FLANDES THE NEXT STATE IN EUROPE - CATALONIA THE NEXT STATE IN EUROPE

FLANDES PODRIA SER UN NOU ESTAT DE LA UNIÓ (Loster)
smolins9 | esborrar | diumenge, 19 d'agost de 2007 | 04:29h

BÈLGICA ES POT DESINTEGRAR .

FLANDES PODRIA SER UN NOU ESTAT DE LA UNIÓ EUROPEA MÉS AVIAT DEL QUE ENS PENSEM .

CATALUNYA ! ESPAVILA'T !
(Tramès per en Loster)


"Formation du gouvernement belge : le roi suspend les négociations"

LE MONDE | 18.08.07 | 11h41 • Mis à jour le 18.08.07 | 11h41

Bruxelles, correspondant


Soixante-huit jours après les élections, la Belgique en est revenue à son point de départ : constatant, vendredi 17 août, que les positions des formations flamandes et francophones qui tentent de former un gouvernement étaient inconciliables, le roi Albert II a repris la main. Il a convoqué successivement les présidents des quatre partis censés former, un jour, une équipe ministérielle de centre-droit baptisée "l'orange bleue", parce qu'elle associerait la couleur des chrétiens-démocrates et celle des libéraux.


http://pubs.lemonde.fr/


La mission d'Yves Leterme, le formateur désigné, membre du CD & V (chrétiens- démocrates flamands), a été "suspendue". Cette initiative royale suit d'autres épisodes inédits,commel'annonce d'une probable concertation entre tous les partis francophones, de la majorité et de l'opposition, afin de préparer une riposte commune à des exigences flamandes jugées inacceptables. Au cours des derniers jours, les partis flamands ont déposé un impressionnant catalogue de revendications institutionnelles.

Ils demandent, entre autres, unerégionalisation (partielle) de l'impôt sur les personnes et les sociétés, des allocations familiales, du code de la route, de l'octroi des plaques minéralogiques, etc. Le pouvoir des régions serait accru en matière de justice, de transports, de conventions de travail ou de remboursement de médicaments. Les ordres professionnels seraient scindés, les régions fixeraient leurs propres conditions à l'octroi de la nationalité.



"DÉPEÇAGE" DE L'ETAT FÉDÉRAL

Ces revendications ne font pas allusion à la scission de l'arrondissement bilingue de Bruxelles-Hal-Vilvorde, qui semble aller de soi pour les responsables flamands. Or, les francophones s'y opposent, afin de protéger les droits de quelque 150 000 d'entre eux qui vivent sur le sol flamand, dans la périphérie de Bruxelles.

Plus généralement, les partis francophones s'opposent à ce qu'ils appellent le "dépeçage" de l'Etat fédéral, menacé de devenir une coquille vide. En guise de riposte, ils ont donc sorti un plan demandant l'extension des limites de la région de Bruxelles, une consultation populaire dans sa périphérie et une remise en cause de la représentation politique garantie aux"Flamands de la capitale"."Inacceptable", ont répondu les négociateurs néerlandophones, qui refusent tout report des discussions sur les points majeurs de leur programme, même s'ils nécessitent souvent une majorité "spéciale" – deux tiers des voix dans les deux assemblées –, ce dont ne disposerait pas "l'orange bleue".

Constatant le blocage, M. Leterme a fait rapport à Albert II. Celui-ci pourrait-il infléchir la position des uns et des autres ? De nombreux observateurs étaient dubitatifs et envisageaient l'hypothèse d'un échec de la négociation. Het Laatste Nieuws, le plus gros tirage de la presse flamande, conseillait, lui, aux francophones de plier : "Si [leur] attitude mène à un scénario à la tchécoslovaque pour notre pays, les chômeurs, les malades, les invalides, les familles de Bruxelles et de Wallonie en paieront le prix. Et M. Sarkozy, de Paris, ne viendra pas à Bruxelles avec un chèque", écrivait, vendredi, son éditorialiste.





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"Flanders could be a next free state in the European Union in the next ten years . Why not Catalonia ? "


King ends first round of talks

This morning, King Albert received the leader of the Francophone Christian democrats Joëlle Milquet and her Flemish colleague of the liberal party Bart Somers. After the talks held yesterday evening with Flemish Christian democrat leader Jo Vandeurzen and French speaking liberal leader Didier Reynders, the King will now try and defuse the explosive situation that resulted from the failed negotiations on the formation of a new government.

The exact contents of the meetings with the King have not been disclosed.



Neither Mrs Milquet nor Mr Somers wanted to give comment as they drove through the gates of Belvédère Castle, the King’s private home in the municipality of Laken.

