This is a terrorist organization. This is a Basque nationalist separatist organization

13:10 — REGNUM

Among the quite numerous varieties of nationalism that exist in Spain, Basque is one of the most noticeable and vibrant. Perhaps it makes sense to say that Basque nationalism exists in two forms: as a phenomenon and as a socio-political movement.

Basque nationalism as a phenomenon

As a phenomenon, Basque nationalism dates back to the second half of the 18th century. It was then that the idea of modern nation state Prussian philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, which found a response in the hearts of the Basques. The state, according to Herder’s theory, arises through the implementation by the people of natural law (a set of inalienable principles and rights arising from human nature and independent of the subjective point of view) and is pacifist in nature. Any state that arises through the annexation of various territories and the annexation of peoples destroys established national cultures. Herder, therefore, believed that the state should be built in a similar way to how a family is built. If a unit of society is created on the basis of a voluntary decision of a man and a woman entering into a union (and grows further on the basis of the same principle of voluntariness). It’s the same with the state, except that here it’s not two people who form a union, but a whole people showing their will to organize.

The term “nation” in relation to the Basques first appeared in 1780 in the works of the Vitorian historian (Vitoria is the main city of the Basque province of Alava) Joaquina José de Landasuri and Romarate, who called “on the basis of popular ties the actually existing, but not legally formalized” state of Vascongado. In 1801, the region was crossed by a German philosopher, philologist, diplomat and statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt, who in his works also called the Basques a nation.

Basque nationalism as a movement

Basque nationalism as a socio-political movement dates back to late XIX century, and associate its origin with the name Sabino Arana Goiri(Sabino Arana Goiri) and his brother Luis, who are the creators of some of the signs of Basque identity that still exist today. In particular, the flag of the Basque Country, developed by them, is now the official symbol of this Spanish autonomy. The words of her anthem also belong to the pen of Sabino and Luis. And the neologism Euzkadi, which the Basques designate their country, is the creation of the Arana brothers, who formed it from the term Euskal Herria (Basque land).

The brothers came from a wealthy, deeply Catholic family, in which all were convinced Carlists. It was because of these political views, which categorically did not coincide with the official ideology preached by the Madrid royal court at the end of the century, that Sabino had to leave his native Abando and move to Bilbao, which at that time turned into a stronghold of Spanish liberalism, according to Spanish historians.

The Carlists and the Cristinos were two political groups at war with each other because of their attitude to the so-called pragmatic sanction issued by King Ferdinand VII on July 10, 1830, thanks to which, contrary to the Salic law of 1713, his daughter Isabel II became the heir to the throne after the death of the monarch (1833). (aka Isabella II in the works of Russian historians). The Carlists advocated transferring the throne to Ferdinand's brother Carlos. The Cristinos, who received their name for their support of Queen Regent Maria Cristina de Bourbon, Isabel's mother, considered pragmatic sanction to be a law superior to Salic. The parties failed to agree among themselves peacefully: their confrontation was marked by three wars, called Carlist. The last of which ended in 1876 with the defeat of the supporters of Don Carlos. But not by the defeat of their ideology, one of the basic points of which was the desire to resist the central government to the point of separating the territory occupied by the Basques from the rest of Spain.

Sabino Arana, the most active and visible of the brothers (to such an extent that Luis in history remained simply “Sabino’s brother” and nothing more), lived only 38 years, most of which was persecuted for his Political Views. More than once he appeared in court and was put behind bars, but in the end, each time he was released.

Basque nationalism in Arana's time contained a fair amount of racism. The Basque identity, which was a product of the sum of the history, religion, language and traditions of the people, allowed the founding father of Basque nationalism to speak of a “Basque race”, free from admixtures of other bloods (Spanish in particular), “possessing anti-Catholicism and aggressiveness, and therefore not pure " To be fair, it should be said that the term “race” in those days in Spain did not carry such a negative meaning as it does now, and was regularly heard in the speeches of the most famous representatives of the intelligentsia of that era. Suffice it to recall the Madrid writer Angel Ganivet, Catalan historian and politician Joaquina Costa, Galician philologist, folklorist and medievalist historian Ramon MenendezPidalya, Basque writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno— they didn’t even have a hint of the derogatory meaning of the word “race”.

