Inauguración de la exposición “Ausencias presentes. Desaparecidos por terrorismo en España”.

The Memorial Center for Victims of Terrorism presents, until July 12, the exhibition “Present Absences: Disappeared by Terrorism in Spain.” At the opening ceremony on April 21, Raúl López Romo, representing the Memorial Center, Marta Rodríguez Fouz, niece of a disappeared victim, professor at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) and curator of the exhibition, and Lourdes Auzmendi, partner of Eduardo Moreno Bergaretxe, alias Pertur, a leader of ETA-pm who disappeared in 1976, participated. The exhibition addresses the issue of physical disappearances due to terrorism, “permanent crimes that do not expire as long as the bodies remain missing.” Currently, there are more missing persons in Spain than in Northern Ireland, where armed groups such as the IRA and the INLA collaborated in resolving similar cases. Here, in the words of Raúl López Romo, “a painful comparison” is drawn: with the dissolution of the IRA in Northern Ireland, “there were sixteen people missing due to terrorism; to this day, after investigations and cooperation from the perpetrators, only four remain to be found.” He adds that the end of ETA “has not allowed for the resolution of any such cases” and asks, if it happened in Northern Ireland, “why not here?” The exhibition recounts the stories of Humberto Fouz Escobero, Fernando Quiroga Veiga, and Jorge García Carneiro, three Galician workers living in Irún, who on the afternoon of March 24, 1973, crossed the border into France to see the film “Last Tango in Paris,” which was banned in Spain. That day, in bars in the French Basque Country, they encountered several ETA members who, based on the young men's appearance and accents, mistook them for police officers. ETA was responsible for his kidnapping, torture, murder, and disappearance—to this day one of the group's biggest secrets, as they never acknowledged or denied the triple murder. Marta Rodríguez Fouz, Humberto's niece, summed it up in a single sentence: "A disappeared person is a crime committed every day." The professor from the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) highlighted the unique nature of these victims of terrorism, because their cases, their victimization, "are passed down from parents to children," since the grieving process cannot be truly resolved. Also remembered is Eduardo Moreno Bergaretxe, "Pertur," a leader of ETA-pm who was murdered and disappeared in 1976 by other members of the terrorist group because of his views in favor of political participation over armed struggle; and Publio Cordón Munilla, a businessman kidnapped in Zaragoza on June 27, 1995, and taken to Lyon by the First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO). The GRAPO terrorist group demanded a large ransom, part of which Cordón's family paid, but he was never released. According to his captors, he died in captivity. The exhibition also includes José Miguel Etxeberria Álvarez, alias Bakunin y Naparra, a member of the Autonomous Anti-Capitalist Commandos (CAA), who disappeared at the age of 22 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz on June 11, 1980. The exhibition space features a section dedicated to missing persons who have been found, such as police officers José Luis Martínez Martínez and José María González Ituero, and alleged ETA members José Antonio Lasa and José Ignacio Zabala, who were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the GAL death squads. In all cases, there are accompanying photographs of the victims with panels explaining the circumstances and dates of their disappearances in Basque and Spanish. Each story includes a counter displaying the number of days since the person disappeared, which will be updated daily while the exhibition is open. Lourdes Auzmendi alluded to them, echoing the sentiment that "the pain grows stronger every day." In an emotional speech, her voice breaking with emotion twice, Auzmendi emphasized that "thanks to the memory that we, the families, have kept alive day after day, they remain present, despite the few memorial events that have taken place." She quoted the journalist and writer Mario Calabresi and recalled "the limited work of the police and the justice system because there has been so much impunity, but an effort is needed to reveal a truth that, even if it doesn't go through the courts, becomes part of our collective memory," Auzmendi asserted, tears welling in her eyes. "The Memorial Center gives us the opportunity to remember our loved ones and to speak about them to Basque society. To rekindle their memory. To connect with them through their belongings, writings, and personal photographs that capture a piece of their lives and even a reflection of their souls. These elements bring comfort to us all," Lourdes Auzmendi added.