By IPS Correspondents
BARCELONA, Mar 23 2006 (IPS)

Although it produced a commotion, the ceasefire declared by the Basque separatist group ETA in Spain had been expected for several weeks, and was met by caution and a climate of hope marked by tension.

On Feb. 10, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said he had information that allowed him to predict the beginning of the end of ETA’s violence. He denied, however, that his government had been negotiating with the terrorist group.

And on Sunday, José Blanco, secretary of the PSOE, Spain’s ruling socialist party, said an end to the violence was “closer than ever.”

ETA issued a communiqué on Wednesday stating that a “permanent ceasefire” would go into effect on Mar. 24.

In its statement, published by the Basque newspaper Gara, ETA said its aim was to stimulate a “democratic process in Euskal Herria (Basque Country, in the Basque language) for building a new framework in which our rights as a people are recognised, and ensuring the possibility that all political options are allowed to take shape.”

The group said the Spanish and French states should fully recognise the results of that process, adding that “Basque citizens should have the say and decision over their future, bringing about a democratic resolution to the conflict.”

In a videotaped statement, three masked members of ETA wearing the traditional Basque berets read out the announcement.

The declaration came after a period during which ETA has steadily weakened, and after nearly three years in which the group’s attacks have not claimed any lives. Its last victims were two police officers, Julián Envit Luna and Bonifacio Martín Hernando, who were murdered on May 30, 2003.

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna or Basque Fatherland and Freedom) emerged in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao on Jul. 31, 1959, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975), with the central aim of fighting for the independence of the Basque Country.

In 1968, it began to engage in violence, and its attacks have left a total death toll of 851. In the past, ETA has declared at least 10 ceasefires, but none of them were described by the group as “permanent”. The longest truce lasted 14 months, in 1998 and 1999.

In the past few years, successful action by the Spanish and French police increasingly limited ETA’s operational capacity and gradually dismantled the group’s structure.

Among the most decisive blows to the group were the Oct. 3, 2004 arrest in France of its political chief, Mikel Albisu, alias Mikel Antza, his girlfriend Soledad Iparragirre, alias Anboto, and the organisation’s second-in-command, Félix Alberto López de Lacalle, alias Mobutu. Ibon Fernández de Iradi, alias Susper, who was largely in charge of the group’s commando operations, had already been captured in 2003.

In 2004, 74 members and supporters of ETA were captured in Spain and 57 in France, while 17 safehouses were found.

The police operations were backed up by intense judicial action against ETA.

However, until recently the group continued to stage “low intensity” actions, placing small bombs and engaging in extortion of members of the Basque business community to obtain funds.

The government offered a low-key response to ETA’s announcement. Zapatero called for “prudence and caution” and unity among “all political forces,” because “a peace process after so many years of horror will be long and difficult.”

Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the main opposition party, the conservative Popular Party (PP), offered the government his support “in order not to pay a political price” and so that “the state of law continues to function.”

Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, spokesman for the socialist party’s lawmakers, told IPS that “the communiqué is obviously an auspicious development that gives rise to hope, but it will be the facts that show that it is not just rhetoric.”

Besides, “I will not tire of insisting on the need for prudence and caution with regard to the process that is just beginning, in which the victims of terrorism will always be present. And, above all, we must not fall prey to impatience,” he added.

But María San Gil, the head of the PP in the Basque Country, quipped that “It’s not surprising that ETA finally responded to all the concessions that Zapatero has made.” She also said it was in ETA’s best interests for the PSOE to remain in power.

The leader of the Catalonian Convergència i Unió party, Artur Mas, commented to IPS that he was hopeful, but “with all the prudence in the world,” and said San Gil’s remarks were “repugnant.”

San Gil’s sharp response was later played down by Rajoy, who extended a hand to the government. But he also stated that ETA had not “renounced criminal activity,” and that the ceasefire merely marked “a pause.”

Rajoy underlined that the group had no intention of disappearing, “has not apologised to its victims,” and has set “conditions” for a process in which its goal is self-determination for the Basque Country.

The PP leader also reiterated that it would not be acceptable “to negotiate politically or to pay any political price, because then the terrorists will have won.”

Juan José Ibarretxe, the president of the Basque autonomous community – one of the 17 that make up Spain – said “it is ETA’s obligation to never again frustrate the hopes of our people,” and announced “all-inclusive talks” among all of the Basque Country parties.

Salvador Ulayar, the delegate of the Association of the Victims of Terrorism (AVT) in the northern province of Navarra, said “what society needs is not for the mafiosos to allow us to live, but for them to say where they will lay down their weapons and when they will face up to their responsibilities.”

On Mar. 28, Zapatero will start a round of talks with leaders of all of the political parties, beginning with Rajoy and Ibarretxe.

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