Talking to Terrorists.

by iosaf mac diarmada Tue Jan 27, 2004 16:20 Barcelona.

Dear Pat,
Today I have to suffer the anger of my students who are media professionals in both TV and commercial print organs in the city of Barcelona, at your support for the decision made in Madrid to undermine the democratically elected political alliance which holds government in the Spanish region of Catalonia.
A region which approximates to a third of the traditional territory of Paisos Catalanes.
This evening, supporters and voters of all parliamentary democratic groupings in that country will assemble in front of their government to protest against the pressure being placed by both Madrid and by you, Mr Cox upon their political institutions.
The Tripartite government is a legitimate coalition between the PSC (Catalan branch of the PSOE established in 1976), the ICV and ERC. It carries a dual mandate in that it reflects both the majority nationalist vote and majority leftwing vote at the elections last year.
The tripartite government reflects the mood, sentiments and political attitude of the majority of Catalans and those who live and work in Catalonia. They are "proud" of their new government which is based on Concensus, dialogue and imaginative solutions to problems. They are equally "embarrassed" by the inexperience of their elected representatives, and many still are adjusting to the role of "no longer being in opposition". May I remind Mr Cox, that the present opposition, on the 23rd day of this month, issued an open letter to the outgiong government of Jose Maria Aznar in Madrid, condemning it's current policy on Basque Conflict Resolution.
It therefore is most apparent, that your decision _ not to meet_ Mr Ernest Benach, the President of the Catalan Parliament, does not reflect the dignity of his office, and rather can only be interpreted as a slight on his electoral mandate, and the tripartite government in which he holds office.

You are thus, it appears guilty of confusing loyalty to your centralised Spanish allies in Aznar's PP, to the loyalty demanded by your office to the development of European Institutions that reflect the diversity of the European Peoples.

I should like it very much were you to resign, Mr Cox.

meanwhile, I feel it my duty to explain to the Catalans of all hues, rightwing and leftwing what advantage might be served you, by opposing any different approach to the present Basque problem. And no better place to start than in examination of your role in Irish conflict resolution.
-I shall be busy, but that's the difference between you and I :- I like catalan.

assembly: today 20h00 Placa Jaume,
SI al dialeg!!!!!!! = YES TO DIALOGUE!
Catalunya per la Dignitat!!! For CATALONIA's DIGNITY!

by ipsi Tue Jan 27, 2004 23:10

Barcelona indymedia is full of support for Mr Josep, and the tripartite, there has been a demonstration, and the usual forums are filling with solidarity messages.
so... what can you do?

join the campaign to nominate Senor Josep-Lluís Carod Rovira for the Nobel Peace Prize 2004.
see the link:
http://www.campanyes.org/PREMI_NOBEL
add your name to the list:
(by clicking on the "Involucra't:

Si vols donar el teu suport a la campanya, fes clic aquí". bit.

by ipsiphi Wed Jan 28, 2004 13:26

The Crime:-

In the lead up to the formation of the government, whilst Mr Maragall (the president and leader of the largest party was in South America leaving Josep Carod Rovira as "president in functions" (without legal status), Josep Carod Rovira crossed the French frontier, and on January 4th 2004 held a meeting with two very high ranking figures in ETA who are known to be opposed to the Lehendakari's plan for a peaceful solution, and Basque referendum provided there is a cessation of hostilities. The Meeting is thought to have been made outside of Perpinan.

