Spain's Responsibility
by Jorge Vargas
Recently, the Basque terrorist group of ETA declared that its fight against the legitimate Spanish government is a fight similar to that of Scotland against the English. Furthermore, there remain those who argue that Spain must respect the self-determination of the Basque people, and of the Catalans who also yearn for greater autonomy in Spain, in order to respect their human rights.
I ask them this question: Why?
Why should the Castillian government bow to Basque separatists and Catalan autonomists?
Do we ask France to bow to the Basques? Do we ask the Germans to grant the Bavarians their dreams of autonomy? Will Canada be forced to give Quebec independence? Would we dare? Of course not.
Spaniards are themselves also arguing that Castille must cede some of its power in order to create a fairer nation and to let go of Franco's fascist past. It is true that Spain needs to make more efforts in order to bring justice to the fascist criminals that ruled that great nation for so many decades, and it must be noted that progress has been made: State recognition is now being handed out to the Republicans who were killed during that bloody conflict. Furthermore, Spain's PSOE - the leftist party of the Iberian heartland - continues to gain strength against the right-wing elements of Spain's society.
Madrid itself is finding herself renovated rather frequently by waves of internal migration, bringing to the former fascist center of power individuals who are of different orientations, along with Latin Americans, North Africans, and Arabs. Spain is becoming a nation that consistently believes more and more whole-heartedly in progress and in free political thought. Spain is becoming a model for the world to follow.
But Spain has a responsibility that it must not fail.
Spain must resist the temptation of caving in to the demands of the Basques, the Catalans, and the terrorist groups that purport to represent these great cultures. Spain must make a stand and tell the Basques and the Catalans that they must work within the government of Spain instead of attempting to gain autonomy, or, worse yet, independence.
Why? Why should Castille make this stand? Why shouldn't we support self-determination and liberty and self-government?
The First World War is one easy answer. The creation of dozens of new nations, each internally united by common cultures, led to the spawning of dozens of dangerous mini-nationalisms that eventually provided the impetus and instability for a war that pushed Germany and France and Russia and Britain into that bloody conflict. Mini-states lead to chaos, and chaos is not something that Europe can currently stand while it is in the heart of its glorious unification project. That is the easy answer.
But there is a global reason for why Spain must be strong and not allow for the self-determination of every single miniscule group that yearns it.
Imagine the precedent. If Spain is forced to budge, then the Bavarians will be inspired to make a stand, and so will the French Canadians, and the Basques in the republique, and the Sikhs in India will be given more hope to continue their brutal, and oft hypocritical, fight in India. And let us not even speak of the Indigenous movements that would suddenly start to dream of self-determination in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and even in Peru, since Spain continues to serve as an example for Iberian America.
Thus, though human rights and liberty and freedom must be supported at all times, and must be fought for whenever possible, immature and dangerous self-determination must be opposed with a firm hand and though dialogue is always encouraged, it must be a dialogue not between equals but between a national government and a regional government, with the mutual understanding that the former will always be the stronger.
Spain's responsibility is to continue opposing ETA - and it has already done a more than respectable job of that - and also to make sure that the autonomists realize that they can make requests but not all of those need to be met.
Naturally, this is not meant as an interference in Spanish internal affairs - who could dare do such a thing? - but as a statement of support to those Spaniards - Castillians, Galicians, Andalucians, Catalans, Basques, et cetera - who wish to see a Spain that is culturally, politically, and socioeconomically united.
Only then will the glorious and honorable dreams of Charles V be realized.
Only then will the Hispanic culture of Iberia assure itself a continuity such that its legacy, its achievements, and its honor will never be forgotten.
Luckily for those of us who would fear a rise in self-deterministic thought were it to occur need not fear, because Spain is a responsible nation that, unlike some others, knows when to take a stand for what is right.
