Jesús Fernández was born in Naves (Oviedo, Asturias) in 1934. He served as a priest in small and mountainous villages, was convicted in the 1960s for defending the workers and abandoned the priesthood. He then departed to Argentina, but there he was also endangered and returned to Europe by fleeing the dictatorship. He moved to Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1975, shortly before the famous strike movement began. He lived the strike movement from within, among other things, as a representative of the commission of his work centre, Mercedes. One of the most well-known faces of the movement was imprisoned following the March 3 massacre. He also participated actively in the 1987 Mercedes protests. The one in Vitoria-Gasteiz was one of the founders of the anti-militarist organization in the 1990s, where he militated until he left Alzheimer's. During all these years, their presence was common in mobilizations and citizen initiatives.

Alzheimer's started imitating Jesus step by step for many years. Throughout this period he has increasingly needed care and has had his friends, fellow militants, his family and his children. Among them is Karmen, her partner, friend, co-worker. Throughout these years, Carmen has cared for Jesus with the generosity and dedication that so many women and so few men can imagine.

All power to the assembly

“One of the main referents of March 3, suffered repression for that reason, and also then and afterwards. A life dedicated to the struggle of the workers and other struggles, based on assembly and horizontality. This heritage is present in Vitoria-Gasteiz,” explains ARGIA Andoni Txasko of the March 3 Association: “We in the Association would like to thank you for your struggle and express our commitment to continue it.” The members of the anti-militarist group have reminded Gasteiz as “friends, companions, accomplices (and teachers without lessons)”, uncovering the lessons of him: the need for assembly, radical thinking, passion, reflection, humor, self-criticism and acceptance of errors. In Jesus they have also learned many things through Alzheimer’s, among other things, “the importance of caring for the people they care for”. A fellow traveling in life and militancy, Imanol Olabarria, has linked his friend's name with two words: assembly and equality. After the fire of the time, the one that lived in Vitoria in 76 was rediscovered in Chiapas on a joint trip in the year 2000: “No one above anyone; obediently send.” It also remembers another long-standing struggle: “The effort to live in common; projects, loves, mothers or children beyond the biological family”.

Jesus’ friends have decided to open a blog so that people who want to express anything about him, his family or his trajectory can share it publicly. An email address jesus.f.naves@gmail.com has been enabled for the reception of texts, images or whatever.

Raw material for the future

Jesus, in his militant victories and in his fame, could be quietly bought to be the ‘Naves’ of March 3 forever. It felt like the failure of the working-class struggle of its generation and could do it comfortably and put aside the struggle – “Our struggle has given what it had to give, now it’s up to young people to create new paths,” he told me, more than 20 years ago. But he didn't do either. He renewed and kept fighting, hearing new voices that were not comfortable for him. Like that of feminism, when he warned him that the public generosity of his militancy was made possible by the secret generosity of others.

I read to Benedetti that the old militants are like those noble pieces of wood coming out to the surface of the water after the shipwreck. They remind us of the struggles of the past and the beauty of their dreams. Not only that. These pieces of wood are also essential raw material for the construction of new vessels.