ETA Watch

[NeoCornelio]

In this thread I will compile news and articles related to Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, the basque terrorist (or separatist, depending on who you ask) group. I'll do some translations as most of the news about ETA don't make it to the anglo MSM.

In the context of Western Europe, ETA is the only nationalist group that relies in violence to achieve its goals. Because of this I think a thread focusing on them is required. I suggest to make it a sticky.

I'll include here too the acts of kale borroka ('street fighting', see the dictionary below) that are blamed by the Spanish Justice and the MSM on ETA, although I'm aware that some factions of the basque radical left claim that the kale borroka is not in any way linked to ETA.

[NeoCornelio]

ETA – A brief dictionary
(To be expanded in the future)

ETA: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna: Basque Country And Freedom.

Gudari: Warrior. The name ETA members give to themselves. Thus they link their struggle to that of the Eusko Gudarostea (Basque Army), the army of the Basque Government (republican) during the Spanish Civil War.

Abertzale: Patriot, Defender of the fatherland. Often used pejoratively in the MSM to designate the extreme left nationalist parties – not all of these parties support ETA or violent struggle.

Kale borroka: Street fighting, Fighting in the streets. Beginning in the early nineties, the kale borroka acts are carried by young activists against public property (buses, government buildings, etc) and banks. It is considered by the Spanish Justice as acts of ‘low intensity terrorism’.

[NeoCornelio]

ETA – A brief timeline
(To be expanded in the future)

1959 – ETA is born.
1973 – ETA kills Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain under Franco.
1975 – Franco dies.
1978 – All ETA prisoners are freed in the amnesty granted by the Spanish Government during the democratic transition.
1983 – The GAL (a paramilitary group created by the spanish Government to use dirty war tactics against ETA members) is created.
1987 – Hipercor bombing: 21 civilians dead and 45 injured in a car-bomb attack in a supermarket parking.

[NeoCornelio]

This is a good example of kale borroka.

http://www.cuatro.com/noticias/noticias/nuevos-actos-violencia-callejera-pais-vasco-operacion-segi/20091127ctoultpro_25/

New acts of street violence in the Basque Country after the operation against Segi.

[SEGI is a Basque pro-independence and revolutionary left-wing organization. It forms part of the Basque National Liberation Movement and is aligned with Langile Abertzaleen Batzordeak, Batasuna and ETA. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEGI).]
...the judge Grande Marlaska sends eleven members of Segi to prison...

...an incendiary bomb exploded in the Getxo (Vizcaya) subway...

...hours before hooded people set a bus on fire after forcing its passengers and the driver to escape in Markina (Vizcaya)...