Basque Fatherland and Liberty, or Euskadi ‘ta Askatasuna in the native Basque language, is a nationalist movement based in the Basque provinces of northern Spain and southern France. Formed in 1959 as a resistance movement against the violent and repressive Franco dictatorship, Euskadi ‘ta Askatasuna known informally as ETA, sought to create a self-governed Basque homeland.
As a genetically distinctive ethnic minority, the Basque people have their own language unrelated to any other European language. The Basque people take great pride in their singular heritage, attributable in large part to a geography described as “difficult to conquer”. Basque culture has been shaped with relatively little outside influence for thousands of years. (BBC, 2015) Considering themselves to be a wholly different people from the Spanish and the French, there has historically been significant support for the goals of the ETA amongst the Basque. Chief among those goals was the right to set their own taxation, education, and public welfare policies. Accordingly, in 1979 the Spanish government passed the Statute of Basque Autonomy granting the Basque Country the right of self-governance to include political and financial autonomy, health and environmental policy, and administration of public works. (Bizkaia talent,
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On the morning of December 20, 1973 Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco, the heir apparent to Dictator Francisco Franco, was assassinated in Madrid by ETA terrorists in what would later be described as “a massive explosion.” ETA members had learned that Carrero took the same route to church every day. Seeing an opportunity they could not afford to miss, they rented a ground floor apartment on his route and dug a tunnel from the apartment to the center of the street, where they would place 75 kilograms of explosives to be set off as Carrero drove by. (Aizpeolea,
Lope de Aguirre, better known as the Prince of Freedom, was a Spanish soldier who partook in not only the Spanish conquest and exploration of South America, but later on led the rebellion against Spanish rule in parts of the continent. Aguirre is not only known for his extreme acts of brutality against Spanish leaders, but for being one of the first to claim himself as an American. He played a key role in the fight for independence against the Spanish monarchy. His great acts of violence against Spanish leaders placed him in control of the Island of Margarita (Venezuela), Panama, Chile, and Peru. His betrayal to the Spanish crown was frowned upon and he was soon thought of as a symbol of cruelty and treachery in Colonial Spanish America. Lope de Aguirre payed the ultimate price for his acts of cruelty and violence and was captured and killed by the Spaniards in 1561.
Mexico, once home to ancient cultures like the Maya and Aztec which ruled vast territory expanding from present day South America all the way up north to present day western United States now reduced to roughly half its size. The cause of this dramatic loss of land was contributed to the expansion of the United States and secession of southern provinces, now Central America. The loss of land not only affected Mexico’s presence of power but also affected hundreds of thousands of native people. This was just the beginning of what would come to be known as the land struggle and the fight for land grants, something the United States government would not acknowledge nor recognize.
Initially popularized during the French Revolution, the term “terrorism,” at its inception, was a distinctly positive word; from the rubble of the first revolts in 1789, stemmed the regime de la terreur, an instrument of governance meant to further propel the success of the revolutionaries through the intimidation of those loyal to the dictatorial regime which governed France for much of the eighteenth century (Hoffman 3). Ironically, given the modern interpretation of terrorism, the revolutionaries who would ultimately constitute the regime de la terreur were advocating for virtue and democracy––in fact, one of the figureheads of the revolutionary movement Maximilien Robespierre was renowned for having said: “virtue, without which terror is
In 1930 a man named Rafael Leónidas Trujillo was elected, he was known for his dictatorship. During his Campaign he had it arranged with a secret police force called SIM “Servicio de Inteligencia Militar” (Military Intelligence Service) so that his opponent would get killed. In 1950, Trujillo tried to find reasons to put the three sisters “in their place”. Trujillo felt threatened by the sisters, not only did they oppose him secretly but publicly as well.
A decade later, in 1985, the Colombian Supreme Court was studying the constitutionality of Colombia’s extradition treaty with the United States. It was besieged by left-wing Colombian guerrillas from the 19th of April Movement (M-19) and half the court’s judges were murdered. Escobar was thought to have been responsible for this action, but this was never proven. The 1989 bombing of a Bogota security building was attributed to Escobar. A number of American intelligence reports claimed that Escobar‘s cartel was planning to kill President Bush Sr. with a bomb on his visit to Cartegena in 1989, which did not transpire.
George Orwell, noted writer and journalist, arrived in Barcelona, Spain in late 1936 to cover the fight against fascism. Being an avid fan of socialism, he was amazed to see the small glimpse of socialism in action. He was intrigued to say the least, of the classless society he observed there. Barcelona, Spain at this time was held under Anarchist control, and as such most of the old class society rituals were abandoned: tipping, titles, and the old divisions between rich and poor were practically gone. Everyone was equal in this new society, and most of the rich aristocrats had either fled or went into hiding. This being the truest form of socialism and brotherhood Orwell had ever before witnessed he put down his pen and took up arms. Homage to Catalonia, which Orwell later wrote after fleeing to France in 1937, gives his account as a militiaman in the P.O.U.M (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista) Militia, which roughly translates to the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification. At the time this was one of the many anti-fascist factions in Spain, later he remarks joining P.O.U.M with ignorant bliss of what the difference was between any of them.
According to the Spanish Newspaper “El Mundo”, the sequence of events are as follows: at Atocha station one explosion occurred at 07:37 and two more at 07:38; at El Pozo del Tío Station two explosions occurred at 07:38; at Santa Eugenia St...
