Pepe el Ferreiro

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is
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Pepe el Ferreiro

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Some of you may know Pepe el Ferreiro (Jose Naveiras Escanlar) from having visited the ethnographic museum in Grandas de Salime. To get there, you need to battle twisting roads and drive into serious mountain territory.

It's all worth it in the end because Grandas is a special place. The people are like out of a tale, with each bar at night containing characters from a part of Asturian history that no longer exists in the cities, where people are taught to be ashamed of their grandparents.

Pepe is the director of the museum (http://www.museodegrandas.com) and he wears his black beret proudly. He's from a family of blacksmiths (ferreiros, in both Galician and Asturian) and his father Benino passed on a wealth of know-how. It's all on display at the museum.

Now, the regional government of Asturias, jealous of Pepe's success in locking people into West Asturian counties that had nothing to show for themselves, is trying to boot him out of the museum he himself started in the cellar of the local town hall in the 1970s. People thought he was crazy then, like any one who has a highly original idea.

Read the article in La Nueva today (Jan. 25, 2010) for the details of how Eustaquio Revilla, the county mayor, and Mercedes Alvarez, the councilor for Culture, are attempting to oust him from the museum. There's a demonstration in the Asturian capital tomorrow at 3:30 pm outside the Calatrava building in Pepe's support for those of you in Asturias. He needs all the support we can give him.

http://www.lne.es/occidente/2010/01/25/ ... 64017.html


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Art
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Post by Art »

Thanks, Is. I was going to ask you to write something about Pepe and you did it wonderfully without being asked!

You can join a support group on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2 ... 9148793240

And while you're at it, join the AsturianUS group, too:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... all&ref=nf

Is, Do you see this as a product of the economic crisis?

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Gracias, Is. Iba a pedirte que escribas algo acerca de Pepe y lo hiciste maravillosamente sin haber sido invitado!

Puedes unirte a un grupo de apoyo en Facebook aquí:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2 ... 9148793240

Y mientras estás en Facebook, júntate con el grupo para AsturianUS, también:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... all&ref=nf

¿Is, lo ves siendo un producto de la crisis económica?
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Post by is »

Art wrote:Is, Do you see this as a product of the economic crisis?¿Is, lo ves siendo un producto de la crisis económica?
It goes back to before the financial crisis. About 2 years ago, the mayor of Grandas (Eustaquio Revilla, PSOE/FSA) was using back channels to remove Pepe from the ethnographic museum for let's say 'personal convenience'.

The shortage of funding at the Conseyeiria Cultura (Cultural Council of Asturias, headed by Mercedes Alvarez) probably informs this in some way as funding for ethnographic museums has been slashed by 50%, according to LNE. Even so, the museum had 21,000 paying visitors in 2009.

In comparison, look at how much the Areces government spends on ridiculous megalomaniac projects like the Universidad Laboral, sucking up millions of euros in capital investment in a project that draws very few people.

Still this is mainly a character-driven issue, with Pepe's honesty and hard work appearing like a slap in the face to the vicious Asturian politicians in the capital who think in lockstep (the PSOE/FSA should consider rebranding itself as a blackshirt party).

Thanks for the facebook links. We need as many people as possible to join the 'Apoyo a Pepe el Ferreiro' group because the Asturian media is featuring the number of sympathizers in its coverage of this story and it could influence decision-making.
Last edited by is on Wed Jan 27, 2010 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by is »

Here is some coverage of today's demonstrations in support of Pepe el Ferreiro both in the Asturian capital, Oviedo/Uvieo, and in Grandas de Salime itself.

LNE features a small video clip with Pablo Naveiras, Pepe's son, in front of demonstrators on the front page. But it will only be active today at

www.lne.es

For today's article on the attempted ousting of Pepe from his museum:

http://www.lne.es/sociedad-cultura/2010 ... 64526.html

Here is coverage in the Asturian weekly Les Noticies:

http://www.lesnoticies.com/lesnoticies/ ... reiro/5538

For a PSOE-friendly newspaper, look at Xixon's El Comercio, which cites Areces, the regional president:

http://www.elcomerciodigital.com/201001 ... 61723.html

For those unaware of Asturian regional politics, the PSOE/FSA (Socialist Party) is the direct inheritor of power after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, similar that way to successor parties in Romania after Ceaucescu's death.

It is neither liberal in an American context, nor social democratic in a European context.
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Post by ayalgueru »

The decission to get rid of Pepe el Ferreiro is not only wrong or unfair it is very unpopular too , the saddest thing is that they will just get away with it ... in asturian politics accountability is an unknown concept ,,,

you can read below Juan Neira's article in La Nueva today ,,, I think he hits the spot ,,,

http://www.lne.es/opinion/2010/01/26/fe ... 64599.html


El Ferreiro

En el arezato que padecemos no hay sitio para una persona sin carné y con un éxito impresionante

02:58 VOTE ESTA NOTICIA



El Ferreiro


JAVIER NEIRA Según el decálogo del perfecto paraíso socialista, aquí no se permite ni la más mínima disidencia, ni una mónada de libertad, así que hay que echar a Pepe el Ferreiro, que no tiene el carné y ha logrado un éxito enorme con su museo. Sí, con su museo.

