11Reclaiming the FLAG by Kyle Eidson with Dave Lachiondo
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168 becoming basque reclaiming the flag 169 r e p o o H d r a W 11Reclaiming the FLAG by Kyle Eidson with Dave Lachiondo n December 1970, 16 members of the Basque separatist group ETA, the acronym for Basque Homeland and Liberty, were charged with the mur - der of a Spanish police commissioner. The Burgos 16, court-martialed I and found guilty, had little or no access to attorneys. Six of the accused were sentenced to death by firing squad. The case drew global notori - ety, calling attention to the larger issues of independence for the Basque Country and the disregard for civil liberties and human rights under the rule of General Francisco Franco. In Idaho, many Basques protested, urging the commutation of Franco’s sentences. For many Boise Basques, this was the latest chapter in a centuries-old cycle of repression and cultural subjugation. The Basque Country ( Euskal Herria ) today is a region with three lan - guages, two sovereign states and seven provinces. Approximately three mil - lion people make the region their home, most of whom live in Spain, with the remainder in France. Since the Middle Ages, French and Spanish kings agreed to a set of laws ( foruak ) that gave the Basques local control over tax - Ward Hooper’s Basque tribute recalls the Deco prints of the 1920s. 168 becoming basque reclaiming the flag 169 r e p o o H d r a W 11Reclaiming the FLAG by Kyle Eidson with Dave Lachiondo n December 1970, 16 members of the Basque separatist group ETA, the acronym for Basque Homeland and Liberty, were charged with the mur - der of a Spanish police commissioner. The Burgos 16, court-martialed I and found guilty, had little or no access to attorneys. Six of the accused were sentenced to death by firing squad. The case drew global notori - ety, calling attention to the larger issues of independence for the Basque Country and the disregard for civil liberties and human rights under the rule of General Francisco Franco. In Idaho, many Basques protested, urging the commutation of Franco’s sentences. For many Boise Basques, this was the latest chapter in a centuries-old cycle of repression and cultural subjugation. The Basque Country ( Euskal Herria ) today is a region with three lan - guages, two sovereign states and seven provinces. Approximately three mil - lion people make the region their home, most of whom live in Spain, with the remainder in France. Since the Middle Ages, French and Spanish kings agreed to a set of laws ( foruak ) that gave the Basques local control over tax - Ward Hooper’s Basque tribute recalls the Deco prints of the 1920s. 170 becoming basque reclaiming the flag 171 n o d n o L , n r e d ation, imports/exports, military conscription and inheritances. The French o M Revolution (1789–99) effectively eliminated those rights in France, and the e t a War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and the Carlist Wars (18th century) T led to their demise in Spain. The decline in local autonomy reached its nadir with Gen. Franco’s Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). Over the next 35 years under Franco’s rule, the Basque language was prohibited; Basque names were removed from birth records; the Spanish police (Guardia Civil ) was a visible and repressive presence in the Basque region and all forms of Basque identity—language, music, litera - ture and political symbols such as the Basque flag—were prohibited. These efforts to remove Basque cul - ture in the years following the Civil War were extremely damaging, especially in the northern provinces of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Post- war generation Basques remember being slapped in the face, or worse, at school for speaking their language, Euskara . These efforts, while moderately successful, did lead to a significant reduction in native Basque speakers. The contentious relationship between Franco and the Basque Country hardened into acrimony because of Franco’s insistence on a unitary Spanish state with no room for Basque identity. Basque nationalists from the time of Sabino Arana (1865–1903), the father of Basque nationalism, and later a Basque government in exile, have pressed for a peaceful and negotiated process leading to self-determination. By the 1960s, young Basques, tired of these failed attempts at a peaceful solution, formed ETA, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Liberty). The roots of ETA can be traced to Bilbao’s University of Duesto, where in 1952 seven students met to dis - cuss Basque self-determination. Their group grew in numbers and the desire for direct action increased. The young activists officially founded ETA on July 31, 1959. At its inception, ETA promoted public, non-violent protests through its communications. However, a small cadre within the larger movement advo - Pablo Picasso deplored Fascist