This article was translated by John R. Bopp

On October 20, 2011, the ETA announced that they were definitively giving up violence.  This blog, at the time very young, just a year old, dedicated several entries to this amazing news.  We started with a shout for joy, and then went on to discuss several of the key moments of that long, long process.  

It was a process that was taking too long, a disconcerting mix of stubbornness of all sides (Basque society, by the way, not being one of them).  It’s also true that all this inability on all sides hasn’t dampened that celebration in the slightest.

So yesterday, March 17, 2017, ETA made another announcement, a very important one: the date that they would be handing in their weapons and explosives arsenal.  Unfortunately, at least for this overlong normalization process, the other interlocutor in this story is still playing “Don Tancredo“, incapable of taking any steps which, without stepping outside the law in any way, or which anyone else would consider common sense, would help reduce tensions.  The use of these palliative measures would in no way mean a weakening of the basic premise for the definitive resolution of this historical anomaly that is the existence of the ETA: its unconditional dissolution.

Unfortunately, we haven’t reached the end of the road yet, and the words “Basque” and “terrorists” are still intimately joined in the international media.  And even at that, “Basques” wouldn’t exist were it not for the group, as then we’d always be Spanish or French.

And speaking of “points of view”: it’s worth noticing the different headlines used in the English-language international media with those used in Spanish-language media (do they all get their news from the EFE?).  From the latter group, we’ve pulled up the one used by El Universal from Venezuela.

We’re not going to create an exhaustive list of articles.  Instead, we’re going to pick up three articles we found basic, and link to other articles we find respectable.

We’re tired of writing about this topic, and that’s why we’re hoping that the day will soon come when we get definitive solutions and then all we’re left with is the memory of a nightmare.  We hope this wish soon turns into a reality, and no one “messes it up”.

New York Times – 17/3/2017 – USA

Basque Separatist Group ETA Is Said to Promise to Disarm

ETA, the Basque separatist group, is expected to turn over its remaining weapons next month, the Basque regional leader and a Basque activist said Friday, a development that brought a cautious response by the Spanish government as the organization has not followed through on similar pledges in the past.

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  The Guardian – 17/3/2017 – Gran Bretaña

Basque separatist group Eta announces plan to lay down all weapons

Six years after renouncing violence in its long and bloody pursuit of a Basque homeland, the militant separatist group Eta has announced it will lay down all arms by early next month.

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New Zealand Herald -17/3/2017 – Nueva Zelanda

Activist: Basque separatist group ETA to disarm by April 8

” Basque civil society groups will fully disarm the separatist group ETA by April 8, a French environmental activist with ties to the Basque community promised Friday.

 

Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country