Sabino Arana advocated the unity of the territories in which the Basques live and the formation of a sovereign independent state on them. Currently, the territory of residence of the Basque nation is divided into Spanish and French, therefore it is broadly defined either as the above-mentioned Euskal Herria, or as Baskonia (Vasconia). This territory includes the lands autonomous communities The Basque Country and Navarre, the counties of Treviño (province of Burgos, Castile y Leon), the region of Valle de Villaverde (Cantabria), as well as the French possessions in the department of the Atlantic Pyrenees (the three provinces that make up the French part of the Basque Country: Basque Navarre, Labourdane and Zubera (the names are given in Euskera, the Basque language - approx. IA REGNUM).

Basque Nationalist Party as leader of the nation

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the main political movement of Euskadi has been Basque nationalism, the conductor of which is the Basque Nationalist Party (Spanish: Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; Basque: Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea).

In the years Civil War 1936—1939 The PNV did not formally join any of the warring parties (the Republican government Manuel Azaña And senior management army led Francisco Franco and calling themselves defenders of the Spanish nation). However, in fact, according to the principle of “choosing the lesser of two evils,” she positioned herself closer to the Republicans, declaring in her manifesto:

“Taking into account the events taking place in the Spanish state and having a painful impact on the fate of Euskadi, the Nationalist Party declares that, based on the need to preserve its ideology and choosing between a civic position and fascism, between the Republic and the monarchy, it is inclined to support civil society and the Republic in accordance with the principles that from time immemorial have been inherent in our people in their quest for freedom.” As part of this strategy, nationalists rushed to talk about autonomy for the territory of the Basque Country, but were unable to confirm the seriousness of these intentions through military efforts.

With the fall of Vizcaya in 1937 short period Euskadi's independence ended: Franco declared Vizcaya and Gipuzkoa “treacherous provinces” and deprived them latest signs any self-determination. PNV leaders forced to emigrate began new stage struggle for the independence of their country, requesting “effective international support”, but in the end they did not receive it.

Basques under Franco's thumb

During the years of Franco's dictatorship, every political activity was banned in Spain, and two government decrees (dated 05/21/1938 and 05/16/1940) ordered “in accordance with the requirements of the situation and for the sake of strengthening the unity of the Spanish nation, to preserve the Spanish language as a means of uniting the people, and to eradicate vices that can be interpreted as the establishment of a colonial system or vassalage." The Basque language was one of those vices that, as noted in the same decrees, “are exotic elements that erode the national consciousness and therefore must be eliminated.”

In addition, in 1938 it was adopted new law on the press, which established censorship (pre-screening of all texts being prepared for publication) and provided for punishment for “everything that directly or indirectly undermines the prestige of the nation or the regime of government, and also contributes to the spread of intellectually weak ideas in society.”

During the four decades of Franco’s rule, it was possible to significantly “castellanize” the population of regions that claimed some kind of national identity of their own - Galicia, Valencia, Catalonia, Balearic Islands. The cultures of the Basque Country and Navarre suffered especially in this regard.

(Castellano, also known as Español, is the official language of Spain. Any documents of state and regional administration must be written in this language throughout the country. Today, it is also possible to simultaneously issue the same documents in the languages of the autonomous regions where bilingualism is legally established - for example, in the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia).

In 1958, in a region deprived of the opportunity to express its national identity and fight for this right through political means, Euskadi ta Askatasuna emerged, a terrorist organization known throughout the world under the abbreviation ETA. The name of the organization is translated from Euskera as “Basque Country and Freedom”.

