On January 15, the techno-business lobby called Cedarios presented its 6th report, Euskadi and the European Union, the shared destiny of prosperity and competitiveness. This neoliberal Think Tank, made up of eminent experts drawn from the world of finance, presented a magical recipe to boost the competitiveness of the Basque industry. To maintain the prosperity of this society over nuclear and weapons.

Mikel Jauregi, Minister of Industry, went out quickly to applaud the ideas of these higher minds. For those who came to this meeting, the Basque Country would be the cornerstone of a European Union that must cultivate “strategic autonomy” if it invested 5 billion euros a year in the security and nuclear industries. An unparalleled idea if all those killed in the massacres in Gaza, Yemen and Ukraine are ignored or if the Charter of Justice and Solidarity with the Impoverished Countries adopted by the Basque Parliament in 2007 is underestimated.

In the following lines we will take a look at the abominable proposal presented by Zedarria and answer a series of questions that can be made public. Who are the business intelligences that make up the Cedars? What are their businesses? Why are the governments of the PNV and the PSE not respecting Law 14/2007, of December 28, 2007?

A cruel proposal

There are already six reports submitted by the Cedarras lobby group. Since that first report, which gave rise to the uproar, denounced the decline of the Basque economy and taken as an insult by the government of Urkullu at the time, the relationship between the elitist group and Lakua has become fluid. They have gone from feeling insulted to applauding the former president who came to the presentation of this report, some of the current government’s councillors and a handful of businessmen dressed for the funeral.

Funeral services were not limited to dress code in this event held in the library of the University of Deusto. The prosperous economic model proposed by Zedarria was that of promoting the murder business. According to the report presented, an annual investment of 5 billion euros is needed between 2025 and 2030 in the industrial and research sectors of the Basque Country. The source of this money would be public-private, with 20% of it being public. As Guillermo Torreonsoro, director of Zedarriak, said orally; the defense industry and nuclear energy are unique opportunities to turn the Basque Country into a cutting-edge industrial center. Totoronsoro conveyed that the clash of powers will make investments in the arms industry profitable.

This anarcho-liberal group, defined as “civil society”, wants to invest 1 billion euros a year in the military industry of the General Budgets that are citizens. Compared to other items in the General Budgets, in 2024 the Housing and Urban Agenda department used 424.4 million and, in the Science, Universities and Innovation department, 563 million. The measure that industrial councillor Mikel Jauregi has graciously praised is the weakening of the local welfare system and the export of suffering beyond our borders.

The Team Rocket

Who makes up Mikel Jauregi and the representatives of other Basque organizations, an association of exceptional business partners acclaimed by submission? The Cedars is made up of a forum of fifteen members from various backgrounds. In Totoronsoro’s words, it is not surprising that some of them have interests in the defense industry. In general, the mere mention of these businessmen would tremble the labour rights of any worker. This is the very nature of this lobby and, through the exploitation of the working class, to increase its privileges. Those who are always interested in defending their eternal interests, this time with a new image varnished with modernity. Foxes with long tails.

A quick look at their website may reveal the following names: Ignacio Martín San Vicente, former councillor of Indra, Repsol, Acerinox or Gamesan in the war business; Iñaki López Gandásegi, president of Aernova Aerospace and adviser of Gamesa, or Javier Ormazabal Echevarría, president of the Velatia group of experts in electronic warfare. But there is a name that stands above all of them, Cristina Garmendia Mendizabal, former Minister of Science and Innovation during the government of Zapatero and founder of the state-of-the-art military company Satlantis. We will continue later with the presentation of Satlantis. First, there are two final names missing to finish this list of shame, since there are also the president and honorary patron of Save The Children, Pilar Calcada and Maite de Aranzabal. Everyone has their share in this hypocritical business of cruelty.

Contempt of the law

The Charter of Justice and Solidarity with the Impoverished Countries of 2007 was approved in the Basque Parliament to avoid public-private participation proposed by this macabre group. This law was processed through the popular legislative initiative signed by 45,000 people. Assistance to impoverished populations had been established, some rights of migrants had been recognized, and public assistance to the defence industry had been prohibited. Article 3.3 of the Act states that: “In its policy of support and promotion of companies, the Basque Government will not cooperate in any way with natural or legal persons involved in the production, marketing and financing of weapons.”

Unfortunately, with all kinds of tricks, the Basque Government has never complied with this law. Currently, subsidies are given without shame to companies operating in the military industry. And here are the aforementioned Satlantis and Cristina Garmendia. Satlantis is a leading company in the Basque defence sector. It was founded in 2014, just a few months after Garmendia left the Ministry. The initial capitalization was achieved thanks to the public-private participation, among public investors the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and Orza. Orza, Asociación y Futuro is an investment portfolio of public pension funds. In this satlantis, the company Everis was integrated, later called NTT Data. The sale of arms by this company to Israel and Saudi Arabia has been proven. The sale of mortar to the latter in 2017 was made in disregard of the resolutions against the sale of arms by the UN and the European Parliament.

This was not the only time that Law 14/2007 was violated. In 2022, the Basque Government acquired 6% of ITP Aero under the government of Mr. Urkullu. This company produces jet and helicopter engines in the Zamudio Technology Park. This acquisition was channelled through the Finkduz fund, managed by the Basque Institute of Finance, under the argument of supporting the Basque industry.

The final measures proposed by Zedarriak are intended to benefit from the path opened by the PNV and the PSE. For these, there is no law, ethics or morality that hinders the accumulation of business profits.

No to the war!

These ideas are not new. The extreme right-wing relatives who have been ravaged by capital from Western countries have been proposing this for years. Militarism, genocide, colonialism and so many atrocities have been normalized. Basque entrepreneurs see it as a rarity to do business with war and benefit from suffering. They're not responsible for their appearance, just their money. By turning all frameworks around, development has become the sale of weapons, and sustainability lies in nuclear energy. The Basque armero families are already working in the face of the opportunities that Trump’s second term will bring, waiting for the benefits that the new realistic doctrine of the American power can provide.

The Alternative and the EH Reunification militants must denounce these militaristic currents in front of us, we will not allow citizens’ money to be invested in the defense industry. We do not want to be part of the massacres in Gaza, Yemen, Ukraine, Armenia, Sudan, Syria, Libya, the Congo and so many other places in the world. We do not want to support the dictatorships and apartheid that are sustained by the weapons produced in the Basque Country, in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar... We do not want to be complicit. The construction of a peaceful world starts from our daily actions, this time obstructing the path of peace The entente between Cedarras and the Basque Government has been established, and we must denounce it ourselves.

Ander Gumuzu, Itxaso Zaldibar, Javier Zulaika, International Roundtable of Alternatives