Una doble condición insoportable en esta temible Albania. Si tuviese el carné y organizase tinglados a mayor gloria y bolsa de los mandarines de turno sería a estas alturas un héroe del régimen. Pero sin el salvoconducto imprescindible y encima con más de dos decenas de miles de visitantes al año -una ratio presupuesto/resultados verdaderamente estratosférica- es un pésimo ejemplo, un tipo a borrar de la vida pública.

Y es que ahí está, mismamente, la Laboral, que le supera en costes en más de mil a uno, pero con resultados ridículos -no me refiero al monto personal de los caciques, que es tremendo-, así que o Pepe el Ferreiro y su museo o la Universidad Laboral de Girón y sus epígonos.

Conclusión: priman el poder, el dinero, el partido, las subvenciones, las prebendas, los chollos y la marimorena en verso. Las bendiciones llueven sobre ese paradigmático agujero negro gironesco que se lleva la inmensa mayoría de los presupuestos asturianos de cultura para convertirlos en humo, por no decir otra cosa que sin duda todos ustedes están pensando.

La verdad, esta casta es una plaga. Ahí está, de forma simultánea a la purga de Pepe el Ferreiro, el horizonte de ruina inmediata de la Foncalada -el Prerrománico es católico y carbayón: una doble y terrible blasfemia para la secta progre- a cuenta de la maña de permitir una discoteca a sus pies, y qué decir de la celda de Feijoo que destruyeron y del edificio monstruoso a doce metros de la Cámara Santa y del escándalo de mantener cerrado el Arqueológico dos años después de concluir las obras -¿donde están las piezas?, ¿quién robó la puerta?- y así todo lo demás.
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Isaa Kobayashi (1816)
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Post by is »

I had no idea Pepe had his own blog, here is the address:

http://josenaveiras.blogspot.com/

The comment below, in Asturian, was submitted yesterday (Jan. 27, 2010) by a reader and reflects what many people think about Areces and his FSA:

"Agora atopámonos con esto, mientras las sucesivas Conseyeirias de in-Cultura del Principáu dedicabanse a cousas muito más importantes un home de Grandas, ensin un migayín d'ayuda de l'administración, dedicóu media vida a salvar lo pouco qu'iba quedando del mundu que vivienon los nuesos antepasaos. Horrios, l.laviegos, l.lariegas, arabías de toda triba, milenta cousas que conformaban l'universu rural del Occidente d'Asturies fonon pouquinín ya pouco siendo rescatadas del ferruñu ya los bícaros por Pepe. Los que tenemos la fortuna de conecelu a él ou a dalgún pariente cercanu sabemos hasta que puntu foi sacrificáu el sou l.labor, más de lo que sería prudente comentar nun mediu abiertu como'l facebook. Muito más, dende l.lueu, de lo que fixenon. fain ou fadrán enxamás los qu'agora-y puenen na puerta del muséu qu'el mesmu l.levantóu. Tien miga que lo que nun consiguíu Franco en 40 anos de dictadura, fer d'Asturias la "Provincia de Oviedo" tan consiguiéndolu estos sinvergüenzas, conu cacique del "cortijo" a la cabeza, Areces ya las suas "razones fundadas". Pa lo unico que veo you razones fundadas, Sr Areces, iá pa que la FSA pase a chamase Fascismo Sociedá Anonima, ya pa que los fascistas qu'inda quedan n'Asturias-y dean la norabona pol sou l.labor, el.los nun fonon a felo meyor de lo que lo tan fiendo vustede. Porque socialistas ya asturianos son dúas cousas qu'hai muito tiempu que nun se merecen chamar los dirixentes de la FSA."
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Art
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Post by Art »

Thanks, guys!

Entrenched power believes it can act with impunity. And it can, perhaps for a very long time, until their citizens get fed up. Voters can throw them out, but that's less likely when politicians have paid everyone off.

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¡Gracias, amigos!

Poder atrincherado cree que puede actuar con impunidad. Y puede, quizás por un tiempo muy largo, hasta que sus ciudadanos se hartan. Los votantes pueden echarlos, pero eso es menos probable cuando los políticos han untado la mano a todos.
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Post by is »

I'm not sure I would label it entrenched power anymore, Art. The situation is bringing things back to my memory from when I lived in Russia in 2004-05. At the time, people still labeled Vladimir Putin as a 'democracy manager', that is, not entirely a democrat, but at least a manager of something vaguely related to democracy. He went on to oust Khodorkovsky out of Yukos that year, alleging tax irregularities.

The scale is different, of course. We're talking Asturias here, not the Russian Federation with its 11 time zones and 150 million people.