The ETA calls itself a structure of "effective and organized armed resistance of a Marxist-socialist character." For most people who have not delved deeply into the topic of Basque nationalism, there is no difference between this concept and ETA.

Basque nationalism during the democratic period

After the death of the dictator in 1975, a period of democratic reforms began in Spain, which included recognition of the right of autonomies to have regional and national differences. Some ETA members leave the organization and go into the political sphere, but in general the organization continues its activities, which, on the one hand, warms up the population of Euskadi to think about their national peculiarities, and on the other hand, it complicates the path of autonomy to national self-determination.

In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1978 and entered into force on the 29th of the same month, the Basque Country received the status of a region with maximum level autonomy. Of the states of the modern European Union, only Belgium, separated in 1830 from the Netherlands (officially recognized by the latter in 1839), received a status of this level. But Belgium, it is worth recalling, is an independent state.

Nevertheless, Basque nationalists are not satisfied with the region’s current status, since the Basque Country is not separated from Spain. Over the past 20 years, the central Spanish authorities have delegated everything more rights and powers of the regional government, however, to achieve “a complete set that allows self-determination as a national government structure” it is necessary to delegate more than 40 various types competencies.

The nationalist Basque party PNV has been the leading political force in the region, practically since its creation, to this day. During the democratic period, the hegemony of the PNV was violated only once - from 2009 to 2012, the autonomy was ruled by socialists.

IN recent years, this has become especially noticeable since November 2011, when the ETA announced “the cessation of the use of violent methods to achieve its goals”, centrifugal forces in the region are manifesting themselves less and less. The global economic crisis simply and clearly explained to the Basques that it is easier and more convenient for everyone to get out of the hole together than alone. Currently, separatism, clearly expressed in the form of demonstrations and calls for a referendum on independence, is absent in the region.

The last significant attempt at secession should be considered the “Ibarretxe Plan,” which provided for the conclusion of a political treaty between Spain and the Basque Country and the establishment of a relationship at the level of “free association” with the division of sovereignties and self-determination of Euskadi. The plan was put forward in 2002 by the head of the government of the autonomy, Juan José Ibarretxe, and was that “all functions, except the maintenance of a unified army, should transfer from Madrid to the Basque Country.

Madrid believed that in practice this would lead to the creeping establishment of almost complete independence of the Basques and the creation of a separate state by them, and the plan was “banned.” Ibarretxe decided to call on his people to hold a unilateral referendum on independence (the Spanish Constitution allows for any plebiscite on important issues such as national self-determination only with the permission of the central government). The center responded by introducing an article into the Kingdom’s Criminal Code on November 28, 2004, according to which calling a referendum without the permission of the General Cortes was declared a crime against the state and punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years, followed by a ban on holding positions in the civil service for 10 years. .

Since then, there have been no movements indicating that a new autonomy charter is being prepared in the Basque Country, promising even more freedom and independence for the region.

ETA was founded in 1959 to fight for national self-determination, but its roots are in modern history go back to the years of the civil war, the bombing of Guernica and the liquidation of the autonomy of the Basque Country by dictator Francisco Franco in 1937. Since 1968, the separatists have switched to terror tactics. Among their victims are Franco's official successor and the prime minister of his government, Luis Carrero Blanco, a descendant of Columbus, Vice Admiral Cristobal Colon de Carvajal, politicians and administrators of various ranks, military and police officials, intelligence officers and even former comrades who - like the one killed in 1986 year of Maria Dolores Gonzalez, condemned the violence and negotiated with the authorities. In 1998, 6 people were killed. The Spaniards were especially outraged by the news of the ETA conspiracy directed against the people's beloved King Juan Carlos. In July 1997, after the murder of a young municipal councilor, Miguel Angel Blanco, taken hostage by separatists, over 6 million people took to the streets of Spanish cities under slogans of condemnation of ETA. Following this, almost the entire leadership of the Eri Batasuna party was arrested and convicted.

