4 ms·

I wouldn't hold Mondragon Corporation to a very high standard. Back in 2005-06 the company I worked in was intending to acquire Mondragon's wind turbine busines

by antr 7y ago

I wouldn't hold Mondragon Corporation to a very high standard. Back in 2005-06 the company I worked in was intending to acquire Mondragon's wind turbine business (Ecotecnia). This was finally acquired by Alstom. During the due diligence we saw the high level of political corruption, and terrorism financing Mondragon was involved in. Very distrubing. Once we saw this, we stopped looking at the acquisition.

thundergolfer 7y ago
Got anything I can look at regarding the financing of terrorism? Wouldn’t that be extremely illegal and would absolutely need to be reported to the government?
- antr 7y ago
  We did. The Mondragon Group already had some history of financing terrorism(1), but we didn't know affiliates outside the Basque Country could be involved. Ecotecnia was based in Barcelona. (1): http://www.interior.gob.es/noticias/detalle/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_1YSSI3xiWuPH/10180/1186104/ http://www.interior.gob.es/noticias/detalle/-/journal_conten...
  - therrazerr 7y ago
    so one individual that works in the corp was detained, and suddenly the whole organization finances terrorism? very convincing
  - dordoka 7y ago
    That link describes how a MCC worker was taken into custody, being charged with some degree of terrorism collaboration. He got out on bail 2 days after. [1] Caja Laboral was not involved and they even fired that worker sortly after his detention (next day). [2] I fail to see how that link proofs that the "Mondragon Group already had some historry of financing terrorism". [1]https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020531/51262755730/libertad-bajo-fianza-para-el-directivo-de-caja-laboral-detenido-por-colaboracion-con-eta.html https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020531/51262755730/l... [2]https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020530/51262755722/caja-laboral-releva-de-su-puesto-al-directivo-detenido-ayer-por-colaboracion-con-eta.html https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020530/51262755722/c...
youdontknowtho 7y ago
Terrorism? Edit: looking at your comment history I'm going to go with them supporting other left wing groups as your "terrorism"?
- whoisjuan 7y ago
  I don’t know exactly what OP is referring to, but the Basque country in Spain is a region with certain separatist political actors that advocate/push for the independence of the Basque Country. In the past this included ETA which was a separatist terrorist group from the Basque region. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA_(separatist_group) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA_(separatist_group) ETA was most definitely a terrorist group, infamously known worldwide for their use of car bombs.
  - youdontknowtho 7y ago
    ETA was a terrorist group, but they publicly announced an end to violence in 2011. They began the process of deescalation after 9/11. It should also be mentioned that the UN had said that the Spanish occupation of the Basque region violated human rights.
    - whatchama1 7y ago
      Occupation? At what point in time has the Basque region been a country?
    - Pi314151 7y ago
      UN has never said that Spain is occupying the Basque Country.
- antr 7y ago
  Comment history? Left wing groups terrorists? Please enlighten us with your research.
  - youdontknowtho 7y ago
enriquto 7y ago
By that measure you shouldn't really consider any of the large Spanish companies, as all of them have extremely close ties to francoism. At least for Mondragon they are a drop in the other bucket. Still, I would be very skeptical about these "terrorism financing", since the data you acquired was very probably massaged by the Spanish authorities to look as bad as possible.
- iagovar 7y ago
  > any of the large Spanish companies, as all of them have extremely close ties to francoism Come on dude, is this really necessary in HN? Don't you think you're stretching it a bit?
  - enriquto 7y ago
    Sure, comparing the basque struggle to the francoist genocide was quite a stretch of my part. Sorry about that, mate!
    - iagovar 7y ago
      That has nothing to do with anything I said.
  - dordoka 7y ago
    Following the same reasoning, MCC "financing terrorism" is a far bigger stretch.
narag 7y ago
"Financing terrorism" might need a little context. Terrorist band ETA had an extortion net that they called "revolutionary tax". People that refused to pay were threatened and often beaten, kidnapped or murdered. So a lot of companies paid. Even if they had no sympathy for the criminals. But there were other companies that didn't need much "convincing". Was this one of that kind? I have no idea. Edit: oh, these are the owners of Eroski. I remember they were in the news a long time ago exactly for that. I don't remember how the trial ended, but some guy was definitely charged.

