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Basque Conflict
Part of the history of Spain

Clockwise, starting at top left: ETA members at the 2006 Gudari Eguna in Oiartzun, Guipúzcoa; the Madrid Airport bombing; a demonstration against ETA in Madrid; pro-ETA graffiti in Pasaia.
Date1959-present
Location
Spain, France
Status Ongoing

The Basque Conflict conflict, also known as the Spain-ETA conflict, is an armed conflict between the Spanish state and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social and political Basque organizations which seek independence from Spain and France. The movement is build around the armed organization ETA, considered by some as a terrorist organization[1][2], which since 1959 has launched a campaign of attacks against Spanish administrations. The conflict takes place mostly in Spanish soil, although in a smaller degree it is also present in France, and it's the longest ongoing violent conflict in Western Europe.[3] It has been sometimes referred to as "Europe's longest war".[4]

The conflict has both political and military dimensions. Its participants include politicians and political activists on both sides, the abertzale left and the Spanish government, and the security forces of Spain and France fighting against ETA and other small organizations, usually involved in the kale borroka. Far-right paramilitary groups fighting against ETA were also active in the 1980s.

Although the debate on the Basque independence started in the 19th century, the armed conflict did not start until ETA was created. Since then, the conflict has resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, among them police and security officers, civilians, politicians or ETA members. There have also been thousands of people injured, dozens kidnapped and at least 200,000 people are into exile.[5][6]

Background

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Main article: Basque nationalism

The Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria) is the name given to the the geographic area located on the shores of the Bay of Biscay and on the two sides of the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain. Nowadays, this area is fragmented into three political structures: the Basque autonomous community, also known as Euskadi, and Navarre in Spain, and three French provinces known as the Northern Basque Country. Approximately 3,000,000 people live in the Basque Country.

Basque people have managed to preserve their own identifying characteristics such as their own culture and language throughout the centuries and today a large part of the population shares a collective consciousness and a desire to be self-governed, either further political autonomy or full independence. Over the centuries, the Basque Country has maintained various levels of political self-governance under different Spanish political frameworks. Nowadays, Euskadi enjos the highest level of self-governance of any nonstate entity within the European Union.[7] However, tensions about the type of relationship the Basque territories should maintain with the Spanish authorities have existed since the origins of the Spanish state and in many cases have fuelled military confrontation, such as during the Carlist Wars and the Spanish Civil War.

Following the 1936 coup d’état that overthrew the Spanish republican government, a civil war between nationalist and republican forces broke out. Nearly all Basque nationalist forces, lead by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) sided with the Republic, even though Basque nationalists in Álava and Navarre fought on the side of Spanish nationalists. The war ended with the victory of the nationalist forces, with General Francisco Franco establishing a dictatorship that lasted for almost four decades. During Franco's dictatorship, Basque language and culture were banned, institutions and political organisations abolished, and people killed, tortured and imprisoned for their political beliefs. Thousands of Basques were forced to go on exile, usually to Latin America or France.

Influenced by wars of national liberation such as the Algerian War or by conflicts such as the Cuban Revolution, and disappointed with the weak opposition of the PNV against Franco's regime, a young group of students formed ETA in 1959. It first started as an organization demanding the independence of the Basque Country, from a socialist and Marxist-Leninist position, and it soon started its armed campaign.

Timeline

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ETA's first attacks were sometimes approved by a part of the Spanish and Basque societies, who saw ETA and the fight for the independence as a fight against the Franco administration. In 1970, several members of the organisation were condemned to death in the Proceso de Burgos (Trial of Burgos), although international pressure resulted in commutation of the death sentences.[8] ETA slowly became more active and powerful, and in 1973 it was able to kill the president of the Government and possible successor of Franco, Luis Carrero Blanco. From that moment on, the regime became harder with their struggle against ETA: many members died in shootouts with security forces and police carried out big raids, such as the arrest of hundreds of members of ETA in 1975, after the infiltration of a double agent inside the organisation.[9]

In mid 1975, a political bloc known as Koordinadora Abertzale Sozialista (KAS) was created by Basque nationalist organisations. Away from the PNV, the bloc comprised several organisations formed by people contrary to the right-wing Franco's regime and most of them had their origins in several factions of ETA, which was part of the bloc as well.[10] They also adopted the same ideology as the armed organisation, socialism. The creation of KAS would mean the beginning of of the Basque National Liberation Movement.