Didier Reynders was slightly more talkative as he left the gates last night. According to the MR leader, it would become clear on Sunday evening whether an agreement between the different parties had been reached.

Still according to Mr Reynders, the negotiations on the government formation would then resume on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.


Unprecedented royal intervention

The news of the King’s intervention in the crisis was announced yesterday afternoon, after King Albert had received formateur Yves Leterme (Flemish Christian democrat, photo).

In a communiqué, the Palace announced King Albert was to held political consultations with the political party leaders over the weekend. During that time, the communiqué said, the actual formation talks lead by Mr Leterme would be put on hold.



As such, the statement left in the open whether all political parties would be involved or just those four that have won the June elections.

The initiative for this highly unusual procedure is reported to have come from Mr Leterme himself.

In deadlock after the negotiations between the Flemish and French speaking parties had fallen through over the communal issues, Mr Leterme felt he had no other option left.

The French speaking negotiators refuse to accept the Flemish demands, such as the introduction of Flemish number plates or the transfer of the competence of Labour and Employment to the regions and say they are aimed at fleecing the federal state.

The Flemish parties are indignant about the French speakers’ counterclaims.

These involve the expansion of the Brussels region at the cost of Flanders and the abolition of certain rights of the Flemish living in the capital.

It is not yet clear what will happen next. Yet it is thought likely that the King will invite Mr Leterme for another audience at the Palace.



(Informació enviada per Loster.)

Santiago Espot. President of "Catalunya Acció"

Santiago Espot. President of "Catalunya Acció" www.catalunyaaccio.org.

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5.8.07

YEARLY KOS CONVENTION


Aquest cap de setmana, en comptes d'anar a la platja, l'he passat seguint la YearlyKos Convention que ha tingut lloc a Chicago. Bé de fet acaba avui. És la segona edició que s'organitza, la primera va tenir lloc l'any passat a Las Vegas (Nevada). Com el seu propi nom indica, es tracta d'un esdeveniment organitzat a partir d'un dels blocs amb més rellevància, el Dailykos, penjat per primera vegada l'any 2002, per l'activista Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. El seu impacte ha estat tan gran que els seus lectors s'identifiquen com a Kossacks.

La convenció porta per subtítol Building a Netroots Nation, i bàsicament el que pretén és reforçar els sectors més progressistes del Partit Demòcrata, enfront el més centristes, per tal d'aconseguir una gran mobilització ciutadana que, n'estan convençuts, si es dóna, permetrà derrotar el Partit Republicà en les propers eleccions presidencials del 2008.

L'èxit de la convenció ha estat enorme. Si a l'edició de l'any passat només hi va participar un únic candidat a la nominació demòcrata, enguany, hi ha hagut pinyes per ser-hi present. De fet 7 dels 8 candidats a la nominació han protagonitzat la sessió més seguida, el Presidential Leadership Forum, on tots ells s'han hagut de mullar de valent, i on les crítiques als Mainstream Media (MSM) i als grans lobbies de Washington, han estat constants per part del públic assistent, uns 4.000 pel cap baix, molts d'ells blocaires.

Val a dir que el candidat John Edwards, sembla ser qui ha comptat amb més recolzament del públic assistent. De lluny, Edwards és qui més ha comptat al llarg de la seva campanya amb blocaires, i fins i tot la seva dona ha participat amb alguns posts en el propi Daily Kos. Tampoc es pot deixar d'esmentar que compta dins el seu equip de col.laboradors amb dos pesos pesants de la campanya de Howard Dean en les primàries del 2004: Joe Trippi i Mathew Gross.




També han estat força seguides les intervencions del propi Howard Dean , i la de Wesley Clark, general retirat enormement crític amb la guerra a l'Iraq. Al marge de les grans patums, també han tingut lloc moltes sessions sobre l'activisme a internet i com mobilitzar els ciutadans i fer-los participar en el procés polític. Algunes d'elles les he pogudes seguir en viu a través del canal Ustream.

Com no podia ser altrament, la Convenció també ha tingut la seva rèplica a Second Life, i pràcticament tots els protagonistes. Com per exemple, el propi John Edwards (foto)




No cal dir que la trobada de Kossacks, ha estat aprofitada tant pel Partit Republicà (GOP) com per la Brunete mediàtica yankee (FOX TV, per exemple) per carregar contra la radicalització dels demòcrates i per considerar que els candidats a la nominació són hostatges del sectors més extremistes de la societat americana. Com a prova, aquest vídeo.