brutality in Weeping Woman , 1937. Opposite: cated armed resistance as a useful way to fight Franquist repression. In button for Abraham Lincoln Brigade of American volunteers who joined the 1961, ETA executed its first act of political violence when it tried to derail a fight against General Franco. train full of Franco supporters in transit to a rally. The weak bomb explosion 170 becoming basque reclaiming the flag 171 n o d n o L , n r e d ation, imports/exports, military conscription and inheritances. The French o M Revolution (1789–99) effectively eliminated those rights in France, and the e t a War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and the Carlist Wars (18th century) T led to their demise in Spain. The decline in local autonomy reached its nadir with Gen. Franco’s Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). Over the next 35 years under Franco’s rule, the Basque language was prohibited; Basque names were removed from birth records; the Spanish police (Guardia Civil ) was a visible and repressive presence in the Basque region and all forms of Basque identity—language, music, litera - ture and political symbols such as the Basque flag—were prohibited. These efforts to remove Basque cul - ture in the years following the Civil War were extremely damaging, especially in the northern provinces of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Post- war generation Basques remember being slapped in the face, or worse, at school for speaking their language, Euskara . These efforts, while moderately successful, did lead to a significant reduction in native Basque speakers. The contentious relationship between Franco and the Basque Country hardened into acrimony because of Franco’s insistence on a unitary Spanish state with no room for Basque identity. Basque nationalists from the time of Sabino Arana (1865–1903), the father of Basque nationalism, and later a Basque government in exile, have pressed for a peaceful and negotiated process leading to self-determination. By the 1960s, young Basques, tired of these failed attempts at a peaceful solution, formed ETA, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Liberty). The roots of ETA can be traced to Bilbao’s University of Duesto, where in 1952 seven students met to dis - cuss Basque self-determination. Their group grew in numbers and the desire for direct action increased. The young activists officially founded ETA on July 31, 1959. At its inception, ETA promoted public, non-violent protests through its communications. However, a small cadre within the larger movement advo - Pablo Picasso deplored Fascist brutality in Weeping Woman , 1937. Opposite: cated armed resistance as a useful way to fight Franquist repression. In button for Abraham Lincoln Brigade of American volunteers who joined the 1961, ETA executed its first act of political violence when it tried to derail a fight against General Franco. train full of Franco supporters in transit to a rally. The weak bomb explosion 172 becoming basque reclaiming the flag 173 r k c i l F / ! t r e e f a r r g e failed to knock the train off the o v t i r o f k l c tracks. In response, the Spanish i l u F a / P government arrested and tortured z e l e 100 suspected ETA supporters. v s i u l Over the next 12 years, there was s e I an increasing spiral of action/reac - tion, culminating with the 1973 ETA assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco’s hand - picked successor as dictator of Spain. ETA’s goals were Basque sol - idarity, independence and reunifi - cation, along with the preserva - tion of Basque culture and lan - guage. Their statement of demands, known as the “KAS Alternative,” included recognizing that all Basques had a right to self-determination, the withdrawal of all national security forces from General Francisco Franco, 1892-1975. the Basque regions, the integra - Opposite: a spray-painted rebuke of ETA graffiti. tion of the province of Navarra into the Basque Country, total amnesty for all Basque political prisoners, independence for all four Basque provinces in Spain and the legalization of all separatist political movements. These goals had significant support among nearly all Basques, but there was a large divergence over tactics. In faraway Boise, Basque nationalism was “an undercurrent, not a ground swell: a matter of concern, not action,” as New York Times columnist Anthony Ripley wrote in 1970. Basque immigrants who came to Idaho in the years before the Spanish Civil War hesitated to get involved with the political and social turmoil of their homeland. Survival in America seemed to be their priority. But an influx of new Basque immigrants, those after the 1950s who had experienced first-hand the Franco repression, were more involved in the political fortunes of the homeland. In the aftermath of the Burgos 16 trial a few of these recent Basque immigrants formed an entity that supported Basque nationalism.