Latin American Independence was the drive for independence from Spain and France by the Latin American people. There were many contributing factors that ultimately led to the uprising of Latin American colonies. Europe's strong hold on the economic and political life of Latin America, was creating friction between the Latin Colonies and the European nations. Eventually, this would become enough for the Latin American people and the drive for independence from France and Spain would begin.
La Movida began when Dictator Francisco Franco died in Madrid on November 19th, 1975. Franco’s 36-year reign had been one in which rigid public and church laws preserved the traditional role of family, enforced formal relations between the sexes, and controlled expression in the press and media. Eager to distance themselves from Franco’s repression and censorship, Spain quickly began the move to democracy called the “Transition”. King Juan Carlos I helped the transition by quickly naming Adolfo Suárez Prime Minister. Spain’s first democratic vote in over 40 years took place in 1977, and a new constitution was signed in 1978. That constitution is still in place now. In 1979, Enrique Tierno Galván became the mayor of Madrid, the capital of Spain. In this position he had a lot of power to help or hinder La Movida. His choices helped Spain to move past its repressive past. Then, in 1982 the Socialist PSOE party, headed by Felipe González, was voted in by a landslide and became Spain’s first leftist government since the 1930s.
...ation in a 10-vehicle convoy in July, sprayed it with hundreds of rounds of gunfire and then lobbed grenades at it. Rosas Perez survived.” This quote shows just how reckless and violent the cartel is. It also shows how they can have an affect on politics.
La Movida began when Dictator Francisco Franco died in Madrid on November 19th, 1975. Franco’s 36-year reign had been one in which rigid public and church laws preserved the traditional role of family, enforced formal relations between the sexes, and controlled expression in the press and media. Eager to distance themselves from Franco’s repression and censorship, Spain quickly began the move to democracy called the “Transition”. King Juan Carlos I helped the transition by quickly naming Adolfo Suárez Prime Minister. Spain’s first democratic vote in over 40 years took place in 1977, and a new constitution was signed in 1978. That constitution is still in place now. In 1979, Enrique Tierno Galván became the mayor of Madrid, the capital of Spain. In this position he had a lot of power to help or hinder La Movida. His choices helped Spain to move past its repressive past. Then, in 1982, the Socialist PSOE party, headed by Felipe González, was voted in by a landslide and became Spain’s first leftist government since the 1930s.
Indigenous people of the world have historically been and continue to be pushed to the margins of society. Similarly, women have experienced political, social, and economical marginalization. For the past 500 years or so, the indigenous peoples of México have been subjected to violence and the exploitation since the arrival of the Spanish. The xenophobic tendencies of Spanish colonizers did not disappear after México’s independence; rather it maintained the racial assimilation and exclusion policies left behind by the colonists, including gender roles (Moore 166) . México is historically and continues to be a patriarchal society. So when the Zapatista movement of 1994, more formally known as the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación National (Zapatista Army of National Liberation; EZLN) constructed a space for indigenous women to reclaim their rights, it was a significant step towards justice. The Mexican government, in haste for globalization and profits, ignored its indigenous peoples’ sufferings. Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, consisting of mostly indigenous peoples living in the mountains and country, grew frustration with the Mexican government. It was in that moment that the Zapatista movement arose from the countryside to awaken a nation to the plight of indigenous Mexicans. Being indigenous puts a person at a disadvantage in Mexican society; when adding gender, an indigenous woman is set back two steps. It was through the Zapatista movement that a catalyst was created for indigenous women to reclaim rights and autonomy through the praxis of indigeneity and the popular struggle.
On the night of April 9, 1989, Kurt Muse, the man behind La Voz de la Libertad, would finally be arrested while trying to clear immigration at Panama City’s Omar Torrijos International Airport. It would take nearly two and a half days and the cancelation of all Panamanian visas to the United States by the State Department for the Panamanian Defense Force to finally present Kurt Muse to the world; as a spy for the United States government.1 Kurt founded La Voz de la Libertad, and used it to promote the over threw of Noriega. Once news of his arrest was discovered, the other key players in La Voz de la Libertad and their families knew what had to be done. A member transmitted “shopette” and soon twenty-six Panamanians were asking for asylum at the gates of Fort Clayton.2 Kurt was the only American actively involved in La Voz de La Libertad and would not incriminate his Panamanian coconspirators. It would take nearly nine months for Operation Acid Gambit to come to fruition, and Kurt finally be liberated from his jail cell by Delta Force.
While their continued existence as a separate entity from the rest of the Spanish country is a valid reason for the Basque people to seek independence the hundreds of years they spent with autonomy under Spanish rule mirrors the current situation within the Basque area, and illustrates that the argument for Basque independence is unjustified. While Basque resistance against Spanish nationalism was justifiable during the early 1900s as it began to restrict the autonomy of the region currently they are awarded a great amount of freedom in their decision to run the country. And due to the post Carlist war period the people felt that “the liberty of Euzkadi has been destroyed by France and, mainly, by Spain, who subjugated by force the different Basque territories” . The rise of nationalism was an attempt to protect the Basque identity from mass migration and maintain tradition laws and institutions, with the only method being seen as independence and cutting ties from France and
Although the independence movement is a whole subject by itself, I do think it’s important to recognize it as a part of the culture only in that there are many Basque people who feel so strongly that they need to be recognized as separate from Spain entirely. In this instance, I also feel that the prevalence of the Basque flag and Basque independence propaganda and artwork throughout San Sebastian and the Basque Country exemplifies this deeply rooted mentality of what culture and identity means to the Basques. Even if these political feelings towards independence are not entirely unanimous among the Basques, it is these actions and the acceptance of these actions that they consolidate to show uniformity as a single