Mr Aznar has (legally) asked that Josep Carod make a police statement on this.
**********************************
The Punishment:-


Last Night the President of the Tripartite, Mr Maragall, (leader of the PSC) bowed to :-
1. pressure from Zapatero leader of the PSOE
2. pressure from Aznar and all those who share primary loyalty to the "victims of terror". (Interestingly Mr Aznar met Mr Ahern the day before).
3. pressure from Mr Pat Cox.

and accepted the resignation of Josep-Lluís Carod Rovira, from his post as "conseller en cap" (quasi first minister) . He continues to hold a "conseller" position (cabinet seat) but with no brief. It is expected Mr Carod Rovira
will now present himself on the election lists for the "all Spain" elections in 2004 facing both Zapatero of the PSOE and Rajoy who succeeds Aznar as leader of the PP.
***************************************

Q. what does this mean oh ipsiphi?
a. it means you can't go wandering around the Pyrennes in an official car, going to meet the leaders of Europe's most hunted and opposed terrorist group during the new year and not get caught/ seen /noticed, especially when this year that zone was crawling with raving Frenchies on their way to my birthday party. [you might remember I complained about "the visit" of ravers from Hell at that time]
It also means that neither Catalan nor Spanish Constitution have mechanisms to allot such a "devolved right", it means Mr Carod Rovira after winning an election on "personal charisma" and having been turned into an "icon" may now very quickly see if the magic has worn off, for he is to be a candidate yet again...

Q. what does this mean in Catalonia?
A. insults, insults, and a nasty feeling that there has been continued contact between ETA and Catalan independence politicians, remembering of course that Carod Rovira appeared to convince the Catalan's to renounce an armed struggle years and years ago.
Q what does this mean in Spain?
A. It means that Zapatero may exercise influence over a "region", thus the unity of Spain would be "safe" under any PSOE government elected next year.
Q. what does this mean in europe?
A. I'm not going to say anything about that yet.
Q. will Josep get the Nobel?
A. no. & it's January, by September I will have nominated at least ten more people for Peace nobel.
Q. will there be peace?
A. Oh yes, but it comes dropping slow. No Irish political formation would have been so crassly stupid or manipulatively clever, it remains to be seen which it was, but they are "learning" and their parlour table is somehow better to begin with than many others, but at least _now_ they have a good idea of how really "amazingly creepily good some of the other players are".

oh well you'll get that.

Hubris and Shadenfreude.

'm just happy to see a good card back in the deck. %-) I shall not forget you Pat Cox, and Taoiseach, oh well, the honeymoon is old memories.

Peace comes dropping slow.
make it a good one.
watch and learn.

by iosaf Wed Jan 28, 2004 23:57

Now read my article above again paying careful attention to the chronology to in the "background details".
Now read the work of "The English Guardian" Madrid based journalist Giles Tremlett.
if you spot 7 inaccuracies you do not win a free pen, but rather will soon be confirmed as a "careful reader".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,2763,1132593,00.html
Now if you can't trust the "leftwing" newspaper "next door" on Spain, can you trust in on other global matters?

by iosaf Thu Jan 29, 2004 00:05

Josep Lluis Carod Rivera, will end his term as "minister without brief" on the 9th of February 2004, whereupon he shall present himself as a candidate for the all-Spain elections (March 14th 2004) the results of which shall decide whether the PP or the PSOE hold the office of President of España, which in the old fashioned democratic politics your ma and da used to love, would normally last for the period of 4 years.

The King will go on being the King, and will be greatly enjoying his son's wedding to uncommonly attractive ex-TV news journalist "Lu" some time in 2004.

Mr Aznar will also go on being Mr Aznar in the sort of way Maggie went on being Mrs Thatcher. & and on doth she go ga ga ga...

Mr "Josep" has today declared that he wish this election to be seen as a plebsicite on whether the Catalan people think he did the right thing in this Pyrennes New Year shennagins.

This is very simplistic. But you'll get that.
Oh, and the Lehandakari will of course be doing something creative and newsworthy as well, keep a close eye to the Guardian or indeed The Irish Times.

