Spain's Aznar Will Not Seek Reelection

[Judi Lynn]

November 9, 2003

THE WORLD
Spain's Aznar Will Not Seek Reelection
The prime minister, a key ally of Bush who backed the Iraq war, quits as head of his ruling party.

By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer


MADRID — President Bush is about to lose one of his best friends in Europe.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has decided to step aside as head of the ruling Popular Party and will not run for a third term in elections in March. He will continue as prime minister until then, but he already has ceded operation of the right-wing party to a handpicked successor, Mariano Rajoy, and he is beginning to focus on a future outside Spanish government.

That positions Rajoy, who serves as deputy premier, as the party's candidate in the upcoming elections and, if current voting patterns continue, probably the next prime minister.

Rajoy is expected to hew generally to Aznar's policies, including his pro-U.S. bent, but he may seek to repair some of Madrid's damaged relations in Europe. He is seen as a more pragmatic and less confrontational politician who is more willing to show flexibility than Aznar, especially in dealing with the opposition and with the separatist-minded Basque region.

Aznar became a staunch ally of the Bush administration — and alienated most of his own continent — by supporting Washington's war in Iraq when few European governments were so inclined. Along with Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, he ignored the overwhelmingly antiwar sentiment of his nation and campaigned on behalf of the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-aznar9nov09,1,4878803.story?coll=la-headlines-world

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[Mokito]

1. The people of Spain detest the Texas Twit*

So they are very unlikely to vote in anyone who supports his policies. This must be a good thing! Woohoo!

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Some good news for Europe, Spain, and the Basques (long)

I am actually surprised. I thought Aznar had hopes of being Spain's Strongman For Life. It is just as well -- Sr. Rajoy may be an Aznarista, but he is not nearly as paranoid as El Jefe.

Recently, the governing body of Basque Country proposed to "modify" its relationship with Spain, all but declaring independence. Juan Jose Ibarretxe, President of the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain (the Spanish states of Alava, Guipúzcoa, and Biscaya) presented the "Statute Proposal" to the Spanish government on October 24th, and Aznar came out blustering, even suggesting that military force might be used against the BAC.

The American press, however, is downplaying events in Basque Country, as well as their impact in Europe. It is the movement for an independent Basque republic that has shaped most of Aznar's decisions, and he may be growing weary of fighting the tide. Jacques Chirac -- whom many "right-thinking" Americans believe is a Communist -- also fears the Basque movement, because while a Basque republic would take a big chunk out of Spain (the states of the Basque Autonomous Community, and possibly also Navarre), it would also take a smaller piece out of France (mostly from the Département Pyrenées-Atlantique.). There is already a large group in French Pays-Basque based in Bayonne, which demands that Paris formally establish a Basque Département, recognize the Basque language, and fund a university and chamber of agriculture such as exist in most other French Départements.

In the American press, "Basque" equals "ETA", the militant separatist group. What is not so well known is that ETA is on its last legs, in part because most of its assassination specialists have either been captured or killed. (Popular Basque antipathy toward violence is also a big factor.) ETA has taken to recruiting college kids to build and plant bombs, with a very high mortality rate. Aznar himself was nearly killed by an ETA bomb in the 1990s, which may explain his paranoia. However, in his two terms as Spanish president, he has campaigned on the Basque terrorism issue much as Bush campaigns on Islamic terrorism, finding terrorists in every enterprise with any connection to Basque politics or activists.

Just recently, Bush rewarded Aznar for his loyalty in the Iraqi occupation by putting Batasuna on the USA State Department's official terrorist list. Batasuna ("Unity") is a political party, not to be confused with ETA, Euzkadi 'Ta Askatasuna ("Basque-Land and Freedom").

Aznar's ally at court, Judge Juan del Olmo, also permitted the closing of the primary Basque-language newspaper, Egunkaria Euskaldunon. Its editorial board was taken into custody and subjected to -- in "delicate" terms -- physically rigorous interrogation. At least two prisoners (Xabier Alegria and Iñaki Uria) remain in custody 9 months later, and one (Xabier Oleaga) was released only last week.

Euskal Herria, Basque Country, is a more important part of Europe's economy than either Spain or France would like. After WWI, the area was made into an industrial ghetto, since the powers-that-be were none too fond of the Basques. Over the course of the century, the sooty smokestack industries have produced great wealth, and Basque Country has been evolving into a technological powerhouse. Personal income in the Basque states of Spain and France is among the highest in Europe.

Most people in Europe have lost their pre-WWII tribal attitudes, but the ruling cliques have not. Since the 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in things Basque, not only in Spain and France, but as far away as Ireland (Ireland's links to the Basques date back 1400 years, when the Irish, Vikings, and Basques developed formidable seagoing commerce) and Germany (possibly from Basque and German youths' shared enthusiasm for techno and punk rock music.)