The turning point in the Spanish government's fight against ETA came after. At first, the Spanish government blamed ETA for the bombings (for which it later paid with an election loss), but then it turned out that the bloodiest terrorist attacks in Spanish history were the work of Islamists. After this, it became obvious that ETA's terrorist activities would no longer have the expected effect.

Eternal separatism. Report by "Agentura" journalists from the Basque country
The Spanish counter-terrorism system: before and after the Madrid bombings

Timeline of ETA terror

1959 - ETA founded
1961 - attempt to derail a train carrying pro-Franco politicians. The attempt failed.
1968 - Meliton Manzanaza, head of the secret police in San Sebastian, becomes the first victim of ETA.
1968 - Pan-Spanish campaign against terror, new anti-terrorism law, arrests of a total of 1963 people.
1968, December - "Burgos Trial". 19 ETA militants were arrested and convicted (six were sentenced to death, but their execution was commuted to imprisonment)
1969-70 - several ETA leaders were captured and tried by military court
1973, December - assassination of the country's Prime Minister Admiral Carrero Blanco
1976 - The Suarez government tries to negotiate with the Basques, which ends in failure.
1976-1980 - the heyday of ETA, the number of ETA members reaches 500, of which 200 are active militants
1977 - ETA fighters killed 73 people
1978 - ETA's political, legal wing, Herri Batasuna, is founded. ETA fighters committed the first murder of a socialist, German Gonzalez.
1980 is ETA's bloodiest year: 118 people were killed by the Basques throughout Spain. It is believed that there are only 50 people in ETA.
1984 - socialists General Lacasi and Enrique Casa are killed.
1981 - self-dissolution of the military wing of ETA
1984-1985 - self-dissolution of several individual ETA groups.
1986 - surge of ETA terror. Until now, ETA militants, as fighters against the Franco regime, took advantage of the opportunity to receive political asylum in France, but in the mid-80s the governments of Spain and France negotiated to change this norm. And one of the ETA leaders, Mujico Garmenda, called for blowing up French trucks as a sign of protest.
1986, First half - 20 terrorist attacks were carried out in Spain, 28 dead.
1989 - in France, the head of ETA, José Urruticoechea Bengoechea (Josue Turner), was arrested and sent to prison
Early 90s - Eloseki Sabaleta (Waldo), Turner's first deputy, was arrested
1991 - ETA armed protest organizer Jesus Arcus Arana was arrested in France.
1992 - Mujico Garmendia and ETA ideologist Jose Luis Alvarez, as well as ETA explosives expert Maria Arregue Erostarbe and ETA treasurer Sabieno Suba were arrested in France
1992 - ETA assassination of two soldiers in Barcelona and an explosion in Madrid, during which 5 people were killed.
1995 - assassination attempt on King Juan Carlos of Spain
1995 - assassination attempt on Jose Maria Aznar, leader of the right-wing People's Party. The bomb was planted in a car. The politician escaped death by pure chance by not leaving in this car on time. She exploded without him.
1996, March - former Supreme Court judge Francisco Tomas y Valente was killed in Madrid.
1996 - Aznar's party wins elections in Spain. ETA is confident that the right-wing politician is the successor of Franco’s work, which, in general, for them is not far from the truth; Aznara was and remains against the isolation of the Basques.
1996 - the year of terror against right party Aznara.
July 1997 - ETA kidnaps and kills Basque Council member, the humble economist Miguel Angel Blanco. Throughout Spain, attitudes towards the Basques are deteriorating. 6 million Spaniards come out across the country to demonstrate protest against Basque separatism.
December 1997 - 23 Herri Batasuna leaders were arrested and jailed for 7 years for collaborating with ETA.
February 1997 - Herri Batasuna elects new management, even more radical than the previous one.
March 1998 - the main political parties in Spain participate in negotiations, wanting to resolve the situation in the Basque country. The Spanish government is not participating in these negotiations.
September 1998 - ETA leadership officially announces an indefinite truce, hoping for political negotiations
July 2000 - ETA announces the end of the truce and that a new wave of terror is coming

