Eta gets better

It is too soon to say if the first permanent ceasefire called by Eta, is actually a historic opportunity for peace.

It is too soon to say if the first permanent ceasefire called by Spain’s Basque separatist group, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) a.k.a. Eta, is actually a historic opportunity for peace or just another false alarm. After all, Eta had announced several ceasefires in the past, and none of them lasted very long. They include Eta’s ‘unilateral’ truce in 1998, which even prompted the Jose Maria Aznar government to hold secret talks with it. The discussions, of course, led nowhere and the terror attacks began again in 2000. That said, it could be different this time round, if only for the simple reason that the announcement of a ‘permanent ceasefire’ of this kind makes it very difficult for Eta to renege on it at a later stage.

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Eta has waged a bloody 40-year-long battle to ‘free’ Basque from Spanish rule, although Madrid has given the region and its more than two million-strong population considerable autonomy. The Basque language enjoys official status in Spain. Although successive governments in Madrid had tried to shepherd Eta into substantive talks, the efforts apparently failed because of the separatists’ insistence on holding a binding referendum on independence — something no Spanish government could afford to consider. The latest overture from Eta, however, suggests the group may be prepared to drop some of its preconditions for talks. If true, this could conceivably lead to a roadmap to peace. Of late, Eta has been under enormous pressure not only from Spaniards who are tired of the violence, but also from French authorities who have cracked down on hideouts of the separatists inside France. The combined effect of all this may be what prompts Eta to wave the olive branch. It’s now up to the Zapatero government to seize the opportunity — even if with guarded optimism — to try to end a mindless strife that’s claimed hundreds of lives.