However, the motivation against basque independence is not simply a conservative nationalist power-play. Disunity among different factions in Europe have led to tremendous suffering, and the architects of the European Community were guided by this history. Political rivalries were key in starting WWI, WWII, the advance of Fascism and Communism, and recently the bloody civil war in the Balkans. The Basques shared in this suffering, and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's hatred of the Basques (and all things non-Calstillan) led to his calling on the Nazi Luftwaffe to saturation-bomb Guernica (Gernika in Basque). Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica commemorates this atrocity.

Lack of a coordinated policy on guest workers, immigrants, and refugees has led to political problems in most European nations and has fueled the zombie-like resurrection of Euro-Fascism. The political Right has also seized on the influx of mainly Muslim immigrants to mount their own crusades against "terrorism".

Over the next decade, I am certain that there will be a strong call to establish Euzkadi as an independent republic within the European Community. The overall political movement of Europe is for all cultural minorities to regain a place at the table, and the EEC provides am historic opportunity for political self-determination without resulting in war, economic disorder, and Balkanization. Not only has Basque Country become more assertive, but so have other peoples and areas, such as Ireland (the major "success story", but still without a satisfactory conclusion), Catalonia in Spain, Alsace in France/Germany, Prussia in Germany/Austria/Hungary, "Lappland" in north Finland, the Friulans in Benelux and the Ukrainian Germans in south Ukraine. (Yes, I'm sure I missed several others.)

None of these peoples want civil war, but all want the recognition and political power they have been deprived of since the modern European states emerged two centuries ago.

As with Ireland since the 1920s, developments in Euskal Herria bear watching, since they will influence European democracy for decades to come.

--bkl

Berria, daily newspaper of the Basque Country (English Edition)
Buber`s Basque Information Website - Diaspora, Culture, Language, and History

[0007]

3. Thanks for the information...

your right this is news one doesn't read or see in our media.

[vicinus]

7. Franco anti-Castille

Francisco Franco's hatred of the Basques (and all things
non-Calstillan)

Sorry, but this is nonsense¡ Francisco Franco was not a
Castillian, but a General from Galicia. He hated the Basque
Nationalist because he thought they were traitors. People
whose party´s motto is GOD AND OLD LAWS, but supported an
anarchist-communist revolution. There is something you have to
take in account. The Basque Nationalist surrendered to
Mussolini, and led the Italian troops to Bilbao. In the last
year of the Civil war, the only Basques who fought Franco were
the socialists and comunists, most of them emmigrants working
in the iron industry of Biscay. In any case, most of the
conservative Basques supported Franco, and during its
dictatorship, Basques were clearly overrepresented in the
regime. Basqued have always been a powerful minority in Madrid

[ze_dscherman]

9. Prussia????

This is pure BS. There is nothing like a "prussian" independence movement. Where from? Prussia was the militaristic state in the now eastern region of Germany that later became the core of of the German Reich. That was way before Hitler - in a time when the idea of nationalism was a progressive one, because "Germany" was divided into many local states and its people were striving for political unity.

There's nothing like a prussian language, culture or movement. I'd rather bet for Bavaria becoming independent ;-)

[leesa]

4. Good deal! Unlikely Spain will support his hand-picked successor

Weren't they nearly 95% opposed to the Chimpster's wars against humanity? Unless Diebold has supplied their voting apparatus, they will throw these bums out.

[DUreader]

5. "beginning to focus on a future outside Spanish government"

Carlyle job?

[UTUSN]

6. Well, Opposing 95% of Your Constituents,

and the country's figurehead (the King), and the country's spiritual leader (the Pope)------odds for reelection otta be slim. But, HEY, Shrub doesn't seem to be fazed by all of the resources he has squandered.

[ScotTissue]

8. He never was running for re-election

In the run-up to the war (we're talking January, February) I heard newspeople say that one reason Aznar was supporting Bush is that he wasn't going to seek re-election, so he didn't care about popularity polls.

So I think he didn't "just decide," I think he never was going to run. BWTFDIK?

[LiberalTexan]

10. That wasn't what the Spanish feared

Aznar is about as arrogant (and stupid) as Bush. In my opinion, it wasn't that he just did whatever he wanted because he wasn't going to try for re-election. I think he honestly thought that the Spanish people would warm to him, the war, et al. Big inflated ego he has...

He has disasterous policies across the board (still can't swim on the beaches in Northern Spain because that heinous oil spill still isn't cleaned up). I just can't see him saying he was going to fuck up everything just because he could. I think that this is BIG news. My husband is in Spain (lands in the am). I'll ask him to do some talking to folks there (he's on a business trip, not pleasure sight seeing and such).
He should come back with some opinions of this story and maybe I'll post 'em in GD.