This article was translated by John R. Bopp
We’d like to break our rule about referring to Basque media today, because we want to discuss a Basque matter that was raised in a newspaper from north of the Pyrenees, rather than abroad.
And we decided to do so because right now in the Northern Basque Country, for the first time in a long time (if not the first time ever), there is a generalized movement supporting the creation of a local administrative entity that joins together all the Basque territories under French administration. This is a very old request; our readers will recall our entry about an extraordinary Basque man named Julián de Ajuriaguerra and his dignified behavior with Mitterand, who had broken his promise to create a Basque départment that included all of the Northern Basque Country.
But now, all Basque elected officials in the Northern Basque Country, and most of the people, want a Basque administrative structure within the decentralization process that the Hollande government has promised. This decentralization was promised by the Decentralization Minister, and also categorically denied by the French Interior Minister, as we blogged about here.
This is very much a trending topic, but one that, as incredible as it may seem, the Basques of the Southern Basque Country really don’t know anything about, regardless of the strategic importance it has for the future of our Country. That’s why we thought it a good idea to reference this article by Alexandre de la Cerda in La Semaine du Pays Basque here on the blog, as it reminds us readers of the steps taken since the start of the ’80s to try to create a Basque départment. That was when Julián de Ajuriaguerra stood up and walked out of where Mitterand was giving a speech. That was 1984.
It’s good to remember history. But it’s even better for us to try to reach an agreement, working and collaborating on both sides of the Pyrenees, pooling our efforts and not dispersing them, as we are now, as we commented in our article “We Basques live with our backs turned to Basques, despite being the Center of the World“.
We Basques are a small people, and what’s more, we’re split into three different administrations, and we lack coordination. This means we’re really practically nothing.
Perhaps we need to look back to the turn of the 20th century, when the Basques up north came up with the idea of the Zazpiak-Bat, and Maurice Ravel proposed that his most important work be called just that, and when popular musicians from the Navarrese Rivera sang verses like these:
Pues si el Gobierno de España
sigue en sus pretensiones
se tomarán en Navarra
serias determinaciones.
Con Monteagudo, Cascante
Ablitas, también Barillas,
Olite, Tafalla, Estella,
Cortes, Buñuel y Murchante,
formemos una guerrilla
para marchar adelante.
Pues también se nos ofrecen
como si fueran hermanos
los valientes Alaveses,
Vizcaínos y Guipuzcoanos.
Vivan las cuatro provincias
que siempre han estado unidas
y nunca se apartarán
aunque Gamazo lo diga.
¡Viva Navarra y sus Fueros!
Well if the Government of Spain
Continues trying to do this
In Navarre, very serious
Decisions will be made
With Monteagudo, Cascante,
Ablitas, and also Barillas,
Olite, Tafalla, Estella,
Cortes, Buñuel, and Murchante,
We will create a guerrilla group
To march forward.
Because they also volunteer to us
As if they were brothers
Those brave men from Araba,
Biscay, and Gipuzkoa.
Long live the four provinces
Which will always be united
And will never break up
Even if Gamazo says so.
Love live Navarre and her Fueros!
La Semaine du Pays Basque – 11/2/2013 – Euskadi (Iparralde)
Les pionniers de la renaissance basque
A l’heure où l’identité basque est attaquée de divers côtés, depuis la négation de toute possibilité de représentation institutionnelle jusqu’à la perspective d’effacement même des cantons souletins et bas-navarrais existants en passant par la contestation du financement des écoles en langue basque, il était utile de rappeler les débuts d’une action résolue au tournant des années 80 qui avaient porté ses fruits. Organisée à Espelette sous l’égide de la société d’études universitaire Eusko Ikaskuntza, une conférence de l’historien Jean Claude Larronde, suivie d’un débat avec les principaux protagonistes, rappelait comment un groupe de militants qui prit le nom de « Izan » en se définissant « Collectif abertzale (patriote, en basque) autogestionnaire » avait entamé plusieurs « chantiers-phares » entre 1979 et 1984.
(Continue)
PDF de la publicación aquí (Pag 13)
Last Updated on Apr 3, 2021 by About Basque Country
