Those in Spain who have the power at their hands manage to rule us Basques absolutely, yet call it democracy. The Spaniards brag about their separation of powers, which can and do act in perfect synchronization with one another especially when it comes to enacting legislation keeping Basques in mind and implementing it. This is how they ban our newspapers, magazines, radio stations, social and political organizations. . . and more than one has even proposed that catholic Basque activists be excommunicated. Today the government of the Popular Party and a judge took the final steps towards the illegalization of the political party Batasuna.

Jose Vidal-Beneyto, director of the Paris- based College des Hautes Etudes Europeennes Miguel Servet, tells us that a total break with the Franco regime did not happen in Spain: a pact between the Left and the Right made possible for the so- called political transition [1975-1982] "to become a mask behind which the Franco regime could transform itself" and the president of his government and the entire power structure of the dictatorship, including the political police "to acquire a new legitimacy, allowing them a share in fathering the new [controlled] democracy, an instrument of legitimization and control."

Indeed a total break with the Franco regime did not happen by "those who alone could have made it, the Spanish left." The political parties of the left have justified their weakness with the rationalization that "calling for the break would have provoked a head-on clash with the armed forces, and ended in a return to dictatorship in its harshest form." The Spanish politicians, Vidal-Beneyto tells us "blanked out political memory" during the Spanish transition period and "succeeded in making dictatorship seem ordinary" to a point that today Franco's regime (1936-1975) is justified "to put an end to the chaos of the Republic (1931-1939) and to save the Spanish people from communism, bring them into Europe and give them a democratic king."

With dictatorship the norm and the fascist regime justified, it is not too difficult to understand why the ruling neo-francoist Popular Party can get away with almost anything they do to restore the unity of Franco's Spain. At least on its repressive policies against the Basques, the Popular Party has the full support of the Socialists whose very own government organized the anti-ETA death squads known as GAL. In their latest pact (the Pact for liberties and against terrorism), the Popular Party and the Socialists "extend to the judges, prosecutors and all others at the service of Justice [did they omit any branch of government?], our trust, support and compromise to guarantee our living together in freedom and peace".

"You are with us or against us" is the message conveyed by the Madrid regional government of the Popular Party when they fired the head of a local TV station last year because the channel broadcast a documentary on Basque independence, which included comments by a pro-Basque independence politician. Madrid Regional President Alberto Ruiz Gallardon fired Telemadrid's directory-general Silvio Rodriguez a day after the regional channel aired a documentary called 'The ways of the Basque Country'.

The documentary included an interview with Arnaldo Otegi, spokesman for the pro- Basque independence party Batasuna which the Popular Party claims is the political wing of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna. Gallardon, the regional president, was angered by Otegi's appearance on the program. He said the Basque politicians were indirectly threatening Madrid people by linking Basque independence with the end of ETA's attacks. About 30 people, including politicians, associations, historians and journalists, were interviewed for the documentary. The workers at Telemadrid were stunned and angered by Gallardon's decision to fire Rodriguez.

"It is a serious meddling that affects directly the freedom of press," they said in a statement in which they backed the program. Rodriguez, who has head Telemadrid since July, said the program was "impeccable because it gave a complete view of the issue". The goal of the government of Jose Maria Aznar is to criminalize the legal organizations linked to the pro-Basque independence movement and to prevent the political party Batasuna from running in elections. Batasuna holds seven seats in the 50-member parliament of residual Navarre and another seven in the 75- member parliament of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. They also have 900-town councilors in the four Basque territories.

