SPAIN 31 Jul 2009 ETA, Basque separatist movement, founded 50 years ago 

Left-wing nationalist students broke away from the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) on 31 Jul 1959 to form ETA, which has used terror since 1968 to further its campaign for an independent Basque state. The students accused the PNV of failing to resist the rule of General Francisco Franco's right-wing dictatorship, which suppressed the Basque language. A bomb blast in Madrid on Feb 9, blamed on ETA, suggests a new wave of separatist violence ahead of Basque regional elections and the 50th anniversary.

ETA stands for Basque Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Liberty).

Initially ETA sought its goals through political means, but within a decade it resorted to violence. The group's first killing took place in August 1968, when members of the group shot and killed a police officer. More than 90 percent of its victims have been killed since Franco died in 1975 and Spain returned to Europe's democratic fold after four decades of isolation.

A failed ETA attempt in April 1995 on the life of Prime Ministerial candidate Jose Aznar revealed declining popular support for terrorism in Basque regions and throughout Spain. An ETA offer to end violence in return for independence and amnesty was denied. Following an attempt on the life of King Juan Carlos in August 1995, and the murders of two socialists in December and in February 1996, some 50,000 marched in Madrid in silence to protest.

On Feb 9 a car bomb exploded in Madrid's Campo de las Naciones business district in what appeared to be the first attack by ETA on the Spanish capital for two years. The bomb is thought to be retaliation for the Spanish Supreme Court's decision in February to ban the Askatasuna and Democracy 3 Million parties from the Mar 1 election for the 75-seat Basque regional parliament on the grounds they are linked to the outlawed Basque nationalist party, Batasuna.

Batasuna was declared illegal by the Supreme Court in 2003 on the grounds that it was part of the armed Basque group ETA. Its offices were closed down and it was barred from engaging in political activity. Prior to its prohibition, Batasuna used to garner some 12 percent of the vote in Basque elections.

In a statement sent to the pro-independence newspaper Gara, just one month ahead of Basque regional elections on March 1, the group urged Basques to "join forces" to "take the road to independence by peaceful and democratic means." However, the ETA also indicated that it would use other methods to help found a Basque state. "In the meantime, we must continue to fight with all our strength and through all means because the enemy states (Spain and France) do not give the smallest sign that they have the desire to respect the word of Euskal Herria," the statement said. Feb/09

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Violence by ETA at the beginning of the 21st century once again led the Spanish government to attempt to suppress the organization. Despite this effort, ETA continued to carry out violent acts. In March 2006 it announced a permanent cease-fire. In December 2006, however, ETA members carried out a bombing at Madrid’s international airport that killed several people, and in June 2007 it officially lifted its cease-fire. Feb/09

RELATED READING:

ETA (Encyclopedia Britannica)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/193771/ETA

Madrid bomb blamed on ETA (Guardian 9 Feb 2009)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/09/bomb-madrid-eta-camp-naciones