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THE LIZARRA-GARAZI DECLARATION GETS MORE SUPPORT

Euskal Herria Journal, October 5, 1998

The Lizarra Declaration, a document calling for multilateral talks between all
parties in the Basque conflict, gained the support of more political parties,
labor unions and social groups during a meeting of the signatories in the city
of Donibane-Garazi (in
the north of Euskal Herria in France) last Friday.

The Basque political party Ipar Euskal Herriko Berdeak (the Greens of the
north of Euskal Herria), Spanish United Left of Navarre, the Carlist Party;
labor unions ELB, CFDT, SUD and Ofizialak; and the radical Basque movement
Jarrai, participated in the meeting where it was decided to divulge the
Lizarra Declaration among the international community.

Participants in the Donibane-Garazi (St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in French language)
meeting renamed the nationalist Declaration which is now called the Lizarra-
Garazi Declaration, to include the name of the Basque city in the Euskal
Herria in France.

The Lizarra-Garazi Declaration was signed in Lizarra, a city in the province
of Navarre -- one of the four Basque provinces in Spain. Twenty-three
grassroots groups, labor unions and political parties backed the Declaration
issued on September 12.

The Lizarra Declaration and the ETA communique announcing the ceasefire,
recognize France and Spain as equal participants in the Basque conflict.

Signatories have forwarded a copy of the Declaration to UN secretary-general
Kofi Annan and to the president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The conservative Basque Nationalist Party, one of the signatories of the
document, asked for the support of the political parties members of the
European Popular Party (PPE), of which the PNV and Spain's ruling Popular
Party (founded by Gen.
Franco's Minister of Interior) are members.

A delegation of Herri Batasuna (HB) is currently touring Belgium, France and
Latin America to seek support to the Declaration.

Basque nationalist labor unions ELA and LAB seeking the support of labor
unions in Europe and already began contacts.

On a one-day visit to the south of Euskal Herria in Spain to "assist and to
encourage" the peace process, Sinn Fein Gerry Adams called on the Spanish
government to respond positively to the indefinite truce called by ETA.

Adams met with the signatories of the Lizarra Declaration, whose appeal is
credited with encouraging ETA to announce the ceasefire. The group gave Adams
a copy of their document to pass along to President Bill Clinton when the two
meet this
month.

"We would be calling on the international community to assist in every
situation, but especially one like the Basque Country where an initiative has
been taken," said Gerry Adams.

"Powerful nations have a duty to assist, and clearly the United States is the
most powerful," he said.

It is not known yet whether Bill Clinton knows that the majority of the
citizens in the Euskal Herria in Spain voted NO to membership in NATO.

Former President Jimmy Carter, on a visit to Spain over the weekend, said that
a settlement should be negotiated without foreign interference.

The Spanish government has long rejected ETA's demand for Basque self-
determination. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar insists that ETA must make its
truce a permanent one before a peace process can be set on motion.

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom) has been fighting for
an independent homeland that would unite the seven Basque provinces -- the
three northern provinces in France, and the four southern provinces in Spain.

ETA declared a total, indefinite truce on September 16 after more than 30
years of military activity.

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Euskal Herria Journal is published by the Basque Congress for Peace
(CPEH), a New York-based group working to raise public awareness in
support of Basque self-determination

Basque Congress for Peace, POB 20252 Dag Hammarskjold PC United Nations
Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

Euskal Herria Journal mirror sites:

http://osis.ucsd.edu/~ehj
http://www.contrast.org/mirrors/index.ehj/

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