Marta Buesa, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación Fernando Buesa Blanco and daughter of the politician murdered by ETA, Fernando Buesa, has emphasized that "the clear and unequivocal delegitimization of ETA terrorism continues to be the main subject" in Euskadi. In addition, she has called for "turning memory into a present commitment to democracy, pluralism, freedom and life", because, she stressed, "it is essential to achieve healthy coexistence".
She made these remarks during the opening speech of the XXIV Fernando Buesa Seminar, which is taking place these days in Vitoria-Gasteiz under the slogan "Democracy and its threats. Challenges and future alternatives", an event organized by the Foundation itself and the Instituto de Historia Social Valentín de Foronda.
In her speech, Buesa explained that values such as "dialogue, the search for agreements, respect for rules and the will to understand one another are being progressively replaced by attitudes that prioritize confrontation and imposition", which leads her to observe "with a mixture of incredulity and fear" how "the resort to violence to protest or defend a cause is becoming increasingly frequent".
She emphasized that this scenario is especially significant in Euskadi, which "cannot be disconnected from the devastating consequences of the terrorism endured for more than fifty years".
"Recently 15 years have passed since ETA announced the definitive cessation of its armed activity. However, the disappearance of the terrorist organization has not eliminated the damage caused nor the consequences that its violence left on the victims and on Basque society. The task of reparation not only has a personal dimension, but also a public, moral and political one", she noted.
According to her, in recent years democracy has suffered "a significant setback in numerous countries, reducing both the number of democratic States and the number of people living under this system". At the same time, she warned of the rise of leaders and parties that "defend authoritarian solutions and question human rights, the values of democracy and the principles of the rule of law". "Some do it openly, others take away freedom under the cry of freedom", she pointed out.
In her view, this panorama fuels the feeling of "being returned to times we thought were overcome" and, instead of analyzing the roots of the democratic crisis, we tend to attribute it to external causes, "without recognizing that our own actions or omissions can also contribute to the weakening of democracy".
Distrust toward politics and risk of regression
Under the heading "DISTRUST TOWARD POLITICS," Buesa has identified as one of the greatest threats "the loss of citizens' trust in institutions and in their ability to respond to their needs". She has warned that "discomfort, dissatisfaction, and distrust toward politics, political parties, the media, education, justice, and the healthcare system favor rejection of the democratic system and the search for immediate answers in authoritarian figures".
She has added, moreover, "the difficulty of public authorities to respond to social demands and confront certain private interests" as a factor that worsens this disaffection.
In this context and on the eve of an electoral process, she has described the situation as "a critical historical moment, faced with the choice of regression toward a known past and at the same time, neglected in terms of memory, repair, and collective learning, or an extension of an unstable time that will continue generating uncertainty instead of certainties". "In any case, on the edge of the precipice," she has warned.
During her intervention, she has wanted to vindicate the figure of her father, of whom she has recalled that "he always understood politics as public service, exercised it with honesty and with an unwavering commitment to the democratic values of freedom, equality, pluralism, tolerance, and respect and with clear ethical principles in favor of peace and the defense of the human rights of all". From that example, she has called for "leaders and references like him in current politics".
"From my optimistic spirit I want to think that what is to come can be transformed into an opportunity to obtain precious time that allows the recovery of ethical values and the generation of a climate of mutual trust on which to build a permanent commitment to democracy," she concluded.
A seminar to analyze the threats to democracy
During two days, the assembly hall of the Micaela Portilla Research Center of the EHU is hosting the "XXIIV Fernando Buesa Seminar", under the title "Democracy and its threats. Challenges and future alternatives". The aim is to delve into the personal and collective changes necessary to confront the risks looming over democracy and to examine "how we have arrived" at the current situation.
The program includes the contributions of Manuel Cruz, professor of Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Barcelona and former president of the Senate, María Solanas, degree holder in Political Sociology and in Information Sciences from the UCM and Director of Programs at the Real Instituto Elcano, and Víctor Vázquez, associate professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sevilla.
Also taking part are Josu de Miguel, associate professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Cantabria, the writer Luisa Etxenike, Cristina Gallach, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Public Information and Communication, Víctor Ferreres, professor of Constitutional Law at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Mariola Urrea, professor of Public International Law and European Union Law and vice-rector of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo.
Completing the lineup are Txema Portillo, professor of Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country, Daniel Innerarity, professor of Political and Social Philosophy and director of the Institute of Democratic Governance, as well as Javier Goikoetxea and Faustino López de Foronda, of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación Fernando Buesa Blanco, and Antonio Rivera, of the Institute of Social History Valentín de Foronda.