And that will "end the topic" for now, Europe is a very big place, and there are really interesting things happening on other places as well.

by ipsiphi Tue Feb 03, 2004 13:11

so updates:-
Pat Cox is to recieve a letter from the Catalan Gov.
the opinion polls are out. PSOE have not suffered from the increased Catalanism.
EA and ERC have pacted.
Josep LLuis will run for ERC in Cortes March 14.
Aznar is under pressure to admit he spied on ERC and possibly everyone else as well.
The victims of terror are touring Spain and are presently in Andalucia.
John Hume has supported dialogue.
And the Catalans are considering many other "symbolic gestures" to like "do things their way".

by iosaf Wed Feb 18, 2004 22:28

Today at noon, ETA issued a statement which you may read at their site or in it's catalan translation on Barcelona indymedia in which the group asserted it had not carried out any military operation in the Catalan territories since January 1 2004, and that it had called a ceasefire in those territories to facilitate an increased independence vote.

Now only read on if you've familiarised yourself with the names, characters a little bit of the recent history of this autonomous region of the Spanish State. Otherwise you'll get confused.

A few days ago President Maragall admitted that he had lost patience with Josep Lluis Carod Rovira, and signalled that he was coming close to "ruling out" his future re-admission to the "top trio" of Catalonia's tripartite government. He tempered the comments however with the observation that ERC had continued in the tripartite pact in an exemplary fashion, but Carod Rovira would have to explain what actually occured in Perpignan during the period of my most infamous birthday party.
It was all summed up (as ever) with a newspaper cartoon. Mr Zapatero in madrid calls over to Mr Maragall in Barcelona "listen to me, you're not letting Josep back in"..."do you hear me!?!?", Mr Maragall, "I hear you perfectly boss, but it is really none of your business, Josep can come back if he fulfills my conditions" [tell everyone what ETA said], Josep "I have no intention of fulfilling your conditions", cut to smiling Mr Maragall "you know Josep you really make things easier".

& so is Catalan politics and so has it been for a long long time. What therefore are we to make of today's announcement?

Is it a result of the Josep Lluis Carod Rovira initiative? Or does it rather signal a logistic decision not to use the Catalan territories to facilitate attacks on the Spanish State anymore, perhaps itself a result of consistent French security forces successes against ETA on the eastern Pyrennes?
Is it to be read as a sign of a wider ceasfire possibly being mooted in parallel (certainly not in support) of the Basque parliamentary initiative? Or is to be understood as much more sinister narrowing of target area and assiging less territory to the "legitmate targets"? Certainly Catalúnya has not suffered attacks in the recent past. It has been some time since ETA exploded anything here, and some years since the "comando barcelona" cell was "disarticulated". It's even been a while since the Spanish Army seized the beach at Cadiques [Dalí's famous home] as a rather provocative exercise to "guarantee the integrity of Spain". Well, I may not answer any of these questions. But I'm sure the answers will come.

I'm not sure the answers will come on March 14 at the Spanish elections. Carod Rovira has climbed down somewhat on his call for a "plebiscite on his meeting with ETA" with which he had greeted his dismissal from office after less than 37 days in office. [less than 9 proper working days to be precise]
And understandably many pointed out that such a trick was somewhat "aznarish" in nature, and others hoped that the man converted in "icon" would be wiser than to convert himself in "strong leader". Certainly the tripartite has worked without him, perhaps more attention being afforded to the ICV (Green) part of the trio Mr Suara, who if we remember had seen his party's vote trebled in size. I must admit that I have wondered did Josep LLuis promise in years past, "some day comrade, gora gora visca, I will be in office and the first thing I will do is go up the Pyrennes in my official car, avoiding the 9000 french ravers [on their way to iosaf's 33º birthday party] completely un-noticed go chat with ye and sort it all out".
Certainly such a promise might have seemed to explain the way in which he did it, and now even amongst his most staunch supporters is the awareness that "he didn't really do it like a proper grown up politician".
But then again, "proper grown up politicians" generally only feather their own nests and think very very long term.
So the "march 14/ million dollar question" is:-
Did ETA call this ceasefire because Josep asked them? & is it too late to redeem him in the eyes of his voters? For certainly any party that has seen it's vote increased so radically, must not feel "too terribly sure" about the likelehood of those same voters repeating the choice.

oh well the answers will come.
dropping
dripping
slow.
like Peace
like Blood.

the link is to the statement in catalan.
already someone has joked "are there only two ETA left" in reference to the photo that came out as well.

by iosaf Wed May 19, 2004 11:29

in a statement issued through it's monthly newsletter, the Basque Terrorist Group ETA, has modified the terms of it's truce with Catalonia, and has said that it will not apply for the "most serious enemies of Euskal Herria".
In a statement which is very critical of Catalan And Basque tripartite government partners the pacifist socialist catalan republican ERC, the terrorist group has suggested that Catalan Republicanism has advanced its cause at ETA's expense.

