In the long course of the struggle of our Nation there have been many people, groups and organisations that have worked so that the Basque Country would have clear liberation reference points. Almost simultaneous to the rise of the first nationalist organisations, more than a hundred years ago, of the first nationalist organisations was the appearance of the first nucleus of class consciousness, which at times in conflict, at others in collaboration, were consolidating the bases so that 40 years ago a new political movement known as the Left Nationalist movement would arise.

It’s contributions have been and are a reference point for thousands of people that struggle for independence and socialism, for the Basque language, for the territorial recognition of the Basque Country, for solidarity between peoples, for a popular culture, for individual and collective freedom, equality of the rights of women, demilitarisation, ecology, for social justice...

In this process we have arrived at the present stage where we are confronted with an important juncture in the history of our Nation. The exhaustion of the institutional frameworks, which divide us into a variety of administrative structures, demands a new democratic scenario. It is a historical challenge, which can be overcome with the breaking of ties with the States that oppress us and by taking firm steps towards the national construction and social transformation of the Basque Country. We have decided to secure the basis of our identity in the future by constructing a great case for our Independence without asking anyone for permission to do so.

In this area we need to endow ourselves with a new organisation which will encompass the whole of the Basque Country, from the Adur to the Ebro; an organisation which, in building, can use the multiple organisational experiences developed until now in our country. Our purpose is to give continuity and gather the best of all the initiatives and begin on a new path incorporating the hopes of many people and sectors that believe it is possible and necessary to live in a free, progressive Basque Country, where solidarity is a vital component.

Towards the Left Nationalist movement of the future

* We are experiencing decisive times in which the Basque Country needs a plural, efficient, co-ordinated and strong Left, in order to take on the challenge of constructing a Basque Country which territorially incorporates all its provinces. In addition to this it should be capable of proposing an alternative social model. Now is not the time for divisions, nor for dogmatic "isms" which have already damaged the unity of all of us who struggle for change.

* Thus, those who stimulate this manifesto, want to offer a framework of debate with the object of reaching unity, from radicals and rebels, to all of the left who are committed to the project of national construction and social transformation of our country.

* We want to make a way for ourselves in this globalised world, in Europe of today that is being built to serve the interests of capital, and which we find ourselves confronted with two States who deny us our identity and right to choose. Against a world that is ruled by the values of the market and where neoliberalism imposes its dictatorship, we want to revive the values of the Left and its struggle against injustice.

A transformed Left to bring a sovereign Basque Country.

We want to build this left based on some objectives that identify us:

* Independence: the construction of a State that encompasses all the territories that make up the Basque Country, guaranteeing its identity and diversity. A sovereign State created by the people and for the people.

* Socialism: develop Basque socialist democracy, that is, the development of a model adapted to our cultural and social reality, based on the redistribution of wealth, equality, solidarity, and respect of the rights of all people, on participation and democratic control of the economy and in the decentralisation of power.

* Euskal Herria euskaldun: a Basque speaking Basque Country made up of plurilingual citizens; the Basque Country doesn’t exist without Basque, and Basque can’t survive without the Basque Country, it’s territory and its inhabitants.

Our commitment extends itself to all those areas where it is necessary to transform the present model of society:

* We defend a model of society based on an authentic participative democracy, in which society is the subject of political decision making and not limiting this function to that of an electoral and institutional game.

* The new society, which we are trying to construct, ought to overcome the oppression related to sex, that is the oppression of women. Therefore, to struggle to make reality the authentic rights of women, this is a commitment that has to be introduced internally and externally to our new organisation. With this end, we will drive efficient policies of equality between man and women in all aspects, and will succeed in destroying the division barriers between that which is public and private in which our society is based.

* Nature is the source of life, therefore every future project has to be based on the maintenance of the ecological equilibrium. Development shouldn’t be merely seen from an economic point of view because above the profitability of a project is the environment and the human race. In this sense, we commit ourselves to face up to those aggressions against it with determination, aggressions in the name of progress which are constantly committed against the health of the population.

