Spain

However, the debate over the CC’s judgement, and of Catalonia’s relationship with the Spanish state, is not a new issue.  The attempt to create a federal Spain, with Catalonia on the inside, has been at the heart of much of the country’s modern history, but it has continued to fail, often with fatal consequences for Catalonia.  In the 19th century, the First Spanish Republic, established in 1873 by the Catalan federalist Estanislau Figueras I de Moragas failed as a result of anti-federalist coups and ended up with the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.

Later, the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, and the first Catalan Statute in 1932, were overthrown by the fascist Francisco Franco and led to the bloody civil war in 1936. As George Orwell describes in his book Homage to Catalonia, written while he served as both a private and a corporal in Catalonia and Aragon in 1936, the effects the civil war had on Catalonia were devastating.

After 35 years of dictatorship, and after the passing of the Constitution of 1978, Spain created a unique system of regional autonomy, known as the “state of the autonomies”. The result of this system was nothing but a constitution full of ambiguities in its most fundamental aspects, and autonomous territorial structures that did not satisfy anyone, but all political parties accepted it for fear of returning to the ‘old times’ of the dictatorship.

The calculated ambiguity of the Spanish Constitution (which continually needs to be interpreted) requires that all important laws affecting legal autonomy are the result of negotiation, and should be ultimately interpreted by the CC. The latest episode of this process of negotiation was the political sentence of the CC issued last week. This time, the CC has sent one more clear messages to the Catalans:  ‘the will of the citizens of Catalonia doesn’t matter, because here we are the only sovereign institution that can make use of democracy’.  Therefore, with this sentence, the situation is not ambiguous anymore: Spain is expelling us; Spain has no room for the Catalan, if it not under its subjugation and national indignity. At that point, in my opinion, the only road to a decent future for Catalonia is our political independence. But, that’s a story for another post.

SSY has been involved in building opposition to the ConDem cuts over recent weeks, with our members taking part in last Saturday’s street rally against the “emergency” budget for instance. But it’s clear that if we really want to stop the neoliberal assault on our rights, we need to learn a thing or two from our friends in Europe.

- In Greece yesterday workers came out on to the streets in the tens of thousands to protest the latest stage in the handover of their country to the control of the IMF and the EU: the government is trying to raise the retirement age to 65 for men and women. Discussion of this began in the Greek parliament yesterday, and is expected to be voted on July 8th.

Demonstrators pelt riot cops with water bottles

The strike was particularly strong in transport, with flights grounded, railway links cut off and ports closed. On Monday, the courts had ruled a strike by dockworkers illegal, but they just ignored it. Early yesterday morning there was a massive police occupation of the main port of Piraeus, to try and prevent workers from getting in to blockade it. But, through clouds of teargas, the workers managed to break through and take the port from the police, and it was successfully blockaded until they left to take part in the mass marches taking place in Athens.

50,000 people were estimated to have been on the streets of Athens, and more again on the streets of the northern city of Thessaloniki. When riot police tried to cut through the middle of the march they were attacked by workers brandishing water bottles and their bare hands. Also, a small group of fascists appeared on the march draped in Greek flags and wearing military gear. They were chased away and beaten with their own flagpoles by strikers, forcing them to take refuge behind the police lines.

Before the demo some of the participants invaded a supermarket, taking food and other essentials which they then distributed for free to the strikers. This also happened in Thessaloniki, with those doing so giving out a leaflet explaining what they were doing to those who benefited.

Greek cops beat strikers on the metro platform

The police response was to wait until after the demo had finished, and attack people as they left. A group of riot cops stormed the metro and beat people on the platforms, as their colleagues did the same on the streets above. However, the demonstrators weren’t the only ones that were hurt by police, as two motorcycle cops collided in the chaos, knocking each other off their bikes. At least 13 people were detained from the Athens demo alone.

Greek unions have already announced there will be another general strike next week.

As one banner on the march read: “When injustice becomes law, resistance is a duty.”

Motorcycle cops knock each other down. We say: (In a Nelson Muntz voice) Ha Ha!

- In the Basque Country yesterday there was a general strike organised by the LAB trade union federation, which is a socialist, pro-independence grouping which represents 70% of the organised Basque workers. This general strike was ahead of the rest of the Spanish state, showing the different conditions there are in the Basque Country, with their history of national and social struggle, than other parts of the Spanish state.

