The event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Eusko Gudarostea's founding took place yesterday afternoon in Loiola, Azpeitia. The ceremony began with music by violinist Iraia Bereziartua and was organized in honor of Kandido Sasetaren and to remember the founding of the Eusko Gudarostea. Around 30 people gathered around the two monuments and the Basque flag (Ikurriña) located in Loiola.
It was precisely in Loiola that the Eusko Gudarostea was formed 90 years ago to counter the military uprising against the Second Republic. At the event, Pello Elorza, president of the Uri Buru Batzarre of Azpeitia, was the first to speak. He began his address by reading the declaration from the Euzkadi Buru Batzarra dated July 19, 1936, emphasizing the PNV's republican stance. He also recalled the extraordinary council meetings of the Azpeitia City Council against the uprising and the positions taken by Mayor Jose Antonio Oiartzabal and later by Xiriako Agirre.
Elorza explained how defense committees were formed in towns to confront the uprising, and how citizens registered to fight. The PNV, in that confusing atmosphere, called upon citizens to go to Loiola, thus creating what would later become the Eusko Gudarostea. Representatives from the PNV, the future ELA union, the Euzko Nekazarien Bazkuna, and other organizations gathered there.
Maria Eugenia Arrizabalaga, president of the Gipuzko Buru Batzarra, took the floor next. She advocated for "the need for a memory based on truth" and recalled that the Eusko Gudarostea was founded under the PNV's leadership "to confront the war and fascism coming from Spain, to defend Euskadi, our freedoms, our national identity, our language, and democracy." She also stated that the PNV has always opposed fascisms and totalitarisms, including Franco's, ETA's, and current authoritarian regimes.
“"That is why thousands of young people signed up in our party headquarters, ready to go to the front in the prime of their lives; they were true gudaris, young Basque nationalists and democrats, and they gave everything, even their lives, in defense of Euskadi and the Ikurriña."
The event concluded with a floral offering and the singing of the anthem Gora eta gora Euskadi accompanied by the violin, followed by a small reception.
