Euskal Etxeak

2nd Congress of Basque Communities THE DIASPORA WILL HELP MAKE EUSKADI KNOWN IN THE WORLD Concha Dorronsoro such as the Casa de Juntas in Gernika A GREAT INAUGURATION CEREMONY or the Loyola Basilica. They also met the During the last fortnight of October representatives of the Basque institu- The actual Congress of Basque Euskadi became the meeting place for tions, such as the President of the Au- Communities started on October 26th nearly a hundred Basques from all over tonomous Parliament, the General with an opening ceremony that took the world, which had been summoned Deputies of the three historic territories place at the headquarters of the Presi- by the Presidency of the Basque Gov- and the majors of the three Basque cap- dency (Lehendakaritza) in Vitoria, ernment and came to take part in the itals. Moreover, the delegates from where the Congress was held. All the 2nd Congress of Basque Communities. abroad held meetings with the directors social institutions were present in the 75 people attended this reunion of the Basque Technological Parks and ceremony: representatives of the politi- representing all 150 Euskal Etxeak of the Mondragón cooperative group, cal parties, institutions, unions, business spread all over the world, as well as the the first Basque industrial group. They associations, the University, the culture, different Institutes and Foundations cre- also visited the main cultural infrastruc- arts and media attended the celebra- ated in Argentina, Chile, the United tures of the country: the Guggenheim tion. States, Mexico and Venezuela. This Museum and Euskalduna Palace in Bil- The central atrium of Lehendakar- was the second occasion the Basques bao and the Kursaal in San Sebastián. itza hosted over 500 people gathered from inside and outside Euskadi had of to welcome the representatives of the getting together in order to discuss the Basque communities abroad, which future and design a plan including the were the guests of honor of the evening. main policies of the Government in re- Flanked by the guards of honor of the lation with the Basque communities Ertzaintza and accompanied by its mu- abroad, for the next four years. As es- sic band, they were received one by tablished by the Law of Basque Com- • Euskal exiliatuak one by the Lehendakari, Juan José Ibar- munities, passed in 1994 –the year the hartu zituzten retxe, and by the directors of the Secre- first Congress was celebrated– a Con- tary of Foreign Action, who organized gress with the Diaspora shall be orga- nazioei omenaldi the Congress. Afterwards an act nized every four years. bat egin zitzaien. –broadcast by the international channel As usual, during the days before of ETB and followed by many Basques the Congress, the representatives of the living abroad– took place, with moving Basque centers visited some of the most moments, such as the award of the La- symbolic sites of the Basque Country, gun Ona Distinction to Professor 4 ERAKUNDEAK INSTITUTIONS William Douglass, and the most impor- tant speeches. Xabier Leizaola, President of the Venezuelan-Basque Institute “Eguzki” was the first speaker. In the name of all delegates from abroad he spoke of the wonderful opportunity offered by the Congress of turning the “painful event” of the 60th anniversary of many Basques’ exile into a joyous celebration and homage to the countries which wel- comed at the time more than 200,000 Basques. He remembered some illustrious names such as the Ustariz Marquis, protector of Simon Bolivar during his stay in Spain, Saint Francisco Javier, Father Francisco de Vitoria, who worked in favor of authochtonous peo- ples, or Archbishop Juan de Zumárra- ga, who introduced printing in Mexico. Then Xabier Leizaola urged the atten- dants to keep alive the flame of the human ideals of justice, freedom and solidarity. “We Basques are not –he pointed out– land conquerors, but we do try to conquer minds with a sense of human dignity and solidarity”. FROM KNOWLEDGE TO • «Gure garapenari ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF EUSKADI IN esker herri bat THE WORLD garela erakutsi Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe’s behar dugu». speech was especially moving. He un- derlined the historical importance of the Congress “for our relations for the next century are going to be prepared here –he explained–. Therefore we are facing the huge responsibility of designing our productive quality and competence”. the guidelines of our relations for the The Lehendakari pointed out to the at- next four years”. tendants the need to create international Then the Lehendakari listed the networks both in the economic sector greatest challenges Euskadi will have to and in relation to political supports overcome as a people, and he pointed through the worldwide association of out that the role of the Basque communi- Basque businessmen and the interna- ties abroad will be crucial in the process. tional association of friends of the According to Ibarretxe the first of the Basques. This is in his opinion the second challenges is to go from the knowledge challenge we are facing. of Basque reality to the progressive in- In the third place he referred to the ternational acknowledgement of the youth question as a common challenge Basques as a people. “An acknowledge- for both Euskadi and all the Basque ment –he explained– not only of our his- centers. “Basque population –Ibarretxe tory and past features, but also of our said– is growing older and, therefore, knowledge, our technological advances, our future depends on our younger 5 • Douglassek “Lagun Ona” domina jaso zuen bere bizitzan euskaldunen alde egin duen lanagatik. generations. We must teach them the values of our ancestors and prepare them to lead in the near future. We Before the Congress the delegates visited, among other places, have a strong advantage to help us the Casa de Juntas in Gernika, the Basque Parliament and the overcome this challenge: the fact that City Hall of Bilbao. our young generations are better trained than ever before in our history. At the end of his speech, Lehen- dakari Ibarretxe talked about solidarity as the fourth and last challenge. He de- clared that Euskadi should be known in the world not because of the tensions it generates, but “as a small nation with a great calling to lead international solidarity and peace”. “We should prove –he ended– that although we are small, we have our own responsibility both concerning ourselves and the rest of the world”. ■ • JOSU GARRIZ (México): «We have to take advantage of the Gaztemundu Program to give way to the young generations in the management boards». • LUIS BASAURI (Chile): «The generation of new centers should be spontaneous». • MARIA RUIZ DE ZARATE (Cuba): «The celebration of Aberri Eguna should be promoted, especially among the young people». • IZASKUN SALSIDUA (United Kingdom): «Each situation should be assessed individually. All centers do not re- quire the same aids». • RAMON J. AROZARENA (Argentina): «We should know what the Basque Government expects from the Basque Centers». • BEGOÑA CHAVARRI (Puerto Rico): «Promoting tourism could be one of the functions of the Basque centers». • CARLOS SOSA (Argentina): «If anybody is thinking of creating a Basque center because there is money, it will only bring about the reduction of the aids for the rest of the centers». • EMILIA DOYAGA (United States): «We dream of the day when an International Center of Basque Culture is built in New York». • JOSÉ FELIX OLAIZOLA (Dominican Republic): «The Basque center should be seen as a company: either it is fi- nancially independent or it goes under». • FRANCISCO J. GOGENOLA (Argentina): «In order to know the situation of all Basque centers of the world a fi- nancial examination should be organized». 6.

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