The strike was against the “reforms” being imposed by the Spanish government, which will reduce the time needed to inform people of being made redundant and how much redundancy pay they are entitled to; give companies more rights to breach the collective agreements they have reached with their workers, imposing new shift patterns, hours and duties without consent; and expands the role of agencies, allowing insecure agency jobs to be created in areas where previously the law said workers would have to be properly employed.

A statement from the Basque unions said:

“Of all the crises there have been, this one has worked out the cheapest for employers. They abused temporality and have laid off the majority of people without the right to severance payments. With this reform they are taking advantage of the fear that exists and they are attempting to impose a system that replaces those people that have decent conditions in favour of precarious staff. They throw people onto the street with a pittance in severance pay. And this reform affects all of us collectively. . . They are all very harsh measures that require a decisive response.”

Over 80% of industrial enterprises in the Basque Country were shut down, and transport was brought to a standstill. Over 65,000 people took part in demonstrations in all the four major cities of the southern Basque Country (the part governed by Spain.) Meanwhile, in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, construction workers have gone on indefinite strike.

- In Spain itself, unfortunately, many unions are trying to enter into a “dialogue” with the government to try and get the measures watered down, instead of taking militant action to try and defeat them outright. One notable exception however are the metro workers in the Spanish capital Madrid. The regional authorities there are trying to impose a 5% pay cut on them, which they are tackling head on. Normally during metro strikes the workers provide a minimal service, but this time they’re so angry that, for the first time since 1991, they’ve gone on total strike, completely shutting the system down.

Meanwhile last week there were other days of action:

- In Italy last Friday, the CGIL trade union federation called a four hour general strike, and for workers to come out on to the streets. The response was fantastic, with 100,000 on the streets of Bologna, in Milan 70,000, in Naples 70,000, in Rome more than 40,000, in Palermo 25,000, in L’Aquila 20,000, in Cagliari 10,000, in Bari 10,000 and across the whole of the Veneto region (in the northeast) 80,000. Over a million people were on the streets in different parts of Italy.

The streets of Bologna filled with strikers

The strikes are against the measures of the right wing government of media baron Silvio Berlusconi, and his measures to freeze pay for public sector workers and make draconian cuts to local government funding. The strikers demanded an end to sackings, more benefits for those out of work, and more help to defend casualised workers and immigrants.

Demonstrators across the country were keen to show solidarity with the Fiat workers in the plant Pomigliano, near Naples, who are struggling for their rights against a particularly brutal management regime. Many wore t shirts showing their support, and any mention of the Fiat workers at the rallies drew applause. These workers are represented by FIOM, the metalworkers union which is particularly left wing, and has driven the union leadership to organise the general strike rather than compromise with Berlusconi. They’ve called for a national assembly of all Fiat workers on July 1st, which promises to be a huge event, and for a national campaign of solidarity with the Fiat workers.

- In France last Thursday around 2 million workers took part in 200 different strike rallies across the country, as workers walked out over plans by President Sarkozy to raise the retirement age to 62. Transport, including the TGV high speed trains, was shut down, along with schools and shops.

It’s hard for people in the UK to conceive of a general strike, since there hasn’t really been one in living memory. A general strike is when a critical mass of workers in most different industry come out together on strike. Some socialists have seen it historically as a key revolutionary weapon in moving towards socialism. What’s clear to day is that it’s hard to see what less than a general strike would deflect the determination of European governments to impose a new age of austerity on the working class.

The good news is, at least one UK union leader has called for a general strike, even if the others are a bit far behind. Bob Crow, leader of the RMT transport union, says that:

Time to take down zombie capitalism

“This ConDem administration has thrown down the biggest challenge to the trade union movement since Margaret Thatcher took on the National Union of Mineworkers. I have no hesitation in saying that it will take general and co-ordinated strike action across the public and private sectors to stop their savage assault on jobs, living standards and public services.”

“The trade unions must form alliances with community groups, campaigns and pensioners’ organisations in the biggest show of united resistance since the success of the anti-poll tax movement. Waving banners and placards will not be enough – it will take direct action to stop the Cameron and Clegg cuts machine.”

Crow puts the blame for the crisis at the door of “zombie capitalism”, so called because it’s the fault of banks which have died but are being kept alive by government support, which they are paying for through attacks on the working class. In this way, the dead continue to have a terrible affect on the living.

We all know there’s only one way to deal with zombies. A shotgun shell to the head. And in this case, the working class’ best shotgun is a general strike.