Spain reacted with relief and bitterness yesterday to Basque separatist group ETA’s historic declaration of an end to more than 40 years of bombing and shooting.
The dramatic video announcement by three white-hooded ETA militants brought an end to a campaign that claimed 829 lives since its birth in 1959 during Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco’s rule.
Spanish leaders and civilians alike welcomed the news, but stayed on guard since the group said nothing about handing over its weapons or disbanding as it reached out for dialogue with the government.
The leader of the Basque regional government, Patxi Lopez, said his bodyguards hugged him when they heard the news.
“We have to discuss how we will open this new period. I plan to speak today with the parties of the Basque Country to start to open this political period,” he told Cadena Ser radio. “We have to be very cautious — 40 years of terrorism cannot be brought to an end in a few urgent hours.”
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called the declaration “a victory for democracy, law and reason,” but recalled the victims of the violence.
Spanish opposition leader Mariano Rajoy, widely expected to be elected Spain’s new leader in a Nov. 20 general election, said it was “an important step, but the peace of mind of Spaniards will only be complete when ETA is irreversibly dissolved and completely disbanded.”
Many in Spain, including analysts, much of the press and victims, showed deep distrust and even disgust at ETA’s failure to apologize or offer to surrender arms, and its demand for political talks.
“We are disappointed because this is not the last step,” said Maria del Mar Blanco, a lawmaker with Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party in the Basque regional assembly, whose brother was killed by the Basque separatist group.
“The terrorist group ETA must still definitively end,” Blanco said.
ETA, classed as a terrorist group by the EU and the US, bemoaned the loss of its own militants, but not its victims.
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