Last week was an exciting one and although we are not used to dealing with, or commenting on things that do not strictly correspond to issues relating to the Diaspora and the Basque cultural world, on these pages, today I am making an exception due to the great news that we received last Thursday that ETA had declared a unilateral end to its armed activity.  I am joining with so many voices that predict and ask for a process of normalization that favors and assures peace and conviviality in Euskal Herria, without violence and with enormous respect for the rights of all of its citizens.  Here is an article by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, A Basque peace, in the New York Times, as well as a summary of how the announcement was treated by some Basque and Spanish media:  the news of the announcement.

On another note, thirty Basque youth have already arrived in Euskadi from all over the Diaspora to participate in the 2011 edition of the Gaztemundu program.  They will stay here until the end of the World Congress, because as you know, after finishing Gaztemundu they will then, as every four years, participate in Congress sessions, 'with word' or the possibility to present their opinion and statements but with no vote (that belongs to the delegates of their respective countries). 

We should now mention that we are just a week away from the 5^th World Congress of Basque Collectivities that will take place at the Kursaal in Donostia from November 2-4, 2011.  EuskalKultura.com will be there in person and will transmit news generated from the Congress. This year we will also participate with our own stand, along with the exhibits of various entities related to the Diaspora and Basque Collectivities that will also take place at the Kursaal.  This as well as other activities will be open to the public, and so we invite anyone who might be in the area to visit the Congress, and of course to our stand.  Here is the Congress’s Facebook page, managed by the Basque-Argentinean, Veronica Domingo.