Personalities

IdoyaIrene ("Margarita") Born in 1964. ETA militant, temporarily expelled from the organization. Participated in the assassination attempt on Broseta. She took part in two attacks on guard members in Madrid, during which 17 people were killed and dozens were injured. One day, contrary to the “will of the party,” as they say, she went AWOL - she committed an unscheduled terrorist attack, for which she was removed from active work. Its descriptions are available in the intelligence services of many countries. Thanks to which it is known that she was in Algeria and France for some time. In October 1991, she was already in Spain again, as she was noticed during an attempted explosion in Zaragoza.

FransicoMujica Garmendia ("Paquito") Former leader THIS. In mid-1999, the French authorities, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for participation in a conspiracy, transferred him to his homeland, where he appeared before supreme court Spain. Paquito's trial began in August 2000 - he was accused of involvement in several bombings. He admitted his affiliation with ETA, but denied that he held a leadership position in the group. Leading news agencies around the world assumed that he was facing a 30-year prison sentence, but their predictions did not come true. On October 6, 2000, the former ETA commander was found guilty of organizing several terrorist attacks and sentenced to 109 years in prison. Three days later, ETA militants expressed their attitude to the verdict - on October 9, the chief prosecutor of Andalusia was shot dead on the street in Granada.

Causes of Basque extremism. The growth of Basque national identity and the stratification of Spanish regions according to indicators of socio-economic development. Creation of ETA - the organization "Basque Fatherland and Freedom". Terrorist activities of the group.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

FEDERAL STATE BUDGET EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

INSTITUTE OF HUMANITIES

By subject

“COUNTERING TERRORISM IN MODERN MODERN IO”

Topic: "ETA (Spain)"

Introduction

When people talk about terror in Western Europe, they first of all remember the RAF in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy. But the Spanish organization ETA stands apart on this list. For a long time they were somehow embarrassed to call them terrorists. The reason is simple - the Basques are from ETA for a long time fought against the Franco regime, and for this they were not exactly forgiven for terror, but they were certainly given a discount. Moreover, ETA militants, being Marxists, were (and still are) nationalists at the same time. This bizarre mixture of leftism and “rightism” usually misled political scientists.

Today, interesting events are happening in the camp of the radical Basque ETA. They have lost the respect of their calmer fellow citizens (and once ETA militants were supported by almost all of their relatives). And the most interesting thing is that recently ETA fighters have announced an intensification of terror. And the once calm Spain, with its “Basque fighters against Franco,” has become almost on a par with the modern Arab East in terms of the intensity of the fight against terrorists.

Background of Basque extremism

The growth of Basque national consciousness dates back to the end of the 19th century. In an effort to centralize Spain, the Madrid authorities decided to abolish the regional fueros system, which, coupled with the increased stratification of regions in terms of socio-economic development, led to the awakening of Basque national feelings. The ongoing policy of Spanishization of the Basques contributed to the emergence of Basque nationalism, the ideologist of which was Sabino Arana. Arana attributed all the troubles of the Basque Country to contacts with Spain and, naturally, mixing of blood. It was he who became the author of the Basque flag, coat of arms and anthem. Arana also created the Basque Nationalist Party (hereinafter referred to as BNP) in 1894, which led the national movement. Arana demanded complete independence of the Basque lands through the creation of a confederation of four Spanish (Bizkaia, Guipuzkoa, Alava and Navarre) and three French regions (Soul, Labourg and Lower Navarre) inhabited by Basques.

