Anniversaries with “round numbers” are usually used to commemorate events in an even more special way.ย  Ten years, 25, 50โ€ฆ are usually significant dates.ย  But among those special dates, centennials are perhaps those of the greatest value, especially if they refer to an event that still have a great deal of relevance and influence.

The centennial of the birth of Basque-Peruvian journalistย Francisco “Paco” Igartua is one of those commemorations that deserves special attention, not only because of his work as journalist and director ofย Oiga! magazine, which defined an era of journalism in Peruvian society, but also, especially, because his vision of Peru, its society, and political class are still exceedingly relevant in the agitated and disconcerting present of this great country.ย  Given its people and their abilities, it could have been a role model on the world stage, but it now finds itself in an institutional, political, and social crisis whose only possible explanation is that its ruling and leading classes have been incapable of building an organized and structured state, where the rule of law, justice, and the development of society as a whole are the founding principles.ย  That is to say, these structures in the country have “expanded and improved” those features that Igartua denounced for decades. This is what led him to jail, exile, the closure of his life’s work,ย Oiga! magazine, and destitution.

To understand how, despite appearances, nothing has changed, we need only read theย Oiga!ย editorials.ย  And after the closure of the magazine by the Fujimori dictatorship, Igartua’s Canta Claros continued to appear, in different media, until the day he died.

We, in collaboration with Oiga magazine and the Limako Arantzazu Euzko Etxea, born of the initiative of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Aranzazu in Lima, have decided to dedicate to his memory, to his legacy, a series of articles and activities over the next twelve months, from the 99th anniversary of his birth in the Huarochirรญ district of Lima province, to the 100th.

We’re doing so because alongside his Peruvian nationality and his unceasing love for his country, he kept his heart closely linked to the homeland of his forebears, the Basque Country, thereby maintaining a “double nationality” that many Peruvian-Basques share.ย  This love of this homeland led him to be deeply committed to it, to such a degree that he even played a leading role in the first to World Congresses of Basque Collectivities, to which he was expressly invited by the Lehendakari himself.

We started thisย series about Paco Igartua, which is joining the collection of articles that have madeย reference to him over the years, with a detailed and thorough article about his life and work written by someone who knew him well: Josu Legarreta Bilbao.ย  With a degree in Philosophy, Legarreta has held many responsible positions in the Basque administration’s international relations field, first as the director of Cooperation and Development, and then as the Director of Relations with the Basque Collectivities of the world.ย  This led him to start a relationship, and then a friendship, with Francisco Igartua, which was maintained over the decades, right up until Igartua passed away.

Today, we’re bringing it back because, on the occasion of the International Day of the Basque Diaspora, the four newspapers that make up the Basque news agency Grupo Noticias have, in two parts, published an extensive article by Legarreta about Igartua, which will help us understand the journalist’s personality and abilities.

We can’t confirm it, but we doubt any other journalist has received this kind of attention, to this extent, in any Basque media.

Deia – 8/9/2022 – Euskadi

Diรกspora vasca: de Euskal Herria a Perรบ (1)

En estas fechas veraniegas renace de nuevo el orgullo de contar en mรกs de cien paรญses con muchos miles de vascos y descendientes que celebran el Dรญa de la Diรกspora con sentimientos de pertenencia al Pueblo Vasco. Sin entrar al debate sobre el sentido del concepto โ€œdiรกsporaโ€, ni siquiera tomar en cuenta de aquel comentario doblemente denigrante de Josรฉ Luis Borges de โ€œLos vascos me parecen mรกs inservibles que los negrosโ€, nos reafirmamos en nuestra conciencia colectiva y transnacional. Fue un acierto su constituciรณn oficial, especialmente en estas รฉpocas de tendencias globalizadoras, que nos demandarรกn una apertura de mente y de estrategias sociales para proseguir activos en la conversiรณn de una sociedad pluricultural en intercultural.

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Deia – 9/9/2022 – Euskadi

Diรกspora vasca: de Euskal Herria a Perรบ (y 2)

La profesionalidad de Paco Igartua traspasรณ los รกmbitos nacionales de Perรบ: acudiรณ a Cuba para presenciar la entrada victoriosa de los revolucionarios castristas a La Habana y llegรณ a lograr estrecha amistad con Fidel Castro, aunque, con su visiรณn futurista de los acontecimientos, en 1961, llegรณ tambiรฉn a pronosticar el futuro de la revoluciรณn porque ยซFidel Castro confundรญa a Cuba con su personaยป. Posteriormente, cuando fue desterrado a Mรฉxico, entablรณ relaciones con el presidente Echeverria y su hombre de confianza en cuestiones de prensa, Vicente Lazkuray, que fue ยซjefe de gudaris en la guerra espaรฑola. Estas relaciones facilitaron su nombramiento de director del semanario del periรณdico El Sol, a pesar de que en la sociedad mexicana no estaba bien visto que un extranjero dirigiera un medio de comunicaciรณn de un millรณn de suscriptores

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Last Updated on Sep 29, 2024 by About Basque Country


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