Who are we?

Askapena

"Solidarity is the Tenderness of the Peoples"
ASKAPENA?S HISTORY
(Askapena, Herriekiko Euskal Elkartasuna - Basque Solidarity with the Peoples)
Askapena belongs to the movement of solidarity developed in the times of the Sandinista Revolution. On 1987, when still was alive the firm belief that was possible the liberation of the peoples through an "unequivocal revolutionary vanguard", the organization was named ASKAPENA (LIBERATION), with the firm determination to stimulate an anti-imperialist solidarity coherent and committed no only with the struggles of the National Liberation Fronts in South America, but also with the liberation struggle of the own Basque people, from Euskal Herria (Basque Country), in Europe.
The disappearance of the socialist bloc and the FSLN loosing the general election pushed us to extend our solidarity work to other organizations (popular, youth, union organisms, resistant communities?) and to other peoples (Cuba, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, ..... Venezuela). We started establishing links with peoples in other continents (Palestine, Sahara, Kurdistan, Iraq...Belarus) and working with peoples in Europe (Ireland, Andalusia, Brittany, Catalonia, Portugal, Corsica, Galicia, Italia,..... Castile).
The struggle of the European anti-globalisation movement, which started with the solidarity with the Zapatistas, does not mind a change as we think that the national liberation movements, the Arab resistance and the native movements have contribute centuries of experience and commitment to struggle. As a people native to Europe we Basque people feel especially identified with the native movement struggle. We defend an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist conception of the internationalist solidarity strongly link to the idea of the Basque identity socialism.
Saying clearly "No to 0,7% politics" we work against using solidarity as a neoliberal capitalism's humanitarist and hypocritical facade, as a reformist strategy or business marketing.
Analysis of the world and our own reality
The disappearance of the socialist bloc open the gates to the neoliberalism, which declares "the end of History". The rise of the exploitation of peoples, of working classes and women through privatisation, liquidation of welfare-Estate and international law, and the concentration of the wealth in the hands of few, along with natural resources waste and a rise of injustice, of global misery and wars is called "economic growth", "competitiveness", "free market" and "progress". In order to save its benefits, the European factual powers impose a neo-colonialism democracy-looking, and wherever they find dissidence or resistance to this robbery, the impose an economical blockade or devastate with military power in the name of the antiterrorist fight and in the name of the "universal" human rights for just some few people. War is not only a way to get economical aims but also an intrinsic part of capitalism economy, and is essential to US growth as well as to the one of the European "fortress". .
In the Eighties and Nineties the strategy of negotiation between armed revolutionary organizations and factual powers proved to be insufficient to solve the conflicts caused by capitalism and imperialism. Peace negotiations, democratisation process or "democratic transition" in the case of dictatorship ought to be failed because of the lack of real will in one of the parts. In Euskal Herria, since 94 the Basque pro-independence left implements the strategy of negotiation with a de facto strategy of national and social construction, as a strategy to make progress towards a more democratic political frame. The Spanish Kingdom and the French Republic conflict with Euskal Herria as well as almost all wars caused by capitalism, imperialism and high or low intensity sub-imperialism, could to be overcome by democratically establishing a mechanism that guarantees the RIGHT to the SELF DETERMINATION of ALL the PEOPLES.
In this context, aid or cooperation for development (the 0,7% so-called "solidarity") is used to make sustainable the exploitation, and to get "return values". It does no reduce Misery but increases it. It means recognizing that is not possible to bleed a people which is already death. In the end, "solidarity" and humanitarian and emergency help are transformed into a military element. This politics also includes the cooperation so-called decentralized and uses the so-called NGOs -even those considered internationalist and leftist- for its counterrevolutionaries objectives. The various powers establish natural resources areas and social spaces for the sustainable exploitation, where they invest some NGOs and "help for development". Other areas are forced to a liquidationist exploitation in order to keep its competitiveness in the short term. Their internal fights are not quarrels for "other World possible".

Basic Principles
The Right to the Self-determination of all the peoples is a non-negotiable right of peoples and individuals, and a guarantee of the survival and diversity of the Humanity. It is the rightful and only way to overcome fairly and without suffering most of the wars and conflicts in the world. Independence is, indeed, essential for a people to establish relations on equal terms with other peoples and to guarantee to each of its members individual human rights. The best solidarity among peoples and most effective is the struggle for the freedom of the own people.
Imperialist capitalism is very powerful and has no ethics, but is not omnipotent. This is reason why we state that another World is necessary and possible, and SOLIDARITY is not only an ethic principle but also a necessity for survival. Besides, it is the best advantage not only to resist but also to win. As long as there will be a single people exploited and oppress, no one will completely conquer its full freedom.
Basque people is and exploited and oppressed people that is fighting against its extinction, and that feels "very deeply any injustice made to anyone anywhere in the World". On the other hand, a model of development and economic wealth has been imposed to the Basque society. This model gives this society a capacity of self-pleasing and criminal consumption through robbery, unfair trade, the business of the foreign debt interest, speculation on the Stock Exchange, weapons industry, pollution and waste of the resources of the Planet. Its capitalist model of development makes impossible a decent survival of its own future generations and makes it accomplice to exploitation and annihilation of other peoples.
?Solidarity is the Tenderness of the Peoples?, not of some few specialist, groups or organizations. This is the reason why it is essential the construction of a political, cultural, economic and social project of the Basque Left Pro-Independence, the Abertzale Left, that fights as a whole for Internationalism and Solidarity. This project has to be freely and democratically decided by all the Basque society. Capitalist, exploitative imperialist and terrorist economic powers, or its accomplice governments, will not stop being so. They must be changed.
Activities and Participation
? ASKAPENA organizes all over Euskal Herria tours of partners coming from other fighting peoples, with the aim of knowing our reality and our fight for Independence and Socialism, and with the aim too to allowing us to know directly their fight. We coordinate exchanges among organisms, organizations, institutions, associations and personalities, and we promote all kind of internationalist collaboration regarding Solidarity. We work with those media that guarantee that the information we want to offer to the society will be fair. We organize talks where the public are able not only to listen but also to make questions directly to the people visiting our country.
? With the aim of making the different fighting front in Euskal Herria more and more internationalist, we organize, train and send Brigades to distant peoples as Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Wall Mapu, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Ustup, ....., and to nearby ones as Ireland, Andalusia, Brittany, Catalonia, Corsica, Galicia... The organizations working in these peoples give us a training and an experience essential to the Basque People Internationalist fight. At the same time we establish over there relations and contacts transforming the solidarity theoretical principles into specific and practical collaboration projects.
? The collaboration in Solidarity projects made by other peoples organizations working with Basque organizations can not be polluted by alien economical interest neither hidden political interest. We ensure it and we work for revolutionary and in truly Solidarity projects.
? Trade in Solidarity allows us to raise social awareness of the robbery of big trade, of the cheat of the so-called "free-market", and of the necessity of making and socialize just alternatives in the trade relations among peoples.
Altogether with Internationalist and working for Solidarity persons, organizations and peoples we sow the convictions that we are not alone in the fight for Socialism and Independence, and that together we will win and reach the Utopia.
Hamaika Herri Borroka Bakarra
Hundreds of Peoples, just one Fight
(info@askapena.org / www.askapena.org)