Still, I think Asturias is in trouble. This new Socialist totalitarian style is being driven by Javier Fernandez, the FSA Secretary, who has a disciplinarian type character. He has been described as monkish (monxu, in Asturian) for delivering sermon-type speeches to FSA members. He's spooky: skeletons in his closet.

What happened to Pepe is clearly purge, even if Pepe is by far not a member of the PSOE. In an American context, he would be considered a leftish libertarian with rugged individualism in his DNA. Very American and a man of the people, if you ask me.

About the museum, it's inconceivable without Pepe. How can you explain the fact that Central Asturian ethnographic museums register a mean average of 1,000 visitors, while Pepe's museum in far-flung Grandas received 21,000 in 2009?

Now, the regional government has 'installed' a 48-year-old man from Segovia (Castile) in Pepe's place, a guy called Francisco Cuesta who is a cousin of a PSOE senator in Madrid (Alvaro Cuesta). Apparently, he grew up in Catalonia and speaks Catalan. Grandas de Salime, where locals speak a Galician dialect, is no place for this man.

My sister and I visited the museum in 2008:

Image

The museum is a live ethnographic exhibit--Pepe used the lareira (kitchen) to smoke chourizos. The smell alone was transporting.

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Post by is »

How interesting to check out different versions of the story of Pepe el Ferreiro in the Asturian media. The daily in Xixon (Gijon), El Comercio, is a tired, PSOE-affiliated newspaper that totes the party line. Here is today's coverage, based solely on soundbites by PSOE officials, making all this sound very routine. You have to be lobotomized to accept their version of events:

http://www.elcomerciodigital.com/201001 ... 81337.html
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Post by Art »

Carlos and Susana took JoAnne and I to visit Pepe's museum in 2005, I think. We spent a half day there and could have spent much longer. The museum has fascinating displays of tools, madreñas (wooden shoes), typical shops, farms, and homes. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's well worth a visit.

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Carlos y Susana llevaron a Joanne y yo al museo de Pepe en 2005, creo. Pasamos un medio día allí, y podría haber pasado mucho más tiempo. El museo cuenta con una exposición fascinante de herramientas, madreñas, y tiendas, granjas y hogares típicos. Lo recomendaría a todos. Vale la pena visitarlo.
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Post by Villamil »

So he's kicked out for being a nuisance and substituted by a Castilian guy. What a shame and humiliation...

The way this country works is dreadful. Democracy and liberty?, not here. The caciquismo is the modus operandi of our politicians and is killing us. Unfortunately we the people don't protest en masse against this kind of vile actions. I have the impression that in the US people is more aggressive toward political corruption, but here everything is tolerated...
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Post by is »

Yes, Villamil, shame and humiliation. But it is also vile, cruel and totalitarian. I would agree with you that this kind of thing would have a greater echo in the US or northern Europe. But I'm happy to see that the LNE is carrying news every day and you can read the hundreds of comments people are leaving in support of Pepe from all over Asturias. Facebook is closing in on 4,000 people as of Friday, Jan. 29.

Still, it is disheartening to follow this from a distance. Apparently, Pepe handed over the key to Antonio (the museum guide) and was not even allowed to pick up his personal items: books, notepads, mementos of his father Benino. The depth of this cruel act can only reside in evil and although I've never subscribed to the idea, I have come to learn that some people are, in fact, exactly that. We should not let them get away with this.

Here is the daily article on the scandal in LNE. I suggest reading the comments thread there to feel the tension in Asturias over this:

http://www.lne.es/sociedad-cultura/2010 ... 66045.html

And here's a flyer put out by someone called Manu on facebook. The words 'Haxa Salu' are in Galician spoken in Grandas and mean: Be well!


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Post by Villamil »

I agree, it's a malevolent act, albeit the cruelty that they're using isn't really surprising. I've always thought that the psychopathy is a very common disorder among our politicians.
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Post by is »

Villamil wrote:...the cruelty that they're using isn't really surprising. I've always thought that the psychopathy is a very common disorder among our politicians.
Actually, I disagree. I never could have imagined the depth of their cruelty. I always thought there would be people within PSOE/FSA who had a conscience, a real one, not an artificial one.

It is so clear to everyone that they are attacking a simple man who turned an inherently uninteresting ethnographic museum into a place with near-cult status because of its uniqueness. Someone here (Eustaquio Revilla?) was jealous.

Revilla, apparently, is a 'recent' cardholder of the PSOE/FSA. He is not an old timer Socialist, but someone who recognized that his property interests could be furthered by becoming a member of the PSOE/FSA. Again, the depth of the filth here is astounding.

In contrast, Pepe shines by his sheer honesty.
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Post by Maestro Tomberi »

I have read thru El Comercio Digital that IU has proposed Pepe el Ferreiro as representant of the Cultural Patrimony Council (who btw, accepted), in order to substitute Mari Paz López, who renounced to her charge.

If well I'm very happy to see the most adequate character to drive such an important task such as defending our cultural legacy, I hint a political battle afterwards.

All the news can be read here (in Spanish):

http://www.elcomerciodigital.com/201002 ... 21436.html
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