ETA and an end to political violence in Spain?

ETA's ACRONYM IN ALTSASU (courtesy of Wikipedia)

On Thursday the 20th October 2011 ETA declared that they would no longer use violence in Spain to obtain their objective of gaining Basque country independence from Spain.  This has been heralded as a breakthrough, with the Spanish Prime Minister (Zapatero) calling it: “a victory for democracy, law and reason”.

Certainly, the ‘war’ conducted by ETA in Spain, to most people, seemed nothing if not unreasonable.  Some 829 people have been killed by ETA since its creation fifty two years ago (in 1959) with many of them civilians.  It is difficult to know how many more people have been maimed or had their lives destroyed.

And yet, to most people, the actions of ETA are hard to comprehend.  Their objective, of course, has been to obtain independence for the Basque country (Pais Basco) from Spain.

But why?

Well, I have certainly found most Spaniards perplexed by ETA (which stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna – and means Basque Homeland and Freedom) and its raison d’etre.  After all the Basques are as Spanish as the Catalans, Valencians or Andalusians.  Meanwhile, the Basques share the same religion (the vast majority are Catholic) as the rest of Spain and appear to have been no more nor less oppressed, over the course of Spanish history, than any other part of Spain.

Of course, the Basques have their own language (Euskardi) but so do the Galicians and the Catalans – with neither the Galicians nor the Catalans resorting to a campaign of violence to obtain their independence.

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that ETA has long been an anachronism.  Whilst they may have had some reason to exist (as a democratic revolutionary movement) under the repressive dictatorship of Franco (1939 – 1975), the achievement of democracy (the Spanish Consitution was passed in 1978) must surely have rendered ETA’s aims somewhat pointless.

Indeed, one of the more extraordinary aspects to the Spanish Constitution is that it created Autonomous Regions in Spain (17) and two Autonomous cities (Mellila and Ceuta) that were provided with enormous powers.  Indeed, each Autonomous Region in Spain has an elected Legislative Assembly with an elected council headed by a President, who is appointed by the king.  Every region also has a Supreme Court of Justice which is one step below the Supreme Court of the whole Spanish state.

In fact, Spain is notable within Europe for its decentralisation and the significant devolved powers of authority to its Autonomous Regions – of which one is: the Comunidad Autónoma Vasca (Autonomous Region of the Basque country).

So, what more freedom did the Basque country want after 1978?

Well, some Basques wanted complete independence from Spain itself – and nothing else – and this continued to be the aim of ETA and the Basque political radicals who supported the organisation.

However, after 1978 the overall support within the Basque country for total independence dropped and with it support for ETA although this did not stop it from taking violent action that resulted in the killing in Spain of some 623 people between 1978 -1995.  Interestingly, only 10 of these were politicians or public offic holders.

From 1995 -2005 ETA killed ‘only’ 85 people although 1/3 of these were politicians.  The reduction in killings was due to the greater effectiveness of the Spanish security services which, over the past ten years, have semed to have had one success after another in capturing the leadership of ETA, its operatives and arms dumps (helped by active French support).

Reeling from operational blows and a dropping level of support, ETA agreed to (and broke) several ceasefires, the last of which was in September 2010.  On the 20th January ETA stated that the September 2010 ceasefire was to be permanent and this was the prelude to the expected complete cessation of violence declared on the 20th October 2011.

So, what has all the violence in Spain caused by ETA achieved?

Very little, it would seem – except bloodshed and significant gangsterism (ETA have survive economically through extensive extortion rackets, amongst other things).

In fact, the President of the Basque region seems to have summed matters up rather well when he said that ETA: ‘acknowledged its defeat because it met its end without achieveing any of its objectives’.

Certainly, in the 21st century there really is something very strange about a movement trying to gain freedom from its EU mother country.  After all, we are all part of the EU now and the days of hardline nationalism within Europe have passed – as we have all been subsumed by the EU.  So, any meaningful ‘independence’ needs to be not just from the mother country but also from the EU itself and that is economically ridiculous…

Frankly, for ETA (like the IRA) I suspect the playing fields over the past thity five years have moved so far that the original goal posts had become irrelevant – with the Basque population understanding this much quicker than its leadership.

So, what of the future of ETA?

Hopefully, ETA’s renunciation of violence in Spain will stick.  With their political party, Bildu, they have achieved political power (in San Sebastian) and this may now encourage any radicals to follow the proper democratic path to power.  However, what will be interesting will be whether ETA gives up its weapons, its ‘gangsterism’ and extortion rackets.  If it does then real, tangible progress will have been made following the 20th October 2011 declaration!