So, together with the government of Jose Maria Aznar is Baltasar Garzon, a judge and former interior minister. Don Baltasar Garzon (as he likes to be addressed) has reached stardom in Spain and became famous abroad as a "populist" judge fighting for justice and human rights in his attempts to prosecute Pinochet and Argentinean military officers involved in gross human rights violations. However, Garzon does not broadcast his role in repressing legal social and political Basque organizations when he is abroad. Perhaps it’s his shyness. In 1998 Baltasar Garzon became the first judge since the Franco dictatorship to close down a legal newspaper and its sister radio station--Egin and Egin Irratia. Egin was the third most widely read newspaper in the Basque territories. Despite being made bankrupt and with many of its leading staff behind bars, Egin was replaced a few months later after an extensive popular fund-raising campaign by the equally successful mass readership daily Gara. Garzon's charge against Egin had been that it supplied coded messages intended to give ETA activists instructions to act. These charges proved so utterly groundless, the "judge" was forced to reverse his own verdict on Egin a year later.

The famous Garzon then invented the phantom of ETA-KAS (he later renamed it ETA-EKIN) "criminal complex" which according to him were the political umbrella organizations of ETA through which the Basque armed organization directed the activities of practically every pro-Basque independence organization in the Basque territories. While Garzon huddled with hawks at the top of the pecking order in Madrid, anti- Basque enthusiasts were on the offensive across the country's media landscape. An elated Garzon used his latest thesis promoted by the Spanish media to declare XAKI illegal and arrested its leading members. XAKI is an organization linked to the legal party Herri Batasuna (dissolved to join Batasuna) which promoted the Basque political struggle abroad. Garzon accused XAKI of being part of the ETA-KAS complex and of being "ambassadors of ETA" abroad.

Spain's 4th section of the National Court contended that the arrests of XAKI members ordered by Baltasar Garzon were unsound and reprimanded the "judge". The Court reminded Garzon that in accordance with Spanish law he must prove that those involved had committed a crime on an individual basis and could not maintain a case on the basis of criminalizing a whole legal collective and thus turning all of its members into criminals. The Court also found that none of the activities of XAKI could be considered as collaboration with terrorism. Curiously enough the criminalization of a whole legal collective and of all of its members is exactly what Baltasar Garzon did with Haika, the pro- Basque independence youth organization.

Garzon ordered the arrests of 15 Haika members, all of whom were charged with belonging to ETA. Haika is the first Basque national youth organization and has some 4,000 members throughout the Basque territories. The “judge” justified the arrests of the 15 youths claiming that Haika is a "criminal underground organization" when in fact it is a legal organization that carries out all of its activities in public. Garzon stated that Haika "is committed to illicit ends such as the breaking up of the territorial unity of the state and the subversion of the present legal- constitutional order and advocates violence against society to fulfill these ends". While it is true that Haika has said that all forms of struggle for independence are legitimate, it has never explicity called for the use of violence. Garzon also claims that Haika is responsible for the direct execution of the kale borroka (street struggle), and that it's subordinated to the ETA-KAS, ETA-EKIN complex.

Spain’s National Police chief Juan Cotino claims that "these youths start by throwing stones, then they move on to throwing Molotov cocktails and finally end up picking up a gun or placing a ca-bomb".

In a typically ludicrous article in the Spanish newspaper El Pais entitled "Trained to hate" journalist Jose Maria Calleja stated: "The detention of the 15 Haika members is positive because it attacks impunity and takes out of circulation a group of individuals who sooner or later will end up using a gun..."

On the basis of suspicion, Baltasar Garzon and the government of the Popular Party want to legally criminalize all members of Haika, not because of what they have done, but because of what they could do according to them before it's done. Haika members, as a collective, are being arrested for what they think and believe not because what some of its members actually do or are personally responsible for.

After XAKI and Haika, more arrests followed when Baltasar Garzon declared EKIN, a public pro-Basque independence organization illegal. Members of the Josemi Zumalabe foundation were also arrested for promoting a text under the title "Piztu Euskal Herria" advocating peaceful civil disobedience to fight for independence. According to Garzon, civil disobedience was also part of ETA's official strategy to "destabilize the state and subvert the constitution". Little did he care that those arrested were part of a tendency that advocates civil disobedience as an alternative to armed struggle and have publicly opposed violent forms of struggle.

Garzon then used his thesis to set up AEK as a collaborator of ETA. AEK is a grassroots organization dedicated to the promotion and teaching of the Basque language. Garzon was forced to release those arrested due to the weakness of his claims that it was part of the ETA-KAS, ETA-EKIN complex.

