The Basques: the Eta and Separatism
The Conflict
The Basque region is in Spain and small sections of France. The Basques, ethnically and linguistically distinct from their Spanish and French neighbors, have sought independence. The ETA ("Basque Homeland and Freedom" or Euskadi ta Azkatasuna) has been waging a terrorist campaign for independence from Spain.
Political
- Periodically, Spain has granted the Basques some autonomy within Spain, though they have also brutally suppressed the ETA and suspected sympathizers.
- Recently, France has reversed a long-standing practice of not arresting ETA leaders hiding in France. They have started arresting Etarras and returning them to Spain.
Ethnic
• The Basques, as represented by the ETA, want self-determination, and, ultimately, independence from Spain.
"Terrorism: violence turns green into red,"wrote Rod Usher in Time magazine on March 13, 2000, when the weekly magazine drew parallels between the conflict in Northern Ireland and another situation in Spain. In Spain the Basque separatist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) had killed an army colonel in Madrid in January and a Socialist politician and his bodyguard a month later. More terrorist attacks followed. The public and the media alike were horrified and puzzled, for ETA had declared a truce in late 1998, only to break it unilaterally fourteen months later.
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