by antr 7y ago

thundergolfer 7y ago

Got anything I can look at regarding the financing of terrorism? Wouldn’t that be extremely illegal and would absolutely need to be reported to the government?

antr 7y ago
We did. The Mondragon Group already had some history of financing terrorism(1), but we didn't know affiliates outside the Basque Country could be involved. Ecotecnia was based in Barcelona. (1): http://www.interior.gob.es/noticias/detalle/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_1YSSI3xiWuPH/10180/1186104/ http://www.interior.gob.es/noticias/detalle/-/journal_conten...
- therrazerr 7y ago
  so one individual that works in the corp was detained, and suddenly the whole organization finances terrorism? very convincing
- dordoka 7y ago
  That link describes how a MCC worker was taken into custody, being charged with some degree of terrorism collaboration. He got out on bail 2 days after. [1] Caja Laboral was not involved and they even fired that worker sortly after his detention (next day). [2] I fail to see how that link proofs that the "Mondragon Group already had some historry of financing terrorism". [1]https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020531/51262755730/libertad-bajo-fianza-para-el-directivo-de-caja-laboral-detenido-por-colaboracion-con-eta.html https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020531/51262755730/l... [2]https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020530/51262755722/caja-laboral-releva-de-su-puesto-al-directivo-detenido-ayer-por-colaboracion-con-eta.html https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20020530/51262755722/c...

youdontknowtho 7y ago

Terrorism? Edit: looking at your comment history I'm going to go with them supporting other left wing groups as your "terrorism"?

whoisjuan 7y ago
I don’t know exactly what OP is referring to, but the Basque country in Spain is a region with certain separatist political actors that advocate/push for the independence of the Basque Country. In the past this included ETA which was a separatist terrorist group from the Basque region. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA_(separatist_group) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA_(separatist_group) ETA was most definitely a terrorist group, infamously known worldwide for their use of car bombs.
- youdontknowtho 7y ago
  ETA was a terrorist group, but they publicly announced an end to violence in 2011. They began the process of deescalation after 9/11. It should also be mentioned that the UN had said that the Spanish occupation of the Basque region violated human rights.
  - whatchama1 7y ago
    Occupation? At what point in time has the Basque region been a country?
  - Pi314151 7y ago
    UN has never said that Spain is occupying the Basque Country.
antr 7y ago
Comment history? Left wing groups terrorists? Please enlighten us with your research.
- youdontknowtho 7y ago

enriquto 7y ago

By that measure you shouldn't really consider any of the large Spanish companies, as all of them have extremely close ties to francoism. At least for Mondragon they are a drop in the other bucket. Still, I would be very skeptical about these "terrorism financing", since the data you acquired was very probably massaged by the Spanish authorities to look as bad as possible.

iagovar 7y ago
> any of the large Spanish companies, as all of them have extremely close ties to francoism Come on dude, is this really necessary in HN? Don't you think you're stretching it a bit?
- enriquto 7y ago
  Sure, comparing the basque struggle to the francoist genocide was quite a stretch of my part. Sorry about that, mate!
  - iagovar 7y ago
    That has nothing to do with anything I said.
- dordoka 7y ago
  Following the same reasoning, MCC "financing terrorism" is a far bigger stretch.

narag 7y ago

"Financing terrorism" might need a little context. Terrorist band ETA had an extortion net that they called "revolutionary tax". People that refused to pay were threatened and often beaten, kidnapped or murdered. So a lot of companies paid. Even if they had no sympathy for the criminals. But there were other companies that didn't need much "convincing". Was this one of that kind? I have no idea. Edit: oh, these are the owners of Eroski. I remember they were in the news a long time ago exactly for that. I don't remember how the trial ended, but some guy was definitely charged.