Nancy Pelosi, una política controvertida, sobretot per la seva actitud en el conflicte israelianopalestí. Veurem què diu.


Etiquetes de comentaris: FOX TV, GOP, HOWARD DEAN, J OE TRIPPI, JOHN EDWARDS, KOSSACKS, MARKOS MOULINTSAS ZUNIGA, MATHEW GROSS, NETROOTS, SECOND LIFE, USTREAM, YEARLY KOS CONVENTION


posted by Josep at 5:55:00 PM

Alternatiba bada. PRENTSA OHARRA » Politika orokorra. (2004/10/25)

(Acces: http://www.gazteabertzaleak.org/ikusi.asp?hizkuntza=eus&kod=322)

Alternatiba bada



PRENTSA OHARRA » Politika orokorra


2004/10/25

Gazte Abertzaleak, ALTERNATIBA BADA kanpaina aurkeztu du. Kanpaina Urriaren 25 eta Abenduaren 6 bitartean luzatuko da, Euskal Herria bizi duen menpekotasun egoeraren adierazle diren bi data bitartean, Gernikako estatutuaren urteurrena lehena eta konstituzio eguna bigarrena. GAk kanpaina honen bitartez egun gure aberriak bizi duen egoerari alternatiba badela erakutsi nahi du: estatutuari, konstituzio espainiarrari, Europar konstituzioari, borroka armatuari, eskubideen urraketari eta eskuinaren eredu neoliberalari alternatiba badela erakutsiz. Zentzu honetan, Gazte Abertzaleak bere alternatibak aurkezten ditu.





Honako hau da ALTERNAIBA BADA kanpainaren egutegia* :

Urriak 24: Kanpainaren aurkezpena. Prentsaurrekoa Donostiako Egoitzan, goizeko 11.00etan

Urriak 25: Estatutuari alternatiba bada. Hitzaldia Carlos Garaikoetxearekin Ibaetako kanpusean 11.00etan.

Azaroaren 8tik-14ra: Europar Gizarte Foroaren inguruko kartel eta argazkien erakusketa Tolosan (Kultur Etxean).

Azaroaren 15tik- 21ra: Europar Gizarte Foroaren inguruko kartel eta argazkien erakusketa Zaramagako Alkartetxean (Gasteizen).

Azaroak 18: Borroka armatuari alternatiba bada, neoliberalismoari alternatiba bada. Hitzaldia ELKARRI eta ELArekin Leioako kanpusean goizeko 11.00etan

Azaroak 24: Europar Konstituzioari alternatiba bada. GA, JERC eta CHOBENALLAREN arteko topaketa Gasteizen. Prentsa aurrekoa.

Azaroak 26: FEMP urtemugaren itxiera Gasteizen ZPren eskutik. Alternatiba bada kanpainaren triptiko banaketa Andra Mari Zuriaren enparantzan.

Azaroak 27: Alternatiba bada kanpaina Bilbon (Arenal)

Abenduak 1: Nafarroan alternatiba bada. NA BAI hitzaldia UPNAN 11.00etan (konfirmatzeke).

Abenduak 4: Bertso-Saio Zaramagako Alkartetxean arratsaldeko 19.00etan

Abenduak 6: Kanpainaren itxiera


* Zenbait data itxi gabe daude, jarraitu geure web orrialdeko agenda datak zehazteko.



»Politika orokorrari buruzko beste prentsa oharrak

Ireland's OWN: History (foto: The Horse of the People)

Ireland's OWN: History (foto:Appeared in Ireland's Own -The Horse of the People-)

Secret Talks — Father Alec Reid and Gerry Adams*

"To say that Father Alec Reid is the unrecognised inspiration of the Irish peace process would be an understatement. Long known as a confidant of the Sinn Féin leader, Reid is accorded in most accounts the role of message carrier for Adams during the odyssey to peace, but the full story reveals him to be a much more substantial figure, who initiated, devised and nurtured many of the ideological innovations that made Gerry Adams's journey possible. Passionate about his project, secretive, trustworthy, but at times gullible and naïve, Reid persisted at times when others in the British and Irish governments were close to giving up — his reward was the IRA cease-fires and the political settlement that eventually came more than a decade after his bid to save Tommy Cochranes's life.1 To those who support his efforts he is the unsung and largely unrewarded hero of the peace process; to those who do not he is the crafty Wolsey to Adams's Henry VIII.

