Crowded streets in Bilbao with a silent cry: Repatriation of Basque Political prisoners now
The City of Bilbao was becoming crowded by people arriving from all over the Basque Country as the day went on. By noon it was impossible to walk around the city centre. The main streets surrounding the meeting points from which the demonstration was going to start at 17:00 hours were getting packed as this time got closer. “Sare” (meaning literally “Network” in Basque, a citizen network struggling for the rights of Basque political prisoners) was in the way of achieving the objective of the day. This article is a chronicle of that demonstration.
25 years ago the Spanish and French governments applied the policy of dispersal against the Basque political prisoners. Since then and according to the information given by “Sare” the family members and friends that visit the these prisoners travel 352.329 km every week, as much as turning around the earth 8.8 times weekly. The policy of dispersal has an average cost of 12.257 Euros per family a year and 16 people have died in traffic accidents while going to visit their dear ones. Like in the last years there has been a massive demonstration in Bilbo in order to demand the respect towards the rights of the Basque political prisoners and the end of the policy of dispersal.
This year the demonstration had a different structure. Instead of starting from a square and going down to the City Hall (a distance of 2 kilometres) it started from both sides and they met together in a middle point between both ends. The families of the political prisoners opened the way in their usual lined structure.
Currently there are around 460 Basque political prisoners in 73 jails in France and Spain. Within this collective there are members of ETA, pro-independence politicians, trade union members, members of the youth movement, journalists... even though the Spanish government catalogues the whole of them as “everything is ETA”.
Like the organizers had underlined once and again the protagonists were the citizens and the families of the political prisoners. On Saturday those political parties, trade unions, organizations and well known people that had shown their support for the demonstration were kept in a second line.
Among the protagonists there were also those that are key figures in this issue of the dispersal policy applied against the Basque political prisoners; the Mirentxin vans that week after week drive voluntarily the families to the prisons scattered all over France and Spain as a sign of solidarity. On Saturday they were the ones opening the roads of Bilbao too.
Two kilometres of distance packed with citizens. Lots of them didn´t have even the possibility of moving at all and following the recommendations of the organizers they have just occupy the streets.
It has been achieved. Once again thousands of people demanded in silence the repatriation of the Basque political prisoners to the Basque Country. Like the main slogan stated, Now to the Basque Country! The demonstration was silent as demanded by the organizers, a demand well respected by the participants. Only two slogans have followed the whole demonstration in its way; “Basque prisoners to the Basque Country” and “Bring the Basque political prisoners home”.
While many are the comparisons that can be made with last year demonstration where around 130.000 people marched for "human rights, resolution, peace", two are the ones that outstand among others. Last year demonstration was firstly prohibited by the Spanish National Court and that had as a consequence that the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) supported also the demonstration. Certainly last year was in Bilbao a stronger feeling of solidarity and a great amount of euphoria. The support shown towards the Basque political prisoners this year has been strong too but within a more relaxed environment. This year the PNV hasn't supported the demonstration outlining at the same time that last year they did so because of its prohibition.
At the end of the event Saroi Jauregi and the singer Fermin Muguruza have taken the roll of presenters. The improvisers Maialen Lujanbio, Igor Elortza and Amets Arzallus have sung some poems. And the singers “The Aire systers”, Rafa Rueda and Agus Barandiaran have sung along with other thousands of people the popular song “Your mother is waiting, so is your father...”
Maite Mangado and Hegoa Arakama family members of Basque political prisoners demanded that the rights of the Basque political prisoners as well as those of their family members have to be respected. “Those rights must be respected now! Not tomorrow or the day after! It has to be now because among other reasons this attitude also helps the peace process.” They have both outlined that the policy of dispersal is a policy of revenge and that with the support of the society “the wall representing the policy of dispersal will be brought to an end. We call you to walk together towards that end, step by step.” Finally they invited people to join “Sare”, the network working for the rights of Basque political prisoners.