After coming to power in the 30s of the 20th century, General Francisco Franco abolished the autonomy of the Basque Country, won during the Spanish Republic. The Basque language was banned. Office work and training were carried out only at Spanish. Only on it were books published, newspapers published, and radio and television broadcasts broadcast. The Basque provinces of Vizcaya and Gipuzkoa, which fought on the side of the republic, were declared "traitor provinces" and considered hostile territories (Navarre and Alava were considered "loyal provinces"). On April 26, 1937, Guernica, the Basque shrine, a centuries-old symbol of their national freedoms, was erased from the face of the earth. During the years of dictatorship, states of emergency were repeatedly declared in Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa.

Creation of ETA

ETA (Basque ETA, Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna - "Basque Fatherland and Freedom") was created in 1959 as an armed opposition of young Basques to the Franco regime, dissatisfied with the refusal of the Basque Nationalist Party to armed struggle. The period of ETA's organizational formation was completed at the 1962 congress of Basque left-wing nationalists, who sought to combine legal activities with underground ones.

ETA's motto is Bietan jarrai ("Based on both"), referring to the two figures in its symbol: a snake (representing politics) wrapped around an ax (representing armed struggle). Recognized as terrorist European Union and USA (8.10.1997).

Purpose of the organization:

The main goal of the organization was the creation of an independent socialist Basque state - Euskadi, which includes four Spanish (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Alava and Navarre) and three French regions (Soul, Labour and Lower Navarre) inhabited by Basques.

Ways to achieve goals:

Since the early 1960s, ETA members began the practice of assassinating officials and gendarmes, and also began bombing police stations, barracks and railway lines directly in the Basque country, as well as in the southwestern French provinces- Labourg, Basse-Navarre and Soule. After the repressions of the authoritarian Franco regime carried out in 1962, “Basque Country and Freedom” was forced to refrain from active actions for some time. The restoration period ended in 1964, after which ETA's armed actions became systematic. At the end of the 1960s, ETA followed the path of “revolutionary” terror - since then more than 850 people have died at its hands.

Structure organizations

The internal structure of ETA is strictly hierarchical and is divided into 11 substructures: logistics, politics, international relations with fraternal organizations, military operations, reserves, prisoner support, expropriation, information, negotiations and treasury. The Management Committee of the organization (according to internal documentation - ZuBa) includes from 7 to 11 people. Another committee, ZuBa-hitu, performs only an advisory function.

ETA's military substructures are organized into various groups or commandos, usually consisting of 3-5 people. The purpose of such a group: to carry out terrorist attacks in certain areas of Spain (currently there is no location connection). The commandos are controlled by the so-called "War Dome".

Among ETA members, a distinction is made between “legal” ones, those who are above police suspicion, and those living normal life; “released” - members in the pay of the organization whose names are known to the police; “supporters”, providing material assistance or shelter if necessary, and “burnt out” - those released after imprisonment, or those under police suspicion.

History of the organization:

The first ETA congress took place in 1962 in Bayonne, France. During the congress, a “Declaration of Principles” was formulated, and the division of the party into cells was developed. basis political program ETA became Marxist views.

ETA has experienced several splits. In 1966, at the 15th conference, the organization split into nationalists and socialists. At the turn of the 1970s-80s. ETA suffered new losses: a fascist wing emerged, moderate members broke away and became legal. In 1981, the political-military wing of ETA dissolved itself, and in 1984-85 several ETA groups dissolved.

At the same time, at the same time, a conglomerate of 13 parties supporting ETA was created. The most influential is "Eri Batasuna" ( National Unity; created in 1978, legalized in 1986) is an ultra-left party, the political wing of ETA, whose activities were banned in 2003. However, in the general parliamentary elections in Spain on November 13, 2011, the Basque nationalist coalition "Amayur", the backbone of which is believed to be ETA followers, received 7 parliamentary seats and the opportunity to create its own faction in the Cortes - the Spanish parliament.

Terrorist activity

basque extremism terrorist spain

On June 7, 1968, ETA militants carried out their first high-profile terrorist attack, which resulted in the death of police officer Jose Pardines. From that moment on, terror became one of the main means of political and national struggle of the organization.