In November 1975, Franco died and Spain started its transition to democracy. Many Basque activists and politicians returned from exile, although some Basque organisations were not legalized as it had happened with other Spanish organisations.[11] On the other side, the death of Franco elevated Juan Carlos I to the throne, and chose Adolfo Suárez as president of the Spanish Goverment. Following the approval of the Spanish constitution in 1978, a Statute of Autonomy was promulgated and approved in referendum. The Basque Country was organized as an Autonomous Community.

The Alsasua meeting is considered to be the beginning of Herri Batasuna and the Abertzale left

Although the new Spanish constitution had an overwhelming support around Spain, it was rejected in the Basque Country.[12] This was due to the creation of a coalition of Abertzale left organisations brought together to advocate for "no" in the referendum, as they felt that the constitution did not meet their demands for independence. The coalition was the beginning of the political party Herri Batasuna, which would become the main political front of the Basque National Liberation Movement. The coalition had its origins in another one made two years before, named Mesa de Alsasua.[11] ETA also felt that the constitution was unsatisfactory and intensified their armed campaign: 1978, 1979 and 1981 were ETA's bloodiest years with more than 230 people killed. At the same time, several far-right armed organisations fighting against ETA and its supporters were created, and at least 40 people were killed in attacks blamed at organisations such as the Batallón Vasco Español and Guerrilleros de Cristo Rey. Although not related to the Basque conflict, one of these organisations carried out the famous 1977 Massacre of Atocha.

Also in the late 1970s, several Basque nationalist organisations, such as Iparretarrak, Hordago or Euskal Zuzentasuna, started to operate in the French Basque Country. An anarchist breakaway of ETA, Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas, also started carrying out attacks around the Basque Country. A similar, but smaller, organisation as ETA, Terra Lliure, appeared demanding independence for the Catalan Countries. The Basque conflict has always had an influence on the Catalan society and politics, due to the similarities between Catalonia and the Basque Country.

During the process of electing Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as Spain's new president in February 1981, Civil Guards and army members broke into the Congress of Deputies and held all deputies at gunpoint. One of the reasons that led to the coup d'état was the increase of ETA's violence. The coup failed after the King called for the military powers to obey the Constitution. Days after the coup, ETA's faction politiko-militarra started its disbanding, with most of its members joining Euskadiko Ezkerra, a leftist nationalist party away from the Abertzale left. General elections were held in 1982, and Felipe González, from the Socialist Workers' Party became the new president, while Herri Batasuna won two seats. In the Basque Country, Carlos Garaikoetxea from the PNV became lehendakari in 1979. During those years, hundreds of members of Herri Batasuna were arrested, especially after some of them sang the Eusko Gudariak in front of Juan Carlos I.[11]

After Felipe González's victory, the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), death squads established by officials belonging to the Spanish government, were created. Using state terrorism, the GAL carried out dozens of attacks around the Basque Country, killing 27 people. It targeted ETA and Herri Batasuna members, although sometimes civilians were also killed. The GAL were active from 1983 until 1987, a period referred to as the Spanish Dirty War.[13] ETA responded to the dirty war by intensifying its attacks: the organisations started carrying out massive car bomb attacks in Madrid and Barcelona, such as the Hipercor bombing. After the attack, most of the Spanish and Basque political parties signed many pacts against ETA, such as the Madrid pact or the Ajuria-Enea pact. It was during this time that Herri Batasuna got its best results: it was in the most voted for party in the three Basque provinces for the European Parliament elections.[14]

While talks between the Spanish government and ETA had already taken place in the late 70s and early 80s, which had led to the dissolution of ETA (pm), it was not until 1989 that both sides held formal peace talks. In January, ETA announced a 60-day ceasefire, while negotiations between ETA and the government were taking place in Algiers. No successful conclusion was reached, and ETA resumed violence.[15]

After the end of the dirty war period, France agreed to cooperate with the Spanish authorities in the arrest and extradition of ETA members. These would often travel to and from between the two countries using France as a base for attacks and training. This cooperation reached its peak in 1992, with the arrest of all ETA leaders in the town of Bidart. The raid came months before the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, with which ETA tried to gather worldwide attention with massive attacks around Catalonia.[16] After that, ETA announced a two-months ceasefire, while they restructured the whole organisation and created the kale borroka groups.[17]

In 1995, ETA tried to kill José María Aznar, who would become president of Spain one year later, and Juan Carlos I. That same year, the organisation launched a peace proposal, which was refused by the government. On the following year, ETA announced a one week ceasefire and tried to engage peace talks with the government, a proposal that was once again rejected by the new conservative government.[18] In 1997, the organisation kidnapped and killed young councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco. The killing produced a widespread rejection by Spanish and Basque societies, massive demonstrations and a loss of sympathisers, with even some ETA prisoners and members of Herri Batasuna condemning the killing.[19] That same year, the Spanish government arrested 23 leaders of Herri Batasuna for allegedly collaborating with ETA. After the arrest, the government started to investigate Herri Batasuna's ties with ETA, and the coalition changed its name to Euskal Herritarrok, with Arnaldo Otegi as their leader.[20]

In the 1998 Basque elections, the Abertzale left got its best results since the 80s, and Euskal Herritarrok became the third main force in the Basque Country. This increase of support was due to the declaration of a ceasefire by ETA one month before the elections.[20] The ceasefire came after Herri Batasuna and several Basque organisations, such as the PNV, which at that time was part of the PP's goverment, reached a pact, named Lizarra pact, aimed at putting pressure on the Spanish government to make further concessions towards the independence. Influenced by the Northern Ireland peace process, ETA and the Spanish government engaged in peace talks, which ended in late 1999, after the government refused to discuss the armed organisation's demands for independence.[21]

In 2000, ETA resumed violence and intensified its attacks, specially against senior politicians, such as Ernest Lluch. At the same time, dozens of ETA members were arrested and the Abertzale left lost some of the support it had in the 1998 elections. The breaking of the truce provoked Herri Batasuna's dissolution and its reformation into a new party called Batasuna. Following disagreements over the internal organization of the Batasuna, a group of people broke away to form a separate political party, Aralar, present mainly in Navarre.[22] In 2002, the Spanish goverment passed a law, named Ley de Partidos (Law of Parties), which allows the banning of any party that directly or indirectly condones terrorism or sympathises with a terrorist organisation. As ETA was considered a terrorist organisation and Batasuna did not condemn its actions, the government banned Batasuna in 2003. It was the first time since Franco's dictatorship that a political party had been banned in Spain.[23] That same year, Spanish authorities closed the only newspaper in written fully Basque, Egunkaria, due to allegations of links with ETA. Journalists were arrested and tortured, and recently in 2010 they have been acquitted on all charges. In 1998, another newspaper, Egin, had already been closed.[24]

Concentrations after every ETA attack are common around Spain

After the government falsely accused ETA of carrying out the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the conservative government lost the elections in favour of the Socialist Workers' Party, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became the new president of Spain.[25] One of Zapatero's first actions was to engage in new peace talks with ETA. In mid 2006, the organisation declared a ceasefire, and conversations between Batasuna, ETA and the Basque and Spanish governments started. Peace talks ended in December, when ETA broke the truce with a massive car bomb at the Madrid-Barajas airport. ETA officially ended the ceasefire in 2007, and resumed its attacks around Spain.[26] From that moment on, the Spanish government and police intensified their struggle both against ETA and the Abertzale left. Hundreds of members of the armed organisation were arrested since the end of the truce, with four of its leaders being arrested in less than one year. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities banned more political parties such as Basque Nationalist Action[27], Communist Party of the Basque Homelands or Demokrazia Hiru Milioi. Youth organisations such as Segi have been banned, while members of trade unions, such as Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak have also been arrested.[28]

In 2009 and 2010, ETA suffered even more blows to its organisation and capacity, with more than 50 members arrested in the first half of 2010.[29] At the same time, the banned Abertzale left started to develop documents and meetings, where they committed to a "democratic process" that "must be developed in a complete absence of violence". Due to these demands, ETA announced in September that they were stopping their armed actions.[30]

Casualities

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Estimates of the total number of conflict-related deaths vary and are highly disputed. The number of deaths caused by ETA is consistent among different sources, such as the Spanish Interior Ministry, the Basque government, and most major news agencies. According to these sources, the number of deaths caused by ETA are 829. This list, however, does not include ETA's first victim, killed in 1960.[31] Some organizations such as the Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo en el País Vasco rise the death toll of ETA's victims to 952. This is due to the inclusion to the list of several unresolved attacks such as the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire.[32] The Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo also includes the victims of the Corona de Aragón fire on its list of ETA's deaths.[33]