"To British civil servants who had secret dealing with Reid in later years, the Catholic priest seemed a curious choice for a go-between for Adams…

"Reid contended that the Church would bring a special flavour to the effort arising from its extraordinary, centuries-old influence over Irish society. This, he would say, would bestow a moral authority and stature on the enterprise that would both legitimise it and add to the pressure on republicans to respond positively. Reid's third point followed on from this. He argued that the Church's role in providing a neutral setting for the process would never give cover to any other political parties who were talking to Adams and his colleagues. "The point he made, and John Hume grasped this particularly well was that if there was a leak, responsibility could be shifted onto the Church," recalled an Irish participant.

"Had news of Reid's 1982 overtures to Adams leaked out at the time, there is little double that in the prevailing climate the Irish political and media establishment would have been aghast at the revelation of any contact between the Church and the Provos. But the news would have shocked many republicans as well. The hunger strike scars were still were still fresh when Reid approached Adams and the memory of the role played by the Church still rankled with rank-and-file Provos. During the prison protest, republicans had bitterly accused the Catholic hierarchy of betraying the hunger strikers and of kowtowing to the Thatcher government. The Church's stance, they claimed, had been supine and had encouraged Thatcher to take an unbending line on the prison protest, contributing in no small measure to the ten hunger strike deaths…

"By 1985 and 1986 small glimpses of the secret diplomacy were occasionally visible, and with hindsight it is possible to discern the direction in which the talks were heading at this time. Three elements went together to make up the embryonic peace strategy. One was a proposal to forge an alliance of Irish nationalists that would replace the IRA's violence as the cutting edge of the republican struggle. The second was the idea that a conference should be held to which all shades of opinion in Ireland would be invited and which would hammer out a political settlement. The third was a declaration of neutrality from the British, a statement that said they had no desire to impose a settlement on anyone in Northern Ireland and would be content to accept whatever political representatives could agree in negotiation. Taken together the peace strategy outlined a way in which Adams could accept the principle of consent in relation to the political future for Northern Ireland while being able to say that none of the core republican doctrines had been abandoned or compromised.

"The tip of the iceberg soon became visible. Gerry Adams first broached the idea of a pan-nationalism at Sinn Féin's November 1984 Ard Fheis when he called for "a firm, united and unambiguous demand from all Irish Nationalist parties" for an end to the unionist veto. This he said would create a new situation in which future arrangements could be worked out in "business-like negotiations" with all the parties of Ireland. A few months later, in February 1985, during the course of a radio current affairs program, Adams asked the SDLP leader, John Hume, for talks to establish "a united nationalist approach" to the British. In March he again called for a "united and dogmatic Irish nationalist approach" to the North. These were all clues to the direction of the still-secret diplomacy. Cardinal O Fiaich meanwhile was treading similar ground. In January 1984 the Catholic primate urged the convening of a political forum either in Belfast or in Dublin where "representatives of all sides" could meet to discuss the future of the North. Three times in 1985 he called on the British to indicate that they would not be staying in Northern Ireland forever and in the meantime to use their good offices to "try to bring Catholics and Protestants together."

"It was very tentative stuff, and only those who were privy to what was going on behind the scenes could be aware of its real significance. The rest of Ireland, distracted by the ferocity of the IRA's campaign, dismissed the comments either as irrelevant or as deliberate distractions. The idea that the SDLP, Fianna Fáil, or any other constitutional nationalist party would want link up with the Provisionals at that time or that the British would somehow aggress to such far-fetched proposals was simply unimaginable.

"It was also an impossible concept for most Provisional activists and supporters to grasp, at grassroots or even a leadership level. The common IRA/Sinn Féin view of the SDLP and Fianna Fáil, the hatred at the core of their relationship, had been expressed in a bitter statement by the IRA prisoners at the end of the 1981 hunger strike — the same statement that had so bitterly excoriated the Catholic Church. Attitudes had changed little since then. Fianna Fáil, and the other Southern parties, the prisoners had said, were "accessories to the murder" of the ten hunger strikers for failing to confront Thatcher, while the SDLP was merely "an amalgamation of middle class Redmonites, devoid of principle, direction and courage." The enmity between the Provos and the Irish establishment was deep and seemingly unbridgeable.

"Even if Gerry Adams had wanted to confide in his senior colleagues, it is highly questionable whether he would have received a sympathetic hearing. Most IRA activists at this point believed unwaveringly in the armed struggle and tolerated electoral politics only because it seemed to offer, as Adams and others had told them it would, a way of increasing logistical support for the IRA. Had they thought that the political path down which Adams had taken them would lead into negotiations that threatened to dilute dearly held republican beliefs, most would have seen it as treachery.