The light has become another protagonist of this demonstration. At the end of it thousands of lights have been lighten on the hands of the participants obtaining thus a strong picture.
.jpg)
The singer Fermin Muguruza and Saroi Jauregi have brought the event to an end by stating that “in order to create together a future in which all human rights will be respected, now is the time to ensure that the rights of the Basque political prisoners and their families are respected. All together we will achieve it!”
People have started moving on, some went towards the bars, others to take the buses...and lots of them probably still remember the last words of the poem sung by the improviser Amets Arzalluz: “It is not easy year after year/to bring more people here/and we hope that next year/ you will come to celebrate (we brought them home)”.
Video summary by Topatu.info.
ARGIA is a news media funded in 1919 in Pamplona and published in Basque language. At first religious – called Zeruko Argia, "light of heaven” –, forbidden during the fascist dictatorship in Spain from 1936 on, in the 1950s and 1960s it had managed to come... [+]
In this series of articles, it should now have become clear that venture capital has created a system in which two types of companies become global giants: companies with bad business models but good marketing, or good business models and horrible impacts on society. This... [+]
One of the confusing aspects of the tech industry is that from a distance all the companies can seem the same. They use apps, have similar design styles, are based in hip urban centers, and strangely have millions of dollars without making any money. In part, this series is... [+]
After publishing Glovolizacion, a three-month undercover investigation into the working conditions of Glovo riders, I received almost entirely positive feedback from the general public and riders alike. Most riders felt ignored and exploited, and most readers were interested in... [+]
This is the third in a four-part investigative series examining Glovo’s business model and its relationship with the world it operates. Based on public statements by Glovo’s founders, this article will contextualize their world-view and the changes they hope to... [+]
Almost all of the negative public attention that has recently been plaguing Glovo has been focused on the exploitation of their riders. This a welcome change of perspective but it also leaves out a significant part of the story: the restaurants that “collaborate”... [+]
This is the first in a four-part series that will examine Glovo’s business model and its relationships with the world in which it operates. Based in extensive research into the company’s public image and dozens of interviews with Glovo “riders” in my... [+]
If anyone is likely to have a gun at any time, society and daily life feel the consequences. Police shot first and ask questions later, and the possibility of being shot for absolutely no reason becomes a practical reality of going to work, going out with friends, and simply... [+]
In my Larrun article Glovalization, I attempted to call attention to the way that Glovo tries to pit its employees – oops, contract laborers – against each other in a zero-sum competion and a game-like application, and I predicted that this type of ingrained... [+]
Back when Glovo was a small company that no one had heard of in a few major Spanish cities, one of its first riders, Isaac Cuende, was hit by a car during a delivery. According to his account of the incident, the first question the company asked him was “are you carrying... [+]
Two major events have rocked the USA in recent weeks. First, the arrest in London of Julian Assange for allegedly helping Chelsea Manning in an effort to crack a government password . Second is the final, albeit redacted, Muller report, a long-awaited legal reckoning of... [+]
The other day, standing in a bar looking at a photo of the Notre Dame cathedral in flames on the front page of the newspaper, I had to stop myself from laughing with joy. Unlike most, I see the cathedral as a monument to the many crimes of the Catholic Church: organized sexual... [+]
Since its founding in 2015, Glovo has been expanding across the Iberian Peninsula and the world so quickly that we have not had the time to appropriately react and evaluate its impacts on our lives. The company uses a business model and marketing strategy that were first... [+]
Environmentalist Gladys Del Estal was killed by a member of the Civil Guard at an anti-nuclear festival in 1979. The officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but shortly afterwards before serving his sentence he was awarded a medal. Del Estal has become a symbol of... [+]
Errigora has started its annual campaign in favour of producing food and consuming it in the Basque Country under the slogan "Five years feeding what we love". Five years have gone by since they started the initiative. They use part of the profits which they make from... [+]