The ETA: What happens next?

As I’m sure everyone has heard, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the ousted former dictator of Libya, has been killed. Now there is an end in sight for the Libyan revolution, and hopefully this marks the first step toward a new, stable democracy in the region. This news of course dominated the headlines, and continues to do so. But, another major event on the world stage also happened this week. The Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, a Basque region separatist organization, declared this week that they would no longer use violent tactics to get what they want. In class, we focused a lot on Joshua Goldstein’s video “Peace is Increasing”. The general consensus was that peace was not really increasing, but the way we fight wars was. Massive countries no longer fight each other, but fight wars they can decisively win. These wars are often fought against small groups of people who cling to a few central ideas, groups just like the ETA. But, these groups do not usually just abandon their tactics so easily as the ETA did, so what was different with them? Is this a sign that peace really is increasing? These questions are front and center in the minds of most IR scholars. In order to understand what is going on here, we need to first look at the history behind this violent group, and try to see what motivates them to commit terrible attacks on innocent civilians.

The ETA has had a very intricate history, starting at a period with high support but they eventually lost most of what they had. Their history began in the late 1950’s when Spain was still under the iron fist of Francisco Franco, a dictator who greatly suppressed the Basque region’s culture and language (Mail & Guardian). In 1966, the organization split into two main factions: ETA-V-“the nationalists” who continued to pursue the goal of Basque sovereignty, and ETA-VI- “the ideologists” who thought that the future Basque state should have Marxist leanings and engaged in sabotage to attain their goals (Encyclopedia Britannica). Over the next few decades, ETA was plagued by fractionalization and constant assaults by authorities (Encyclopedia Britannica). Eventually, they were reduced to relying on extortion, kidnappings, and robberies to get the funding they needed to continue their attacks (Encyclopedia Britannica). Along with their reduced income, support from the public was also waning. In 1997, ETA members kidnapped a local counselor Miguel Angel Blanco, and demanded that 460 prisoners be released for his safe return (BBC). Their demands were not met, and Blanco was found shot twice in the head, eventually dying from his wounds (BBC). The response from the public was enormous. Over the next few days, more than six million Spaniards took to the streets to demand an end to ETA violence (BBC). The next year, the ETA declared an indefinite ceasefire (BBC). Unfortunately, this ceasefire ended after another year because of the Spanish government’s unwillingness to discuss ETA’s demands for an independent Basque nation (BBC). The group remained mostly quiet until 2006, when they car bombed a Madrid parking garage, killing two bystanders (BBC). Since then, eight people have been murdered by the ETA (BBC). Now, this recent declaration has brought the group into the spotlight again, as the world wonders if this time they will truly remain peaceful.

This new declaration can go one of two ways, either this marks the end of over 50 years of violence, or the ETA is going to revert back to their old ways fairly soon. The majority of the evidence points to the latter. First of all, they have already declared “peace” twice in their history, and both times they went back to using violent tactics relatively quickly. John Burns points out that “[The] ETA did not say it would disarm, dissolve or renounce the goal of independence — and experts cautioned that many problems would have to be resolved before peace could be secured” (New York Times). The ETA can reverse this declaration for whatever reason, whenever they want. If they were truly committed to a long term peace, they would have taken steps to disarm. So, as for what made them have this change of heart, it isn’t because they want peace, but because they are running out of resources, and they want to take some time to get back into the good graces of the public. Burns says, “It was perhaps an acknowledgment that the group had been badly weakened by a crackdown by Spanish and French security forces” (New York Times). This leads us to the next question, is this declaration a sign that peace really is increasing? In short, no. In addition to all of the reasons we discussed in class, the fact there is no long term solution put forth by the announcement makes it likely that violence will soon break out again.

Hopefully, the ETA will stick to their promise. If they do then the region will be a safer place, and peace really would have increased. If not, then nothing will have changed, and they would have proven that they are still unwilling to commit to peace. But, a few questions remain. What about other terrorist organizations? Will they ever make these same types of claims? What would it take to solidify this peace for years to come? Only time will tell, and the world will just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Works Cited

"BBC News - What Is Eta?" BBC - Homepage. British Broadcasting Corporation, 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. .

Burns, John F. "Basque Separatists Halt Campaign of Violence." Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. < http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/europe/eta-basque-separatists-declare-halt-to-violence-in-spain-and-france.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1/>.

"ETA." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica,2011.Web.23Oct.2011. .

Gleave, Jonathan. "Spaniards Hopeful as ETA Ends Armed Struggle - News - Mail & Guardian Online." Mail & Guardian Online: The Smart News Source. 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .