DLC Blog

Spain terrorists call for ceasefire

The terrorist group known as ETA, of Spain’s Basque country, has recently called for a permanent ceasefire and has shown willingness to enter into discussions with the Spanish government. For those of you not familiar with their history, this could be a huge step for Spain.

What is the Basque country?

The Basque country is a region of northeastern Spain and southwestern France with its own distinct political, cultural, and linguistic heritage. The Basque are the only lasting descendents of the original Old Europeans, who lived in Europe before the invasion of the Indo-Europeans from the East. Almost all Europeans today are descendents of the Indo-European peoples.

Protected by large mountains, the Basque people have managed to maintain their own cultural identity through invasions by the Romans, the Visigoths, etc. Their language, which they call Euskadi, is unrelated to any known world language today.

What is ETA?

ETA is a terrorist organization based out of the Basque region and dedicated to establishing formal independence from Spain for their region. They were established in the 1960s to oppose the suppressive policies of Franco, Spain’s dictator until 1975.

Today, the Basque country (along with Catalonia and Galicia) is an autonomous region, which means they control their own systems of education, health care, and even taxes. These regions are basically their own nations within the Spanish state, and only do not possess the right to maintain their own militaries or establish formal diplomatic relations with other countries independent of Spain.

ETA is dedicated to establish formal, political independence for Spain. They have killed over eight hundred people in their 38-year existence, among them some important political leaders.

What does this ceasefire mean?

Unsuccessful ceasefires have been called before, but Spain has hope that this one may have more success. Key members of ETA appeared in masks with an announcement for the ceasefire March 22. This call may have to do with key events in recent years. Last year many important members of ETA were arrested, and the public outrage at the Islamic terrorist bombings of Madrid in March 2004 has aroused more strong public opposition to ETA’s regime. The government is cautiously entering into talks with ETA, and hopefully a peaceful solution to this problem can be found.

For more on ETA, see the following articles:

DLC Resources
Spain tells ETA to stop extortion (BBC)

Lindsey
Student Mentor - French and Spanish

Posted by Lindsey on April 5, 2006 03:31 PM.