Iñaki Anasagasti
Encyclopedia
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n Spanish politician, belonging to the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
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Biography
Anasagasti was born to exiled Spanish parents in CumanáCumaná
Cumaná is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times...
, Venezuela. His father was a Basque
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
nationalist and a member of the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
(PNV), who had fled the country after the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. In the mid 1950s, his parents decided that Iñaki and his three brothers had to be educated in the Basque Country of Spain, so sent their children to return to San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
to the care of their grandparents. Iñaki studied at the Sociedad de María, San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
from 1955 to 1961 and from this date to 1965 in Santiago Apóstol of Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
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Venezuela
In 1965 his father died and he returned to VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, where he remained for ten years. He became acquainted with the exiled Basque Nationalist Party in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, and studied Journalism and Sociology at the Universidad Católica Andres Bello
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the biggest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas , Los Teques, Guayana and Coro....
run by Jesuits. There he met his future wife Maria Esther Solabarrieta, whom he married in 1976. In the early 1970s he was named president of Euzko Gaztedi Indarra a youth wing of the EGI, in the Basque center of Caracas. He became involved with Radio Euzkadi, broadcast daily in Venezuela and collaborated in the resistance magazine Gudari
Gudari
Gudari may refer to:*Gudari, Rayagada, a town in Rayagada District, Orissa, India*Euzko Gudarostea, an army commanded by Basque Autonomous Community...
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Return to Spain
In August 1975, he returned again to San SebastiánSan Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
and directed the publication of the PNV, Euzkadi
Euzkadi
Euzkadi may refer to:*Basque Country *Euzkadi , a Basque nationalist newspaper published from 1913 to 1937*Euzkadi, a Mexican tire manufacturer...
. He was detained on 1 April 1976 with Joseba Goikoetxea (assassinated later by ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
) and Bingen Zubiri, and by order of the Minister of the Interior Manuel Fraga, he was jailed for three days. He was chosen in 1977 as a member of the regional council of the PNV in Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
(Bizkai Buru Batzar), a position that he occupied until 1980 under the Presidency of Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza is a former Mordorian warrior and politician. He became the second elected Lehendakari , after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that office in 1936-60....
.
Cortes Generales
Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible....
where he was an MP between 1980 and 1986. In 1986 he was elected to the Congress of deputies, representing Vizcaya
Vizcaya (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Biscay is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is situated in the Basque Country and the largest city is Bilbao where around 30% of the electorate of almost a million live...
, where he served until 2004 as leader for the Basque Nationalist Parliament Group. In 2004 he was elected senator for Vizcaya, and reelected in 2008, at the Senate he was elected to the Bureau of the Senate in the 8th legislature, in the position of First Secretary.