In memoriam: Xabier Gorostiaga (1937-2003)

In memoriam: Xabier Gorostiaga (1937-2003)
Kees Biekart
25 September 2003

Our dear friend and TNI Advisor Xabier Gorostiaga died on 14 September 2003 in Loyola (Spain) after losing a one-year struggle against a brain tumour. Many of us remember seeing him the last time at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in 2002, in which he actively participated. The slogan 'Another world is possible' could have been his invention (some even believe he was indeed the source) for he always displayed an infectious optimism and a profound belief in alternatives.

Xabier Gorostiaga ('el pitorro' for his friends) was born in Galicia (Spain) but his life and career is closely linked with the recent history of Central America.After his Jesuit formation in philosophy and theology in Spain, and his PhD in economy at Cambridge, he arrived in Nicaragua shortly after the Sandinistas had overthrown Somoza in 1979. Initially he worked as the Director of the Ministry of Planning under comandante Henri Ruiz. In 1982, he founded INIES, an independent socio-economic think-tank, which formed the basis for the foundation of CRIES, one of the most influential regional research institutes in Central America. Its magazine 'Pensamiento Propio' ('own thinking') reflected a critical but commited attitude towards the Sandinista revolution and circulated throughout the world.

In those years, Xabier established contacts with TNI and IPS to work on joint projects analysing the poverty impact of the US boycott and to counter allegations of Soviet-dominated aid flows to Nicaragua. Xabier acquired Nicaraguan nationality and travelled the world speaking at conferences about the situation in Central America, visiting the major international institutions to counter US dominance, while also inspiring grassroots organisations and NGOs with his enormous analytical capacity, humour and strategic vision. He was in fact the intellectual ambassador for Central American civil society, contributing to the regional peace process and taking sides with the poor and the oppressed.

In 1991, the Jesuits asked him to become their regional delegate and Rector of the Central American University (UCA) in Managua. These were difficult years, with the backlash against the Sandinista revolution, internal divisions among progressive forces, violent strikes led by students, the assassination of his Jesuit friends in El Salvador and internal crisis at CRIES. Xabier maintained his positive attitude, however, managing to keep opposing groups together and establishing new academic courses for civil society groups. He spoke at TNI Fellows' Meetings about the opportunities for post-war Central America and the new challenges for progressive forces searching for alternatives to neo-liberal structural adjustment. In the late 1990s, Xabier was appointed Secretary General of the Latin American Jesuit University network, now applying his experience and strategic vision to the entire continent.

With Xabier's departure we lose a brilliant analyst and a strategic and 'globalist' thinker, bridging effectively the gap between academia and political practice. We also lose a remarkable friend, genuinely interested in personal experiences and always searching for light in the darkness. He will be remembered as "the most all-round and happiest priest I ever encountered" (Hugo Cabieses) and as an inspiring example for all those working to make another world possible. Gracias Xabier por la vida que nos diste!

Copyright 2003