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

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

Biography

Anasagasti was born to exiled Spanish parents in

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in Sout ...

, 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

(PNV), who had fled the country after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. 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, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

to the care of their grandparents. Iñaki studied at the Sociedad de María,

from 1955 to 1961 and from this date to 1965 in Santiago Apóstol of

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Venezuela

In 1965 his father died and he returned to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, where he remained for ten years. He became acquainted with the exiled Basque Nationalist Party in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, and studied Journalism and Sociology at the Universidad Católica Andres Bello run by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. 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

and directed the publication of the PNV, Euzkadi. He was detained on 1 April 1976 with Joseba Goikoetxea (assassinated later by

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

) 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 during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). 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 ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

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

Cortes Generales

In 1980 he was elected to the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...

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

Congress of deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

, representing Vizcaya, where he served until 2004 as leader for the Basque Nationalist Parliament Group. In 2004 he was elected

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

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 (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

Carloctavismo Carloctavismo (; the name appears also as ''carlosoctavismo'', ''carlooctavismo'', ''carlos-octavismo'', ''carlo-octavismo'', or ''octavismo'') is a branch of Carlism, particularly active in the 1943–1953 period. In terms of Dynasty, dynastical a ...

claimant to the Spanish throne.

References

Biography at Spanish Congress site

External links