"So it was that the diplomacy of Father Alec Reid and Gerry Adams was kept a tightly guarded secret even from IRA Army Council. Although Adams was slowly to win over key members of the council to his strategy with the passage of time and did confide in a small group of advisors around him in Belfast, his enterprise with Reid was never discussed or formally approved by the body charged with deciding IRA policy and strategy.

"What the reaction of IRA leaders would have been had they been fully aware of the ideological territory being traversed by the still-secret peace process can only be guessed at…

"The history of contacts between the IRA and the British government was, by 1986, a long but unhappy one. British ministers, including the then Northern Ireland secretary, William Whitelaw, had met a delegation of IRA leaders, including Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, in London as far back as June 1972 during the IRA cease-fire. In 1975 there were further contacts, although this time no British politicians were directly involved, and instead the talking was done between British officials and representatives of the Army Council. The talking in both cases ended in angry recrimination. In 1972 the cease-fire was abandoned within days of the contact amid IRA accusations of British bad faith, while in 1975 Adams and others alleged that the British had tricked the IRA into the cessation in order to buy time to devise the IRA's defeat. Officially the Army Council was in 1986 so hostile to the notion of a cease-fire that it was committed never to talk to the British again, unless it was about their withdrawal from Ireland.

"All this meant that when Gerry Adams decided to open a dialogue with the British about the burgeoning peace process, he chose Father Reid to act as his go-between and representative. The Redemptorist acted as a sort of clerical cutoff providing cover to all involved, both Republican and British, and it was a task he performed with diligence and discretion when, finally, the moment came for Adams to move.2 Precisely when the pair made contact with the British government is not known, but the evidence strongly suggests that sometime in 1986, courtesy of Father Reid, a highly secret line of communication was opened between the Northern Ireland secretary, Tom King, and the Sinn Féin leader.

"In the intervening years both the British and the Sinn Féin leadership have, for reasons best known to themselves, gone to considerable lengths to persuade the outside world that the first contact between them did not take place until much later, in 1990, when British intelligence made contact with the IRA and commenced a dialogue with Martin McGuinness. But both parties have been extremely economical with the truth about the full extent of their dealings with each other.

"As can now be revealed for the first time, confirmation that Gerry Adams was in indirect conversations with the British government as early as 1986, or at least 1987, has been given in interviews with the author by two former British Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland who conducted these dealings with the Sinn Féin leader. One was Tom King, who came to Belfast in September 1985, just before the Hillsborough Agreement was signed, and the other was his successor, Peter Brooke, Secretary of State between 1989 and 1992, a figure whose term of office is most identified with the emergence of the first public clues about the secret diplomacy that lay behind the peace process. Both men have since been elevated to the British House of Lords."

*From Moloney, Ed. The Secret History of the IRA. WW Norton & Co, New York. 2002. pp 225, 232, 238-39, 246-47.



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Notes (from Ireland's OWN)
1 Tommy Cochrane was a UDR sergeant kidnapped by the IRA and killed when loyalists failed to exchange, and then killed, kidnapped Republican Joe Donegan.
2 Reid was a Redemptorist. Redemptorists are Jesuits bound by a vow of poverty who work with the poor and working class, and have a strong influence in West Belfast.


Page last updated 8 Oct 2003
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Website Design and Celtic Background by DM Gould
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All Rights Reserved.

Ongizate estatuaren defentsaren aldeko kanpaina

Acces: http://www.gazteabertzaleak.org/ikusi.asp?hizkuntza=eus&kod=318

Ongizate estatuaren defentsaren aldeko kanpaina



BERRIA » Politika orokorra


2004/10/23

Bizkaiko Gazte Abertzaleak-ek ongizate estatuaren inguruko kanpaina bat prestatu du azkeneko hilabeteotan. Lan talde baten bitartez hasi zen lana, urriaren 9an ikastaro arrakastatsu eta baliagarri batekin bukatu zen. Orain kanpaina aurkezteko unea da eta horretarako triptiko informatiboak eta kartelak prestatu dituzte Bizkaiko GA-ko militanteek.

Kanpainak, ongizate estatua zer den eta bere onurak azaltzen ditu, munduan egun bizi garen egoerari erreparatuz, non neoliberalismoak inposatzen duen merkatu libreak gizarte desegituraketa eta pobrezia eragiten duen . Gazte Abertzaleak-en ustez beharrezkoa da benetako ongizate estatu bat eratzea, pertsonen arteko berdintasunak garatu eta gizarte bidezkoago bat eraikitzeko. Zentzu honetan, kanpainak benetan soziala izan beharko litzatekeen Euskal Herri batengatik apustu egiten du, jasangarria den Euskal Herria eta estatuak herritar guztien eskubideak bermatzen dituen Euskal Herria.