The PSOE Zapatero government has since it's election on M14, three days after M11 (the madrid bombing which many rightwing spaniards still attribute to ETA) appeared to have continued the attitude to Basque armed seperatism of the previous regime, and accordingly the candidates for the political wing of ETA for the next EU elections have been disallowed from standing.

ETA is now at it's weakest ever, with the highest number of it's activists incarcerated ever. The role of France in this clampdown is indisputable, however neither can the nature of the changing approach to Basque Nationalism and republicanism on the ground.
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/90863/index.php
***************************

Next Saturday Spain has it's Royal Wedding.
"The Cake for everyone gig".
If ETA had cake, they ate it.
Aznar has chosen Yankee Dixie cake, and has spent the last week touring the states promoting his book, his vision of the terrorist threat and yesterday met (informally) Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell and Burlusconi.
It is my opinion, that most American voters haven't even realised that Zapatero is now President of Spain, and therefore Aznar plays a crucial "european ally" role in the Bush Re-Election campaign.

If you are in Barcelona or Catalonia next Saturday, the homeland of the Tripartite thingy, the pact between Centre Left Socialists, Republican Catalans, and Marxist Greenies, then you are invited to the RRRrrrrepublican Picnic on Placa Angel in front of the MACBA (Bcn's art gallery "the revolution won't be televised") at 12h00.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/90773/index.php

It might help if you brought your own cake, in a country that has only just announced a raise in the minimum wage to 490€ to be effective June 1, cake can be very expensive.

by counting crumbs. Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:29

as observers of Spanish politics will know, an expected ETA ceasefire last weekend did not emerge, and a statement from the terrorist organisation fell short of the complete cessation of violence and armed action required and requested by democratic parties in the Basque region and Spanish state.
That statement occured against the backdrop of a rally in Catalonia which both rejected the recent constitutional reform, and called for full independence. Those who organised the rally claimed an attendance of 700,000. A small micro-left grouping called the bluff and proved mathematically that ony 50,000approx to 70,000 people had attended.
Thus is it is a small victory for mathematicians, that yesterday organisers of the right wing rally in madrid did not claim a figure for attendance. They used one third of the space of the Spanish capital which previous rallies against gay marriage and secularism had done. Previously they (they are the pretty much the same people) had claimed attendances of between one and two million. They have not challenged the estimate of around 10,000 yesterday.

Meanwhile the terrorist organisation in a statement broadcast on Catalan radio has said that its "ceasefire" for Catalonia which was declared 2 years ago after the leader of the Catalan independence party ERC had been elected to a 3 way coalition, and went to meet them in the Pyrennes in his official car, (leading to his immediate resignation from cabinet) has been a "success". Presumedly this means no one has been blown up in a Barcelonan supermarket in the last 2 years like they were in 1987.

In other updates related to the material above, the price of cake has not reduced in the spanish state, but thanks to efforts by the left wing regime supported by EU infrastructural investment, the poorest regions in the south heavily subsidised by the much richer economies of the industrialsed northern Basque and Catalan areas, more people can afford supermarket bread.

This is generally considered a good thing.

peace comes dripping slow like blood.
So slow that it may take many generations to achieve.
Thus the risk of a return to war is often present, as the youngest don't take the precautions
needed to insure the infection is not dealt with. Peace thus in a way is made through children.
If they are brought up in tolerance and dialogue they won't repeat the mistakes of their elders.