30 years ago ETA managed to change the course of the history of our country by assassinating Gregorio Ordóñez. I know this statement may sound a bit exaggerated, but I am convinced of it. How easy it was for them, with a shot in the back of the head. Gregorio entered politics in the most difficult place and at the most difficult time to do so; There has never been a more dangerous and complex time to do politics than in the Basque Country where ETA killed every week. And by doing so he knew that he was putting his life, his peace of mind and that of those he loved most at risk. But Gregorio’s commitment to freedom and democracy was above his own life. He sacrificed himself, consciously, not for the society in which he lived, but for the society in which he aspired to live. His way of doing politics was a revolution. Today it would be too. These days I am receiving countless expressions of affection and admiration for my brother from a multitude of citizens of different political and ideological leanings. They all emphasize how much they miss him, even though they have not met him because they are very young. What has happened, what is happening, in the politics of our country that so many people feel more represented by Gregorio Ordóñez than by the politicians who have succeeded him? It happens that today’s politics completely lacks the spirit and disposition of my brother Gregorio, who never understood politics as a means to achieve power, but rather to serve others. Gregorio was a committed citizen beyond acronyms and parties. This was expressed in the motto ‘Always at your service’, which he explained as follows: “It means that, in the face of politicization, we are committed to daily work for the benefit and benefit of everyone, regardless of their color.” Perhaps this is what so many citizens miss. I am also convinced that, if Gregorio Ordóñez had not been murdered, we would have defeated ETA exclusively with the tools of the rule of law, as he defended: through social rejection, police effectiveness and the isolation of the violent. While his adversaries said that we had to negotiate with ETA to end terrorism, he knew perfectly well what that meant: that we would be “prostituting democracy.” He said it explicitly: “It means that it is better to buy a shotgun than to vote.” 30 years after his murder, it is painful to see that his dreamed defeat never occurred. The long-awaited peace – which has been the best thing that has happened to us in our recent history – has been achieved in exchange for a price: the legalization of the political arms of ETA, the staging of an end without winners or losers and impunity for many of his murderers. And we victims are paying the consequences of this end.ABOUT THE AUTHOR Consuelo Ordoñez Consuelo Ordoñez is the sister of Gregorio Ordoñez and president of the Collective of Victims of Terrorism in the Basque Country (Covite)
#commitment #freedom #life
