Iñaki Anasagasti (born 16 November 1947) is a Venezuelan-Spanish politician, belonging to the Basque Nationalist Party.

Biography

Anasagasti was born to exiled Spanish parents in Cumaná, Venezuela. His father was a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

nationalist and a member of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), who had fled the country after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. 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 to the care of their grandparents. Iñaki studied at the Sociedad de María, San Sebastián from 1955 to 1961 and from this date to 1965 in Santiago Apóstol of

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Venezuela

In 1965 his father died and he returned to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, where he remained for ten years. He became acquainted with the exiled Basque Nationalist Party in Caracas, and studied Journalism and Sociology at the

Universidad Católica Andres Bello Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

run by

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. 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''.

Return to Spain

In August 1975, he returned again to San Sebastián and directed the publication of the PNV,

Euzkadi The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, a ...

. He was detained on 1 April 1976 with Joseba Goikoetxea (assassinated later by

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

) and Bingen Zubiri, and by order of the Minister of the Interior

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Amba ...

, he was jailed for three days. He was chosen in 1977 as a member of the regional council of the PNV in

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

(Bizkai Buru Batzar), a position that he occupied until 1980 under the Presidency of

Carlos Garaikoetxea Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza (born 2 June 1938) is a former politician from the Spanish Basque Country. He became the second elected ''Lehendakari'' (President of the Basque Autonomous Community), after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that ...

Cortes Generales

In 1980 he was elected to the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament ( Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament ...

where he was an MP between 1980 and 1986. In 1986 he was elected to the

Congress of deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

, representing Vizcaya, 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. In 2012 he proposed the idea of creating a Catalan-Basque-Navarrese monarchy around Archduke Domingo de Habsburgo-Borbón, the Habsburg-Bourbon

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

claimant to the Spanish throne.

References

Biography at Spanish Congress site

External links