In 1970, several ETA members were sentenced to death in the so-called Burgos Trial, but the sentences were commuted under international pressure.

In December 1973, Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco (the likely successor of dictator Franco) became a victim of ETA militants, who was blown up in his car in Madrid. ETA activists, having rented an apartment in the center of Madrid, dug a tunnel under the road section of the street, which Blanco's car often crossed. Explosives were placed in the tunnel. On December 20, 1973, when the car of the Prime Minister was driving through a mined part of the street, a prepared explosive device was detonated.

The period of democratization (1976-80) became the time of the most active terrorist activity in the history of ETA. The main targets of assassination attempts were high-ranking military and civilian officials and judges. The number of ETA members reached 500, of which 200 were militants operating, as a rule, in the Basque Country, separate “mobile groups” in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and others major cities. Right-wing politicians and representatives of law enforcement services were attacked.

In 1986, ETA first resorted to a new tactic: car bombs. A US citizen became the victim of such an explosion in Madrid, and another 16 people were injured. 1986 was the peak of terror, which was associated with the French extradition of ETA emigrants to Spain. During the first half of 1986, 20 terrorist attacks were carried out in Madrid with 28 deaths (only on July 14, 1986, 11 were killed and 56 were injured from a radio bomb explosion).

ETA carried out its bloodiest terrorist attack in 1987, blowing up a car in the parking lot of the Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona. 21 people were killed and another 50 were injured. In a special communique after the tragedy, ETA announced that it had warned of an explosion at Hipercor.

In 1995, ETA failed to bomb the car of the leader of the conservative People's Party, José Maria Aznar, who was elected to the post of Prime Minister, and attempted to assassinate King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

In July 1997, after the murder of a young municipal councilor, Miguel Angel Blanco, taken hostage by separatists, over 6 million people took to the streets of Spanish cities under slogans of condemnation of ETA. Following this, the Spanish police arrested and convicted almost the entire leadership of the organization.

On December 30, 2006, ETA militants carried out a terrorist attack at Madrid Barajas Airport. The explosion killed two Ecuadorian citizens and injured four others. According to experts, the car bomb contained about 200 kilograms of explosives. As a result of the terrorist attack, the airport building received significant damage.

July 29, 2009 early in the morning at spanish city Burgos blew up a car parked next to the Civil Guard barracks. As a result of the explosion, 46 people were injured. The Basque separatist organization ETA claimed responsibility for the explosion. A car explosion damaged the 14-story barracks building, where police officers and their families lived.

Negotiation with the authorities

Contacts between the authorities and ETA intensified in the second half of the 1970s, during the so-called transition period from the Franco dictatorship to democracy. Some political prisoners were released, and autonomy was introduced in the Basque Country. However, negotiations with the party leadership were unsuccessful; ETA activists continued to insist on maximalist demands.

In January 1988, ETA declared a unilateral truce in response to the signing of a pact (Estella Pact) by national and regional parties in Spain calling for negotiations with the Basques. However, the negotiations that took place in January 1989 in Algeria did not bring any results.

On September 16, 1998, ETA announced a complete and permanent cessation of terrorist activities. In response, the authorities released a number of ETA activists, but after 14 months the separatists withdrew from the truce.

On 22 March 2006, ETA declared a "permanent ceasefire". The militants said that in exchange for a voluntary renunciation of armed struggle, they intended to seek from the authorities an amnesty for several hundred Basque prisoners accused of terrorist activities, as well as the legalization of Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, but the explosion at Barajas airport served as a reason for the break negotiations

On January 10, 2011, ETA announced the cessation of the armed struggle, perhaps due to the election of the Basque party to parliament and the possibility of ETA participation in the political process.

List of sources used

1. http://ru.wikipedia.org

2. http://es.wikipedia.org

3. http://en.wikipedia.org

4. http://www.state.gov

5. http://www.start.umd.edu

6. http://studies.agentura.ru

7. http://antiterror.ru

8. http://ria.ru

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