* Solidarity between people should be one of our principles. In this world which is divided between rich and poor, people/nations in danger of disappearing, imposed wars...makes international solidarity an obligation. In the same way, the defence of the biodiversity of people, languages and cultures of the world is an unavoidable area for the left.

* We demand the demilitarisation of the Basque Country, which means the withdrawal from our country of the armies and policing bodies of the Spanish and French States. We are, in addition, anti-militarists as we struggle against the "values" of militarism: authoritarianism, hierarchy, male chauvinism, violence, social control, in the road towards creating the Basque Country we want; a Basque Country without armies.

* We are in favour of sexual liberty and in this field too we have to develop a liberation struggle. A struggle within society which has imposed a limited form of understanding sexuality through fear, guilt and repression.

* We are struggling against whatever form of discrimination related to birth, race, religion, sex etc. The Basque Country is a plural community and so we defend the civil rights and liberties of all without exclusion.

New organisation for new challenges

To carry forward this great transformation of our society we have to develop a new organisational dynamic which reflects our alternative social model and gathers the wide experience of the popular movements which have developed in our country. Democracy, participation, plurality and progressive values have to be the unwavering guidelines of the new organisation:

* Participative democracy that we proclaim for society ought to be a daily and permanent reality in the structures in the new organisation that we want to construct. It’s our obligation to articulate a participative, transparent, broad and democratic model based in the horizontal structure of the organisation.

* The local assembly will be the basic framework for debate and decision making of the new political formation, being complemented..................with different sensibilities that the organisation consist of, and emphasising that which unites us. Unity in plurality ought to be the base of our organisation: a single line of action respecting the plurality of ideas. Mutual respect will govern the equilibrium between the different forms of thought. We ought to be capable of this; but it is necessary to endow the new organisation with minimum rules: it will be the great challenge of internal consensus

* Political militancy will be the great inheritance of the new organisation. It is necessary to articulate formulas to recognise, drive and co-ordinate in the heart of the new formation the different levels of commitment and militancy. In doing so the areas of political and social action of each particular group will be respected.

* We equally assume the commitment that one of the marks of identity of the new organisation, both in its internal functioning aswell as its structure, will be to overcome one of the greatest pillars of marginalisation in society today which is the oppression according to sex. Consequently the necessary instruments will be implemented in order that the presence and participation of women and men in the new organisation will be as egalitarian as possible, taking as criteria the fact that the Basque population is composed in equally of men and women.

* Interrelation and collaboration with social agents. The new formation has to reflect the political, social, trade union and organisational wealth of our country. Therefore, without haste for substitution or absorption, from shared work and permanent relations, we believe in driving for negotiating and common action with the social agents. This should be done in order to accumulate strength that will drive the social and political changes that the Basque Country needs.

Mobilisation and struggle are vital instruments for social transformation.

* On this path struggle is vital. Nothing will be freely given. Mobilising and popular struggle are the keys, since only from popular pressure, from mobilising the citizens, from civil disobedience, from the participation of society in political initiatives will popular victories be made irreversible.

* We want to develop an action capable of transforming institutions, putting them at the service of a participative democracy in which increasingly more and more people and sectors contribute, condition and determine the content of political decisions.

* The challenges that we have to face up to also embrace the terrain of the battle of ideas. The size and depth of technological change that are being produced in the area of communication and the conservative values that they try to impose on us obliges us to endow ourselves with new forms of direct communication. Equally, political education will be a fundamental of the new organisation. Without a transformed political culture social change is not possible.

IT IS OUR TIME

These are the fundamental points which we propose as points of departure for the process of unity of the Left in the Basque Country. It is simply a framework from which we can build on the foundations of the accumulated experience up to now in this great building where those who consider themselves left, rebels, nationalist, those who believe in a free and solidarity minded Basque Country can converge.

Starting from here the process is open. Everything still has to be discussed and written. Everything still has to be decided. We are counting on your participation.