Itsasu, 24 June 2012. “We came to announce the end of an era, we concluded that Segi has been exhausted as a tool.” Spokeswoman Amaia Elixiri solemnly expressed what was already known at the closing event of Segi. It is a historic decision, as Segi has not taken a decade, but rather three decades of strength and burden with it, including the one left by Jarrai, Gazte and Haika. The members of Segi Ainhoa and Gorka (alias) have stated that what is going to happen from now on “is in everyone’s hands and will come out of everyone’s needs.”

In the opinion of both young people, there are many factors that have led to the disappearance: the short-term perspective, the Gettho character, the de-ologization of youth, the lack of normalization and space for training, the ineffective functioning… All of this has created a “precipice” towards youth.

But in practice, in everyday life, how has this exhaustion been noticed? The organization was disfigured, with its capacity totally weakened: “There was a stigmatization, it felt in the villages. On the other hand, the organization has always moved politically and in the problems of young people, but there was a total imbalance between the two, that is what the exhaustion represents”.

Unable to get out of the whirlwind of repression and response

The persecution against Segi has not ceased since it was banned in 2002. Since the Supreme Court declared it a terrorist organisation in 2007, some 150 people have been arrested and their identity is unknown. The most important raid took place in November 2009, when National Police and Civil Guard officers seized 34 troops. In recent years, more than large raids, arrests have been by dribbling, which has necessarily influenced society’s response to operations.

Despite being illegalized and persecuted, Segi has organized acts and activities, and has responded to the State with a certain strategy of confrontation. Have you succeeded in this strategy in view of the repression behind it?

– Ainhoa: That response has been to obstruct repression, so that what it has done to the State is not so cheap. It had to be answered, but that made the goal of the construction of the Young People to be put in the background. We went into a whirlwind.

– Gorka: The same tool became the target.

– Ainhoa: I wouldn't say it was inadequate, but we did enter the response dynamics.

– Gorka: You have to put it in time. In the repression there are two phases: from the outset of the illegalization to the declaration of a terrorist organization, there was still the possibility of working, and from there on. In the second phase the coup extended to all the youth, the pressure is more evident and makes it more difficult for Segi to carry out his project. It has forced us to find other formulas, sometimes more effective and others not.

– Ainhoa: Repression, however, has hampered our activity at the national level, but in peoples it has failed to curb the local movement, the new generations have come together and projects have been created over and over again.

The evolution of the Jarrai/Haika/Segi case is fundamental to understanding all of this. In 2007, the Supreme Court established a new case law that sentenced 23 of the defendants to six years in prison. 18 of them were arrested by the Ertzaintza at a public hearing on the fronton of Esperanza in Bilbao. That picture was a turning point. Since then, Spanish justice has hardened the penalties and opened the network: “The coup has gone beyond the organization, all youth has been beaten, every movement that is dangerous to the factual powers has been at the centre of repression.”

Why has the debate been extended for three years?

The decision to dissolve Segi has been agreed between the militancy, also between the prisoners and those who flee, “as far as possible”. However, the decision has not been taken in relation to the legal situation of the accused or pensioners, so they do not see the will in this regard: “On the eve of the decision being made public, we learned of the ruling against five young Navarros; in November 2009 the issue of the detainees is slowly moving; those who were closed in Izpura have also had prisoners… The courts play in political terms, they have no will to end the conflict of this people.”

When Segi members began to reflect in 2009, there was a change in the strategy of the Abertzale left, “but it has been two parallel lanes. Our decision is not a response to Zutik Euskal Herria, although it has been reflected”.

Segi has joined this change of strategy and the Gernika Agreement, which has been left out. But there are those who wanted to see the contradiction with the new direction of the Abertzale left within it. Does the fact that the debate has lasted for three years indicate difficulties in reaching an agreement? Segi's two members say no, that the extension has been the result of a "very deep" reflection, which has defined a comprehensive strategy to respond to youth problems.

There is one thing where there has been a lot of consensus: It is still exhausted. “At first there were opinions of all kinds, as a result of ten years of work there was a feeling of permanence in the organization, but when we were placed in practical keys, it was clear that it was exhausted.”

Independence and socialism have been the main demands of today’s election day. But beyond the claim, what has Segi done?

– Ainhoa: Segi's greatest contribution has been to strengthen the youth movement, thus responding to the youth problem. Independence and socialism are something we apply in our lives, the revolution stretches from personal struggle itself to collective struggle. These are not insignificant words, they have been reflected in daily life, and that is the important thing.

– Gorka: This was also explained in the reflections. From independence and socialism as a “txapela”, to put everyday practice in every possible area.

– Ainhoa: In any case, it has conditioned us on repression, but we have maintained national construction, it has been among the priorities, and we have come to the conclusion that this is the way.

From now on, the base of the peoples

In the act of the sea, Amaia Elixiri said: “The struggles are continuing and multiplying, we are talking about struggles that return to the capitalist system.” It seems to be a gesture to the many movements that have taken place as a result of the economic crisis. Within Segi there are different assumptions, but they are clear that youth must be on the streets, responding to the crisis: “Both here and in the Arab Spring and also in the
M-15, youth is the engine of these movements, which is on the front line. It’s acting responsibly and that’s a joy.”

There has been speculation about the creation of a new group when Segi disappeared. The EFE agency reported the existence of a group called “Kimua”. Segi’s representatives have roundly denied such a possibility, as there will be no institution representing Segi. Nor will there be groups subordinated to a party: “The youth strategy in relation to the adult world would be a loss of naturalness, passion and true potentiality.”

From here the work has focused on the people, where they have seen the field of work, in dealing with the problems of youth at local level, taking into account the local differences:

– Gorka: In two years we have hardly organized initiatives and campaigns, but in the villages young people have been responding to their desires and seeking solutions.

– Ainhoa: To a large extent it is to leave the witness on the table, that is the exhaustion of an instrument, but not the end of the struggle of the young.