Responsibility

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Responsibility for killing
Responsible party No.
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna 829[34]
Paramilitary and far-right groups 72[5]
Spanish security forces 169[5]
Other cases 127[5]
Total 1197

Status

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ETA deaths by status of victim[34]
Status No.
Civilian 343
Members of security forces 486
of whom:
Guardia Civil 203
Cuerpo Nacional de Policía 146
Spanish Army 98
Policia Municipal 24
Ertzaintza 13
Mossos d'Esquadra 1
French National Gendarmerie 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "European Union list of terrorist organizations" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union. 2006. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  2. ^ "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. October 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  3. ^ "The Basque Conflict: New ideas and Prospects for Peace" (PDF). Gorka Espiau Idoiaga. April 2006. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  4. ^ "Eyewitness: ETA's shadowy leaders". news.bbc.co.uk. December 2, 1999. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  5. ^ a b c d "Datos significativos del conflicto vasco, 1968-2003". Eusko News (in Spanish). 2003. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  6. ^ "El Foro de Ermua culpa a Ibarretxe del exilio forzoso de 119.000 vascos". El Mundo (in Spanish). February 26, 2005. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  7. ^ "Autonomy games, tensions with the regions ahead of next March's general election in Spain". economist.com. September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  8. ^ "Carrero, Franco y ETA". diariovasco.com (in Spanish). December 26, 2006. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  9. ^ "Entre la traición y la heroicidad". elpais.com (in Spanish). November 5, 2004. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  10. ^ "ETA: la dictadura del terror, KAS". elmundo.es (in Spanish). 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  11. ^ a b c "Siempre acosados pero más vivos que nunca". gara.net (in Spanish). October 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  12. ^ "The Basque nationalist movement" (PDF). yale.edu. November 1, 2002. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  13. ^ "Las 27 víctimas de la vergüenza: la guerra sucia del GAL se prolongó durante cuatro duros años". noticiasdegipuzkoa.com (in Spanish). October 18, 2008. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  14. ^ "Elecciones Parlamento Europeo Junio 1987". elecciones.mir.es (in Spanish). 1987. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  15. ^ "Felipe González y las conversaciones de Argel". elmundo.es (in Spanish). 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  16. ^ "Bidart: la caída de la cúpula de ETA". expansion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  17. ^ "«Txelis», el padre de la kale borroka". elmundo.es/cronica (in Spanish). September 23, 2001. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  18. ^ "La dictadura del terror: Las treguas de ETA". elmundo.es/ (in Spanish). 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  19. ^ "El día en que todos fuimos Miguel Ángel Blanco". elpais.com (in Spanish). July 8, 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  20. ^ a b "Las siglas políticas de ETA". rtve.es (in Spanish). January 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  21. ^ "Spanish government clamps down on Basque separatist ETA". wsws.org. November 13, 2000. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  22. ^ "Historia de Aralar". aralar.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  23. ^ "Batasuna banned permanently". news.bbc.co.uk. March 17, 2003. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  24. ^ "The Basque newspaper Egunkaria closed down by the Spanish government". euskalherria.info. February 21, 2003. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  25. ^ "Analysis - Spain's PM down but not out after ETA bomb". reuters.com. January 16, 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  26. ^ "Who are ETA?". bbc.co.uk/news. September 5, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  27. ^ "Spain bans political party for ETA links". edition.cnn.com. September 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  28. ^ "Detienen a Otegi y a otros nueve dirigentes en otro golpe a Batasuna en la sede del sindicato LAB". rtve.es (in Spanish). October 13, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  29. ^ "Cronología de las detenciones de presuntos miembros de ETA en el 2010". rtve.es (in Spanish). August 21, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  30. ^ "The Abertzale Left about ETA's announce to cease armed activities". ezkerabertzalea.info. September 13, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  31. ^ "La primera víctima de ETA". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  32. ^ "Balance de dolor". Colectivo de Víctimas del Terrorismo en el País Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  33. ^ "Víctimas del Terrorismo". Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  34. ^ a b "Lista de víctimas mortales". Ministerio del Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-07-30.

Further reading

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  • ETA. Historia política de una lucha armada by Luigi Bruni, Txalaparta, 1998, ISBN 848659703X
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