Kanpaina Urriaren 23an hasi zen eta Abenduan bukatuko da eta bere bidez Eusko Jaurlaritzari zera proposatzen dio GAk: Eusko Legebiltzarrean ondoko ardatzak errespetatuz Ongizate Estatuaren aldeko erakunde-adierazpen baten onarpena bultzatu dezala:

• Pentsioen sistema bermatu eta pentsio baxuenen hobekuntza bultzatu.
• Espainiar gobernuari eskumenen trasferentzia exigitu.
• Osasun eta langabezian giza prestazioak bermatu eta prestazio hauen murrizketak ekiditu.
• Ekonomi aktibitate osoa merkatuaren autoerregulazioaren esku hutsetan ez utzi. Estatuak, herritar guztion ekonomi eta giza ongizatea lortzeko, gutxieneko puntu batzuk bermatu behar ditu.
• Liberalizazio latzari kontra egin.
• Behin eta berriz ematen diren pribatizazioei ez.
• Delitu zehatz batzuen hazkundea errazten duten zenbait faktoreri buruzko erreflexioa.
• Zergen gorakada erabakiko balitz, zuzenekoei legokienak (PFEZ, OZ...) lehentasuna euki beharko luke zeharkako zergen ( BEZ, erregaiak, alkohola...) gorakaden aurrean. Txiroak eta aberatsak ez dezala berdin ordaindu. Gehiago daukanak gehiago ordaindu dezala

"Haremos todo lo que podamos por solucionar el conflicto, y dejaremos el resto a la gracia de Dios"

SACERDOTE Y MEDIADOR IRLANDÉS
Alec Reid: 'Hay que dar las gracias a Zapatero, Otegi y Usabiaga'
'No habrá perdedores, sólo ganadores. Salga lo que salga de la mesa tendrá que ser aceptado'
'El proceso político será más rápido que el de Irlanda del Norte y va a satisfacer a todos'


El sacerdote y mediador irlandés Alec Reid. (Foto: REUTERS)



Noticias relacionadas en elmundo.es
Noticias relacionadas en otros medios
Actualizado jueves 23/03/2006 05:51 (CET)
ANA ROMERO (EL MUNDO)
LONDRES.- Mediador en los conflictos de Irlanda del Norte y el País Vasco, Alec Reid ha vivido los últimos cuatro años en Bilbao para conseguir que la política sustituya a la violencia en Euskadi. "El hecho de que se haya anunciado la tregua quiere decir que hay acuerdo, por ejemplo, sobre los presos", asegura a EL MUNDO.

Hace apenas media hora que ETA ha anunciado su tregua, y el teléfono de la sede de la Orden de los Redencionistas en Dublín no para de sonar. Se busca al padre Alec Reid, el sacerdote irlandés que ha mediado en los conflictos de Irlanda del Norte y del País Vasco. Pero el padre Reid está en su hotel de Bilbao, donde ha vivido casi todo el tiempo durante estos cuatro últimos años. A través del móvil suena su voz emocionada. Al padre Reid, de 74 años, no le cabe la menor duda de que ayer fue un día histórico, tanto como el del 31 de Agosto de 1994, cuando el IRA anunció su alto el fuego completo e inició un proceso político que aún hoy no ha concluido: "Hoy estamos ante el principio de un proceso político como en Irlanda, cuando el IRA puso fin a una tradición de violencia de 700 años. En el País Vasco, la política pacífica va a sustituir a partir de ahora a la violencia".

De entrada, Reid se declara "sorprendido". A pesar de haber sabido que ETA iba a anunciar su tregua en cualquier momento, pensaba que eso no iba a ocurrir ayer, porque creía "que las distintas partes estaban todavía intentando llegar a un acuerdo sobre la mesa negociadora, por ejemplo, en lo que concierne a los presos. El hecho de que se haya anunciado la tregua hoy quiere decir que han alcanzado ese acuerdo y, por lo tanto, estoy todavía más encantado".

Según Reid, ETA apoya desde hace un año la estrategia de Batasuna de "resolver el conflicto en torno a una mesa y conseguir una solución a través de una estrategia democrática y pacífica. Lo que ocurre es que, al igual que el IRA, ETA ha tenido que poner mucho cuidado a la hora de anunciar que paraban para no causar divisiones, sobre entre todos sus miembros más jóvenes, que hubieran podido acusarla de estar traicionando sus ideales".

Pregunta. ¿Existe el peligro, como con el IRA, de una escisión?

