http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/july/images/patxi_news.jpg

The interesting thing is that, according to the article referred to here published by the Stanford Daily,

“tchemendy, of Basque heritage, has a history of promoting Basque culture and awareness. He sponsored the formation of an introductory Basque studies course in 2006. He also signed the March 2010 “Brussels Declaration,” which called for the terrorist and nationalist Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) group to cease violence permanently and also for reciprocation on the side of the Spanish government.

López’s party, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) is against an independent Basque and has spoken out against the Brussels Declaration.

“The declaration endorses the initiation in the Basque country of a peaceful process patterned on that used to solve the conflict in Northern Ireland,” Etchemendy wrote in an e-mail to The Daily. He said his signature was a personal endorsement.

“The desired outcome is to bring to an end the use of violence as a means to promote independence of the Basque provinces from Spain,” he added.”

Shouldn’t this raise a lot of questions about the purpose of the meeting?