After weeks of controversy surrounding the campus visit of the elected president of Spain’s regional Basque government, yesterday’s event occurred without any major conflict.

Approximately ten protesters gathered outside the Arrillaga Alumni Center to demonstrate against the visit of Juan Jose Ibarretxe. Not all protesters were Stanford students — some worked in Silicon Valley or came from other universities including UC-Berkeley. They displayed a banner that stated, “ETA Kills, Ibarretxe Deals,” suggesting that Ibarretxe has connections with the terrorist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

The Basque Government president arrived at the Alumni Center from a side entrance, so the protesters were unable to convey their message to the leader directly.

Prof. Joan Ramon Resina, the chair of the Spanish and Portuguese Departments, told the audience that the event had been long in the making, and he thanked the Forum on Contemporary Europe, the Freeman Spogli Institute and the Office of the President for “not giving in” to the protesters. This statement was echoed by general applause from the audience.

Resina described Ibarretxe’s plan as daring, provocative and uncertain, but did not say that he agreed with the ideology.

“Inviting Ibarretxe does not mean that we endorse his road map or political vision,” he said. “We are here to listen to his message.”

Ibarretxe broke his lecture into two parts — the history and identity of the people from the mountainous region of northern Spain and his hotly debated proposal for a referendum on the independence of the region.

The president began his speech in English, explaining how the Basque people had successfully overcome many difficulties throughout history. He pointed out that, as a result, he was optimistic about the future.

“I face the future with the hope of advancing a new horizon of sustainable human development,” Ibarretxe said. “[I hope] to attain political normalization and an agreement with Spain to put an end to the long standing political conflict.”

He went on to describe the multifaceted nature of Basque identity.

“We are a diverse people who love self-government,” he said. “The vast majority of Basques demand a new framework of negotiations with Spain.”

Ibarretxe further referred to a recent report, issued by the Basque statistics agency EUSTAT, which ranked the Basque country third in the Human Development Index ratings for the most “liveable” places, behind Iceland and Norway.

The leader presented his plans on how to end the long-standing regional conflict. But he condemned the violent methods of ETA, which, in his opinion, need to cease immediately.

“Unfortunately, on too many occasions, the violence of the ETA hides the goodness of the Basque people and conceals the political problems,” he said. “ETA does not represent the Basque people.”

The president, who outlined his proposals in detail, further pointed out that the right to self-determination was the key to the solution of the Basque political conflict.

“Sometimes the Spanish government claims that such a right divides Basque people, but the absolute majority of Basques want to have the right of self-determination,” he said.

Ibarretxe’s plan to end the conflict included an offer of political agreement with the president of the Spanish government and a referendum that aimed to ratify the political negotiation process.

He also quoted Stanford’s motto, “the wind of freedom blows,” as an example of an institution that displays dignity and respect to people, which is something he aims to do.

After the leader finished speaking, Resina read out questions from the audience from a broad variety of topics, including some prepared by the protesters in advance.

When asked about how the European Union’s infrastructure could help the independence of the Basque country, Ibarretxe responded to the question in Spanish by stating that Europe’s rebirth of political organizations makes his petition for independence fairly common.

“Flanders, Wallonia, Ireland, Scotland and, closer to the U.S., Quebec are all dealing with the issue of independence,” he said. “Just recently, the Council of Europe reminded states that people such as the Basques have full rights to look more closely at their own identities.”

There was a brief interruption during the question and answer session. When Resina asked Ibarretxe about his opinion of members of the Basque Human Rights Commission who were sentenced ETA members, Ibarretxe denied knowledge of any members of the parliament that had been convicted. A member of the audience shouted out Josu Ternera’s name, but the president did not respond. According to the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo,” Ternera is an individual who has previously been a member of ETA and subsequently served as a member of the Basque Parliament.

Victor Gomez-Magana, a Spaniard who works in Silicon Valley, did not agree with Ibarretxe’s perspective. He provided the question that referred to Ternera and felt that the president circumvented some of the questions posed.

“He did not adequately answer the questions,” he said. “He knew perfectly well that the question was about Ternera, who is a top leader of ETA and was on the Basque Parliament’s Commission for Human Rights until 2002. Furthermore, his talk was nothing new — he has been promoting the same message for the last 30 years. The audience just accepted it because there was no one to challenge his views.”

Nonetheless, the majority of the audience was receptive to Ibarretxe’s message and some members even gave him a standing ovation. Provost John Etchemendy, Ph.D. ‘82 told The Daily that he was pleased with the outcome of the lecture.

“I think the lecture was wonderful,” he said. “Very persuasive.”