A bomb that did not detonate was planted in Bilbao outside the home of two married journalists in November 2000. Aurora Intxausti of Spanish newspaper El Pais and Juan Palomo of Spanish Antena 3 television station.

The Spanish government blamed ETA while media news reports reclaimed that journalist Pepe Rei, the editor of the Basque magazine Ardi Beltza, selects the targets for ETA. Spanish government spokesman Pio Cabanillas proclaimed: “The connection is very clear”. The day after the incident, a state prosecutor in Madrid called for legal action against Pepe Rei. But it was later revealed that the Spanish government had already initiated legal action against Rei three days before the failed bomb attack.

As expected, Garzon went after journalist Pepe Rei, who was arrested for "pointing to the victims of future ETA attacks" and because Spanish police had found a copy of his magazine in an apartment occupied by ETA activists. Rei had investigated the collaboration of Spanish journalists (including a close friend of Garzon) with the Interior Ministry to manufacture a black propaganda campaign aimed at criminalizing the pro-Basque independence organizations. He also wrote a book about Baltasar Garzon--Garzon, la otra cara (Garzon, the other face.)

In all these operations Baltasar Garzon was always acting on information supplied to him at the right moment by the government of the Popular Party, thus demonstrating Garzon’s complicity with the ruling neo- francoist party's political interests.

In perfect synchronization both the Spanish parliament and judge Baltasar Garzon took the final step today towards the illegalization of Batasuna. As expected, Garzon shut down Batasuna on grounds it supports ETA and the Spanish parliament voted overwhelmingly to seek a ban on Batasuna.

Garzon's 375-page order complete with misspellings suspended the activities of the Batasuna party for three years. Batasuna's offices will be closed, and the 24-year-old party is barred from calling public demonstrations or political rallies and from running in municipal elections scheduled for May of next year. Batasuna can appeal, but Garzon's order would stand in the meantime.

Garzon's action is his boldest yet in his personal crusade against the pro-Basque independence political and social groups active in Spain's Basque territories. He issued the order under a criminal law that allows judges to suspend groups linked to illegal activities. In theory, he could also indict Batasuna leaders, though he has not said if he would do so.

In his order, Garzon said Batasuna is part of ETA and that ETA had killed 836 people and injured 2,367 over the course of 3,391 attacks since 1968. "All of these acts have been systematically aimed at specific sectors of the population, and sometimes indiscriminate, so that one should not hesitate to classify the actions of the terrorist organization ETA, of which (Batasuna) is an ele m ent, as crimes against humanity,'' the order said. Enough “ evidence” to suspend Batasuna under Spanish law.

The Spanish parliament and Baltasar Garzon, on the same day and at the same time, pushed their plan forward to have Batasuna outlawed altogether. T he parliament voted 295-10 with 29 abstentions to ask Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government to petition the Supreme Court to outlaw the party under a controversial law passed in June. That law - crafted specifically to go after Batasuna - allows th e outlawing of parties deemed to support terrorism, actively or tacitly.

The Spanish government assembled a list of what it claims to be evidence of Batasuna's links to and support for ETA since the party-ban ning law went into force on June 27. The list includes remarks by Batasuna leaders, incidents between nationalists and unionists in Spain's Basque territories and a warning by ETA itself for the political parties not to ban the party. This is evidence?

The government of Jose Maria Aznar is expected to act early next week when the court returns from its August recess. A 16- judge panel at the Supreme Court has three months to make a decision. We are witnessing a carefully orchestrated campaign against the pro-Basque independence movement that has seen seven such operations against legal collectives in the past three years. Today's decision was a political one, no less than the creation of the GAL death-squads by the Socialist government to fight those that the Spanish state considers its enemies. But in a country where a dictatorship is the norm, it is not so difficult to guess the true government intentions behind the illegalization of Batasuna whose political project remains legitimate.

Blanca Garza is a free-lance writer and political activist.