Respuesta. No. ETA está muy unida en la estrategia. El mayor signo de que estaban a punto de parar la violencia son precisamente las últimas bombas que han puesto. Lo han hecho para demostrar que no se están rindiendo, sino que están parando porque así lo han elegido. Eso es muy importante para ellos.

Reid empezó a mediar en el conflicto vasco a invitación de su amigo, el sacerdote Joseba Segura. Al principio, iba y venía sin implicarse demasiado. Un buen día, mientras entrevistaban a un grupo de víctimas, ocurrió algo que le hizo instalarse en Bilbao casi a tiempo completo: "Fue la viuda de un periodista asesinado por ETA, una mujer joven, de poco más de 40 años, muy atractiva, la que me convenció de que tenía que implicarme en este proceso.

Ella me dijo: ‘Cuando me despierto por las mañanas y me doy cuenta de que mi marido está muerto, no quiero seguir viviendo’. A partir de ese momento me prometí que el sufrimiento de toda esta gente tenía que acabar".

¿Emular a Irlanda del Norte?
Reid está convencido de que esta tregua no tiene vuelta atrás. A su juicio, la diferencia entre ésta y la de 1998, la que el Gobierno de entonces denominó tregua trampa, es que, en ese momento, se intentó emular a Irlanda del Norte, "y eso no es posible". "Las dos situaciones son muy distintas. A los ingleses no les importaba que Irlanda del Norte dejara de ser británica, pero a los españoles les preocupa mucho que el País Vasco abandone España, porque eso supondría la ruptura del país como tal. Por eso, la estrategia de Batasuna y de LAB ha sido ahora la de sentar a todo el mundo alrededor de esa mesa, incluidos, sobre todo, los españoles, y no emular a la negociación irlandesa. Salga lo que salga de esa mesa, tendrá que acomodar los derechos de todos. No puede haber perdedores, todos tienen que ser ganadores".

P. ¿Cómo se traduce eso a una solución política? ¿Cómo se compatibilizan los derechos de vascos nacionalistas, vascos independentistas y vascos que no son ni nacionalistas ni independentistas, además del resto de los españoles, que también están involucrados?

R. El espíritu de Dios está en el espíritu de diálogo. Siempre hay una solución para todos los conflictos. Si se busca, se encuentra. La izquierda abertzale Batasuna, LAB y ETA quiere llegar a un acuerdo democrático. Hace tres años, un líder de Batasuna me dijo que estaba dispuesto a iniciar el camino del diálogo, incluso si conducía a un lugar que a él no le gustaba. Tenemos que dar las gracias a Arnaldo Otegi y a Rafa Díez Usabiaga.

Yo diría que Rafa Díez Usabiaga es lo más parecido que hay a Gerry Adams, un líder político de altura mundial. El ha sido la fuerza inspiradora de todo este proceso. Pero muy especialmente al señor Zapatero y a su Gobierno: ellos son los que han abierto el camino. Creo que el señor Zapatero pone el bien común antes que el de su partido, y eso es signo de su condición de hombre de Estado.

P. ¿Cree usted que el PP estará dispuesto sentare a la mesa?

'Es cierto que la democracia en España es muy joven, y que en la derecha no hay cultura del diálogo. Si el PP no participa, no es un partido democrático

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R. La postura del PP ha sido hasta ahora la de que ETA ha de ser suprimida y punto. Yo tengo la impresión de que ahora estarán dispuestos a hablar. Es cierto que la democracia en España es muy joven, y que en la derecha no hay cultura del diálogo. Yo no quiero ofender a nadie, pero si no se reconocen los derechos de los demás, eso es fascismo. No obstante, ahora que ETA ha dado este paso, yo creo que el Partido Popular estará dispuesto a participar. Desde luego, si no lo hace, estará demostrando que no es un partido democrático de verdad.

El optimismo de Reid es enorme. "El proceso político será más rápido que el de Irlanda del Norte y, con la ayuda de Dios, va a satisfacer a todas las partes", subraya el sacerdote, quien mantiene que los vascos son "muy trabajadores y muy inteligentes, y cuando se ponen mano a la obra hacen las cosas muy deprisa". Por eso estima Reid que el proceso que se ha iniciado ayer tendrá menos flecos que el de Irlanda del Norte donde, 11 años más tarde, todavía no está funcionando el Parlamento regional.

Tras la tregua, Alec Reid seguirá en Bilbao y seguirá mediando: "Haremos todo lo que podamos por solucionar el conflicto, y dejaremos el resto a la gracia de Dios", comenta.

"Alec Reid apaiz irlandarra da, Ipar Irlandako bake prozesuarean aldeko paperarengatik ezaguna."

