The Ian Paisley of the Basque Country speaking in Dublin

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday April 23, 2002 13:40 by askatu

Chester Beatty library, Tuesday 23 April 7.00pm

Jon Juaristi, the director of Instituto Cervantes, will be speaking today in Dublin. Mr Juaristi is one of the mouthpieces of the Spanish establishment's policies of banning political parties. Go and show your support for freedom of expression and the need of a political solution for the Basque conflict.

The Spanish government is trying to pass new legislation through the Spanish parliament aimed to illegalised Batasuna, a Basque pro-independence political party. In the previous years, the Spanish government has closed a Basque newspaper and radio station (prime minister Aznar did not like the way they presented the news), illegalised the youth movement in the Basque Country (the leadership of Haika and Segi were put in jail) and now it is aiming to finish off Batasuna.
Mr Juaristi is only to happy to serve as the conveyor of the message. He considers himself very progresist but on the other hand supports the repressive policies of the Spanish government. He wants his voice to be heard, but when it comes down to the voice of disent, he is not so keen.
No he has become the director of the Cervantes Institute, a body for the promotion of Spanish culture. Although the Spanish Constitution shrines the other languages spoken in the Spanish State, do not expect this organisation to help you if you are interested in Basque, Catalan and Galician. They are only into cultural imperialism.
So, if you feel like it, go and make your voice be heard.