“Armed group”… for what?

I published an article last March 9 that was titled

Heirs without a will,

and in it he commented on the asymmetrical use of the phrase “heirs” depending on which politician is using the word. For the spokespersons of the right, Bildu is heir to ETA. For left-wing spokespersons, the PP is heir to Francoism (this statement appears significantly less than the other).

As for the coalition of the

Abertzale

(nationalist) left, that article indicated that ruling 62/2011 of the Constitutional Court had indicated that it was formed by two parties “that have repeatedly condemned and do condemn ETA's violence,” although one might wish , I added, for my part, a solemn update in this regard (“just as it can be missed in the PP against Francoism and we don't even expect it in Vox”).

He also argued that throwing the word "heirs" at some and others was equivalent to locking them in the past, when what we always demanded was that ETA's violence be transformed into pure parliamentary action, a fact that has occurred, and that the Francoists embrace constitutional Spain, which its most representative leaders assumed many years before.

The statements made on April 15 on Cadena SER by Bildu's candidate for Basque president, Pello Otxandiano, after being asked by Aimar Bretos if he qualifies ETA as a terrorist organization, dealt a blow to those of us who trusted in the steps forward of that coalition , of which some organizations that were never related to violence are part.

“ETA was an armed group,” Otxandiano defined. Yes, but an armed group... for what? That is the omission: a group armed to kill, to terrorize. “Fortunately,” he added, “ETA does not exist, and from here we can build the future and memory in a much more shared way and with respect for all the victims.” Later he used verbiage similar to that used by PP leaders when talking about the dictatorship (without citing it) or the Civil War: that stage is behind us, there were victims on both sides, we need to build coexistence...

In September 2023 I wrote another column that is relevant (I regret the self-citations, but they serve to express that I do not repeat myself without realizing it). It was titled

How to Ask Forgiveness Sincerely,

and it was referring to the unfortunate way in which Luis Rubiales had tried to apologize after kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her having the opportunity to reject him. “What happened happened” (…). “What happened between a player and me…” she said, as if both had shown symmetrical attitudes.

Truly asking for forgiveness and regretting what was perpetrated requires precisely mentioning the facts for which one is apologizing. If circumvented, the declaration will never serve as a starting point for anything honest. Because by hiding them the dimension of what happened is denied.

With the statement “ETA was an armed group”, replacing “ETA was a terrorist group”, Otxandiano also lost an opportunity to call a spade a spade and gain credit among those of us who wanted Bildu to sincerely follow the democratic path.

However, we have seen once again that the techniques of omitting uncomfortable words are contagious even among politicians of very distant ideologies. It would not be surprising if Otxandiano soon referred to ETA as “that band you are telling me about.”

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