Berria naiz Wikipedian; nola lagun dezaket?
Alec Reid
Wikipedia(e)tik
Hona jo: nabigazioa, Bilatu
Alec Reid apaiz irlandarra da, Ipar Irlandako bake prozesuarean aldeko paperarengatik ezaguna.

Erredentziotar 1950ean bihurtu zen, eta zazpi urte geroago apaiztu zen. Limerick, Dundalk eta Galway-en aritu zen Belfastko Clonard monasteriora joan baino lehen. Monasterio hori unionisten Shankill Road kalearen eta erkidego katolikoren artean dago kokatua.

1988an, nahigabe hileta-elizkizun errepublikanoetan sartu zirela medio, IRAk erahildutako bi soldadu britaniarrei azken erritoak eman zizkien Alec Reidek.

1980ko hamarkadaren bukaeran, Sinn Feineko buru Gerry Adams-en eta SDLPko John Hume-ren arteko bilerak ahalbidetu zituen Reidek, nazionalista guztien frontea osatu nahian, negoziazioaren alde bortizkeria arbuia zezaten. Harrezkero Reid Dublingo kontaktu bihurtu zen haiekiko, 1998ko Ostiral Santuko Hitzarmena sinatu zen arte. Garaian publikoak ez zuen Reiden papera ezagutzen, baina Irlandako hainbat Lehen Ministrorekin (Taoiseach) eta Fianna Fáil goiburu batzuekin, Martin Mansergh-ekin esaterako, elkartu zen.

Azken urteotan Eukal Herriko bake prozesuaren alde ere aritu da Reid. 2003ko urtarrilean Sabino Arana Fundazioak saritu zuen bakea eta adiskidetzea sustatzeko ahaleginengatik.

"http://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Reid"(e)tik eskuratuta

Alec Reid, conflict mediator in Northern Ireland

11 / 08 / 2004

Alec Reid, conflict mediator in Northern Ireland: We need to talk because no conflict is resolved using the armed forces

The Forum's 141 Questions (93): "Youth in Northern Ireland: How do they experience the conflict? What can they do?" Alec Reid, one of the signers of the Good Friday Agreement, which sealed peace in Ulster, said that, "youth must commit to making sure the peace process survives, and, therefore, to applying the legacy they have fought for." He said that peace studies should be a university degree and emphasized that conflict resolution needs female voices. In regards to the Basque conflict, he recalled that up until now the Spanish government has not wanted to discuss anything--"they have treated them like terrorists"-- and said that ETA does not have any justification because their demands could be made from the autonomous parliament.

More information about 141 questions - Young people at North Ireland: How lives the conflict?

More information about World Youth Festival

Alec Reid, priest who has been fighting for peace in his country for thirty years, emphasized that, "we must make youth understand that, although it may seem difficult, there is a way out of all conflicts." He assured that dialogue needs clear mentalities based on respect for human dignity and in defense of human rights that have been granted. After reiterating that, "we need to talk because no conflict is resolved using the armed forces," Reid, known as the "Irish Gandhi", said that the Israeli authorities and the United States government need to talk, respectively, with the leaders of the Palestinian suicide bombers and Bin Laden: "It's possible that both sides could be surprised to find elements capable of broaching a new negotiation process."

Reid, a man who believes in divine providence, dialogue and active non-violence said: "We all have to represent the next family that will be destroyed by an act of violence." He is in favor of including peace studies in education and, even, making such studies a university degree: "Young people need to understand the reasons for conflicts and the violence they create in order to solve them." He also called for women to form part of the dynamic that pushes conflict resolution. "All voices are necessary. It is very important to have all the resources that women can offer and thus, stop the vicious cycle that keeps them out of the discussion."

As he is currently working in the Basque Country, Reid responded to a question from the public asking him to draw the similarities and differences between the Northern Irish and Basque cases. Alec Reid stated that until now the Spanish government had refused to have any discussions, –“they treated them like terrorists,” he said – while also stating that ETA has no justification because their demands can be met in the Basque Parliament.

In reference to the peace process in Northern Ireland, he predicted that, "the violence will not return to the streets" and that the country "will be the most prosperous in Europe in fifty to sixty years" when the Unionists stop fearing identifying themselves "too closely to nationalists" who must help them to feel more secure.

He said 95% of Irish youth support the peace process: "They will be the center of the future society. They must commit to a peace process that survives, and therefore apply the legacy they fought for. They must understand what peace is and the history they have behind them. They have to assimilate the principals that resolve conflicts so that they won't repeat the mistakes of the past."